Innovation intermediary organizations (IIOs) may build bridges between the demand and supply of knowledge. The understanding concerning the scope and functions of these intermediaries in the case of the agricultural sector is scarce, particularly for developing countries. The aim of this article is to discuss the functions played by IIOs operating in the segment of small farmers in the agricultural sector in the context of a developing country. The analysis allows extracting policy implications having in mind small farmers with different economic conditions and levels of innovativeness. This article uses a case study methodology. The main sources of information are interviews with members of the board and staff of the Produce Foundation, responsible for managing public resources to promote innovation processes in the agriculture sector in a specific state, Chiapas, as well as with farmers, technological suppliers, and researchers in this state.
Competitive funds (CF) have become a preferred mechanism to allocate research funding, particularly in developing countries, to the point that they are the most important (and often unique) source of funds. Most analysis of CF assumes that they are an efficient instrument to allocate research funds, without realizing that other allocation mechanisms are available. The funding agency only has limited knowledge about the effectiveness of CF. This paper reviews the experience of the Mexican Produce Foundations with CF in the agriculture sector and discusses some benefits and limits of using CF as the main mechanism to fund research in a country with a relatively weak national innovation system, a relatively small research system, and some very innovative actors in the agricultural system. P Alexandre O Vera-Cruz
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