Welcome to the Innovation Playbook
Innovation has the transformative ability to accelerate change, something that is more important now than ever. Two years into the United Nations “Decade of Action,” the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, economic and social inequity, and geopolitical instability present tremendous challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. To secure a sustainable and equitable future for all, we must be bold innovators and disrupt the status quo. All of us in the global development community need to challenge one another to support the design and scale of locally led and commercially viable solutions. The world can no longer afford for these opportunities for innovation at scale to be reserved for a selective few. To embrace this challenge, we have developed this Chemonics Innovation Playbook, a resource that will grow over time, to help broaden our collective understanding of when and how innovation happens within development, and, most importantly, what closes the gap between donor subsidization and the sustainability of critical solutions. Innovation is dynamic. Yes, it can be designing what doesn’t yet exist but is also adapting what works into new contexts and exploring the adjacent possible within the environments where we work. From Ghana to Syria to Tajikistan, our work reflects nearly five decades of partnering with local and global organizations and experts to understand how to create the right conditions for innovation. When led by local voices, strategic partnerships, and capital, we know innovation can be scaled to achieve systems-level change. Through this playbook, and our other efforts and collaborations in the development sector, our goal is to mobilize and equip innovators globally to solve the world’s challenges urgently, creatively, and sustainably. We hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with you in this incredibly important mission.
Dear Development Colleagues:
By Jamey Butcher, President and CEO, Chemonics
Sincerely,
Jamey Butcher, President & CEO Chemonics International
chemonics.com
Our Approach to Innovation
CASE STUDIES
THEORY OF INVENTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Using Data to Improve Classroom Outcomes
Chemonics is partnering with USAID, the Tajikistan Ministry of Education and Science, and One World Network of Schools in using data to correlate teaching practices with optimal student outcomes. By adapting the successful ‘Teach Like a Champion’ methodology, the USAID-funded Read with Me project uses hyper local data and one-on-one interactions between Tajik coaches and teachers to make the most informed decisions on how to improve learning. They are now working to scale this intervention from 6,000 to 30,000 teachers across the country.
LEARN MORE
PROJECT PROFILE: Tajikistan Read with Me VIDEO: Design for Scale: Tajikistan Learn Together Activity ARTICLE: Better Teachers for Better Education NEWS STORY: Chemonics and One World Network of Schools Create Institutional Partnership
ADJACENT POSSIBILITIES
Providing Continuous Education in IDP Camps
The twin crises of ongoing conflict and COVID-19 left displaced Syrian children cut off from education. Using equipment available within IDP camps, Chemonics’ U.S. State Department-funded Injaz II program introduced an intranet to connect children to their teachers. This network allowed students to continue to learn remotely without internet access. The simple solution is easily replicable and is applicable to other fragile and challenging contexts in Syria and across the globe.
DESIGN THINKING
UNLEASHing Innovation
Every year, the UNLEASH Global Innovation Lab empowers thousands of youth to develop innovative solutions for a better and more sustainable world. As the Lab's lead scale partner, Chemonics supports the launch and acceleration of nearly 200 early stage social impact ventures in over 50 countries through UNLEASH's six-month incubator. UNLEASH connects them with resources, tools, and networks to accelerate change through design-thinking and co-creation activities.
PROJECT PROFILE: Strengthening Education for Youth in Syria VIDEO: Devising New Ways to Learn Remotely: Intranet in an IDP Camp BLOG: 3 Questions with Mohammad Youssef: COVID-19, Technology, and Innovation
PARTNERSHIP PROFILE: Chemonics’ Lead Scale Partnership WEBSITE: UNLEASH Global Innovation Lab VIDEO: Chemonics’ UNLEASH Partnership 2020
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Innovation has been a core Chemonics value for nearly 50 years and is a lived experience of our global workforce every day. We define innovation as the process of creating value through solutions that have the transformative ability to accelerate change. We innovate by designing what doesn’t yet exist, by adapting what we know works, and by working within the “adjacent possible.” These approaches and others all spark innovation, and every step toward action matters. To enable innovation, Chemonics promotes community-led design and creative problem solving, and provides pathways to scale through partnerships, capital, and local ownership. By empowering local partners we help them affect necessary systems change.
