Innovations for the poor by the poor

Abstract

The concern for inclusive or harmonious development is being articulated worldwide. There is a belated realisation that for extreme affordability, there is no choice but to learn from green grassroots innovators and traditional knowledge holders. Honey Bee Network began scouting, spawning and sustaining innovations by knowledge rich-economically poor people more than 20 years ago. A database of more than 140,000 ideas, innovations and traditional knowledge practices has been pooled mainly from 500 districts of India and some other parts of the world. Blending formal and informal science has become imperative. Several new models have been proposed such as long tailored innovations, Kho Kho (relay) model, empathetic innovations, inverted innovations, and grassroots to global (g2G) to illustrate different dimension of innovations for the poor by the poor. The policy implications of these models have been drawn briefly besides explaining the conditions, which must be met for inclusive innovations.