This section describes different types of innovation, followed by examples of how the innovation can be used in different contexts.

Before you begin, watch the video Back to the Roots: How Flood-hit Odisha farmers are Turning to Traditional Crops by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a think tank in New Delhi, India. (Licence: Open access.)

Process innovation

This means making a process more efficient. It normally means:

• making a process faster so that a product is made in less time, or
• using a natural resource in an optimal manner so that there is little or no wastage of the raw material or natural resource during the entire production process.

Using a cheaper new technology — for example, installing a simple device to trap moisture, or mechanising or automating a process instead of relying on manual labour — can help greatly with process innovation.

Here are some examples of process innovation:

• Timing the planting of seeds — for example, grains, pulses, vegetables, fruits — around the beginning of the dry season or rainy season would help farmers harvest their crops more easily and efficiently without having to dry their harvests to minimise rot and pest infection.
• Transporting goods to nearby markets using roads or railways constructed by governments for rural communities in response to the impacts of climate change can increase efficiency. Access to lorries (either run by a local co-operative or government-subsidised vehicles) to transport farmers’ goods to nearby markets minimises the time between harvesting and reaching local consumers.

Institutional innovation

This refers to government policies and legislation developed and put in place to help communities affected by climate change to be resilient by making local livelihoods more sustainable. Public sector innovations can contribute to finding new models for sustainable livelihoods. The groups involved may seek feedback from local stakeholders and villagers to assess the success and impact of the innovations.

Here are some examples of institutional innovation:

• An early warning system in the local language that alerts farmers and fishers to bad weather in a timely manner so they can act quickly to protect their goods and harvests from environmental catastrophes.
• Smallholders are recognised as equal players — for example, small rural farmers are given the same access and rights to sell their goods or produce as large suppliers. For this to happen, legislation must be developed to support fair markets.
• The government provides support in the form of subsidies or implements equal access to transport for local farmers and fishers to transport their goods to nearby markets in an efficient manner to prevent food spoilage or rot.

Product innovation

This means that a totally new product is created or an existing product is improved.

Here are some examples of product innovation:

• Creating a new livelihood — for example, activities associated with nature-based tourism, such as being a guide or building walking trails; making handicrafts with local plant species; making boats for the local fishing sector using local species of timber; setting up a nursery in a special area suitable for young seedlings to grow plant species that are drought-tolerant, waterlog-tolerant or pest-resistant.
• Improving existing products — for example, using new methods or materials to improve packaging for farm produce to increase its shelf life.
• Switching to new varieties of crops — for example, rice, wheat, maize, vegetables or fruits that can grow in the landscapes affected by climate change. Local agricultural experts and scientists who are employed by government agencies to tackle local livelihoods that are impacted by climate change can provide advice on making this type of switch.

The diagram below illustrates the different types and categories of innovation.

Categories of Innovation Potentially Possible in One’s Own Context. Images licensed under Creative Commons share licences and compiled by Sundari Ramakrishna.