How to advance locally led development

Over the last few years, interest in locally led development has grown considerably in the development co-operation sector, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the unfulfilled promises of the Grand Bargain, and a greater recognition of prevalent racist mindsets and practices in the sector.

In 2022, 18 development funders endorsed a USAID-led statement supporting locally led development and in 2023, the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate was encouraged by its Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to undertake a peer-learning exercise to share approaches and good practices.

In support of this, EIT Climate-KIC co-facilitated two sessions with the OECD Innovation for Development Facility, and the International Development Innovation Alliance (IDIA), to highlight emerging good practice in locally led innovation. These events brought together experts, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss:

• How can international funders provide better support to governments and grassroots innovators in low- and middle-income countries?
• How can these funders strengthen local innovation ecosystems and offer more effective support in scaling up novel approaches and solutions?

The public sector’s role in supporting local innovation

The first session focused on the emerging role of the public sector in supporting locally led innovation in low- and middle-income countries. The panel suggested that governments in these countries could:

• Establish functions that enable them to spot and support local and frugal innovations;
• Strengthen their capabilities to adopt solutions that have a compelling evidence base, and scale them through the public sector;
• Nurture innovation led by civil servants and invest in enhancing innovation skills across their workforce;
• Provide a direction for investments in science, technology and innovation and help shape markets, so that innovation efforts target not only economic growth but important development objectives.

All of these practices are, of course, contextual and depend on the maturity of local innovation ecosystems and the existing governmental capabilities.   

Dr. Ratna Devi, Director of the Patient Academy for Innovation and Research in India, shared examples of how government institutions have successfully designed mechanisms to scout for locally led innovations. For instance, frontline medical staff – particularly nurses – have been at the forefront of innovation efforts and public sector entities in India have partnered with state governments to identify and scale novel solutions. Similarly, the World Health Organisation collaborates with local governments to identify and support locally led innovations addressing non-communicable diseases.

Chioma Ogbozor, Management Partner at AMP Health in Ghana, provided a concrete example of how governments can adopt innovations and scale them through the public sector. USAID and Grand Challenges Canada are collaborating with national health authorities through the Ghana Innovation Platform. This partnership includes working with sector experts to build connections between health innovation ventures and public officials. These efforts highlight the need for investments in social capital and coalition building when investing in scaling innovations.

Dr. Forhad Zahid Shaikh, Chief e-Governance Specialist at Aspire to Innovate (a2i) in Bangladesh, outlined how a2i invested in nurturing bottom-up innovation through empathy training, led also by civil servants. Ideas generated as a result of this training were further incubated, tested and scaled, which resulted in measurable impact on people’s lives. A2i’s combination of investing in bottom-up innovation and securing top-down support to help scale has saved citizens more than $30 billion, nearly 20 billion working days, and 13 billion appointments in the last decade alone, due to the more efficient delivery of public services. However, this approach – he cautioned – requires strong leadership, political will, and realistic, measurable targets in government-led innovation efforts.

Enhancing local innovation ecosystems

The second session focused on the importance of supporting local innovation ecosystems. This broader discussion aimed to improve bilateral funder support for local development with an emphasis on the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Tom Feeny, Senior Programme Director and Innovation Practice Lead at the International Development Innovation Alliance (IDIA), began by outlining the elements of resilient innovation ecosystems – such as enabling policies, access to finance, talent flow, solid infrastructure, and a supportive culture. Feeny highlighted an example from Ethiopia, where stakeholders came together to create the Bishoftu Declaration as a means of strengthening the health system through innovation.

Ada Marmion, Director of Partnerships, Knowledge and Impact at the Africa Entrepreneurship Challenge Fund, highlighted the resilience required by innovators in high-risk markets. She underlined the importance of inclusive local innovation and the need for funders to adopt flexible, adaptive funding strategies – particularly in areas affected by conflict. Ben Ramalingam, Director of Strategy and Innovation at the International Federation of the Red Cross, agreed – pointing to the trust deficit between donors and local innovators, and advocated for long-term, flexible support mechanisms. He underscored findings from a 2021 OECD study on the role and functions of local innovators in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, he noted that bilateral development agencies should reassess their role in light of their specific comparative advantages and in consideration of their general evolution from solution provider to solution enabler.

The panel also discussed practical strategies for supporting local innovation ecosystems. Emmy Chirchir, Science, Tech and Innovation Adviser for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, argued for a clearer definition of the term ‘local’, before supporting Ben Ramalingam’s call for long-term trust-building, and more adaptive funding approaches. The panel agreed that agility and flexibility are crucial in deploying innovation projects, and the discussions concluded by highlighting the need for systemic change in funding innovation. In this regard, strengthening overall innovation systems, rather than just supporting individual entrepreneurs, is vital, and the panel called for investing in indicators that better measure systems strengthening as well as equity and inclusion in efforts to support local innovation in low- and middle-income countries.

By identifying and supporting the long-term and non-linear scaling pathways of local innovation, governments and funders can better support locally led development efforts and context-relevant innovation. This includes investments in local ecosystems and in strengthening governmental capabilities. The synthesised insights from these seminars are included in an OECD paper on locally led development, which aims to further improve how funders think, act and shift decision-making power to local levels.

At EIT Climate-KIC, we are strengthening locally led climate resilience through innovation clusters in countries such as Tanzania, thanks to funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland (Irish Aid). Through programmes like the Adaption and Resilience ClimAccelerator and Climathon, as well as dedicated workshops and events that bring people together and encourage learning, we create spaces in which networking and collaboration allow new ideas to thrive.

In the time between the virtual sessions and the publication of this article, Ada Marmion tragically passed away in an accident that occurred in Kenya. Ada worked at EIT Climate-KIC from September 2018 to November 2021, and remained in contact with many of the team at this organisation. This news was received with immense shock and sadness, and we would like to express our deepest condolences to Ada’s family.