Successful Organizational Learning in the Management of Agricultural Research and Innovation: The Mexican Produce Foundations

Dynamic agricultural innovation systems are essential for reducing poverty. The Mexican Produce Foundations (PFs) are among the most flexible and adaptive institutions that support research, extension, and innovation activities in the developing world, and they have had major and diverse impacts on the Mexican agricultural innovation and research systems. Why have the PFs been so successful, relative to other, similar organizations? This report investigates their path to success. Drawing on a diverse literature on innovation systems, complexity theories, and organizational cultures and governance, the authors explore how these institutions have sustained organizational innovation over time and affected the Mexican agricultural innovation system. This study will be valuable for researchers, policymakers, and others interested in improving the design and implementation of research and innovation systems in developing countries.