Designing inclusive, empowering, and resilient sociotechnical innovation bundles for on-farm experiments in agrifood systems

More comprehensive and inclusive strategies are needed to design and implement on- farm experiments in agrifood systems. The existing literature lacks a framework that ensures social inclusivity, resilience, and women?s empowerment. Current approaches overlook gender-specific barriers, local innovations, and diverse learning processes. To address these shortcomings, this paper proposes sociotechnical innovation-bundling methodologies and tools, emphasizing the importance of transformative change and meeting the needs of women farmers and other marginalized groups. Specifically, this paper acknowledges that although existing On-Farm Experimentations (OFEs) are participatory, they could be more inclusive by bundling technological innovations with policy and institutional innovations for farmers? short- and long-term benefits. The integration of socio-technical innovation bundles (STIBs) such as finance, markets, and gender-responsive training in mother-baby trails in Kenya promises to contribute to increased productivity, resilience to climate change, and empowerment, which are critical drivers for agrifood system transformations. This paper contributes to the literature by critiquing current approaches and providing actionable strategies for promoting impactful agrifood system transformation, with a focus on gender equality.