Consumer and end user-centered approach to innovation integrating the needs of stakeholders, the possibilities of new solutions, and the requirements for success
Achieving innovation by using new combinations of what is already available within a system
Adapting an existing solution — that was developed to solve an old problem — to a new, local context
Chemonics’ approach to innovation engages local communities in defining problems and co-creating solutions through several methods, including:
METHODOLOGIES
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Without innovation, we cannot meet the challenges of our time.
Jamey Butcher, President and CEO, Chemonics
In this playbook, we explore how innovation isn’t just designing what doesn’t yet exist, but is also adapting what works in new contexts and exploring the adjacent possible within the environments where we serve.
Our Approach to Scale
Scale is the process of replicating, adapting, and sustaining innovation for transformative impact. While innovation disrupts the status quo by creating new value, innovation at scale expands that value systematically across large populations and new geographies (Source: International Development Innovation Alliance). Chemonics enables local innovators to scale by applying business rigor to validated solutions. By assessing and planning for commercial viability and long-term sustainability, we help ensure that each locally led solution has a greater chance at success. Chemonics is a catalyst that facilitates linkages between market actors and strengthens local innovation ecosystems. We also mobilize the private sector to support scale by identifying shared value, encouraging multi-stakeholder partnerships, and accessing investment capital and blended finance mechanisms that lower the risk of innovation.
Empowering local actors to originate and drive development within their own communities
LOCALLY LED
Developing and validating sustainable commercial models that are supported by paying customers or governments
COMMERCIAL VIABILITY AND VALIDATION
Exploring a range of direct and blended options to reduce risk and secure investment
MOBILIZING CAPITAL
Brokering shared value to realize pathways to scale
PARTNERSHIPS
Chemonics expands the reach and impact of innovative solutions by identifying pathways for scale through the following approaches:
APPROACHES
With African farmers and consumers facing the threat of aflatoxins — cancer-causing fungi in crops — Chemonics worked with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Dalberg Advisors to protect value chains and ensure food safety. The Aflasafe Technology Transfer and Commercialization (ATTC) program commercialized an all-natural product, Aflasafe, in response. In partnership with two African firms that committed nearly $6 million, Chemonics supported the development, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing strategies that commercialized Aflasafe through ventures in 12 countries and scaled the product through regional licensing.
Protecting Agricultural Value Chains in Rural Africa
How does a country with a cash-based economy quickly provide subsidies during the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic? In the Philippines, the government and USAID E-PESO collaborated with the private sector to create an app that provides fast financial relief to millions of people. The E-PESO project convened Developers Connect Philippines, community members, and private sector partners like Amazon Web Services to develop and scale an electronic banking app, making it easier for residents to receive relief funds through a safe electronic payment system.
Digitizing Financial Relief in the Philippine Cash Economy
MOBILIZING PARTNERSHIPS
Uganda has the world’s second-youngest population, and an aging farmer demographic that lacks access to critical information and resources. On the Feed the Future Uganda Commodity Production and Marketing Activity, Chemonics supported the launch and scale of Akorion, an agriculture startup. Together, we designed and deployed the Ezy-Agric application that created more than 8,100 youth jobs, provided market access information to more than 400,000 farmers, and enabled 130,000 farmers access to more than $59 million in crop production loans.
Scaling Youth-Led Enterprises in Uganda
LOCALLY LED, COMMERCIALLY VALIDATED
PROJECT PROFILE: An Alternative to Cash in the Philippines IMPACT STORY: Relief is Just an App Away VIDEO: How do you design an app for COVID-19 financial relief?
PROJECT PROFILE: Uganda Commodity Production and Marketing Activity VIDEO: Filling Market Gaps in Uganda RESOURCE: Intermediary Business Models For Improved Market Systems Processes and Relationships
PROJECT PROFILE: Protecting Food Value Chains Across Africa RESOURCE: From Science to Scale — Aflasafe BRIEF: Lessons Learned on Scaling Aflasafe Through Commercialization in Sub-Saharan Africa BRIEF: Our Journey from Incubation to Market BLOG: Enhancing Africa’s Incomes, Trade, and Health
Samantha Power, USAID Administrator
The entire development community needs to interrogate the traditional power dynamics of donor-driven development and look for ways to amplify the local voices of those who too often have been left out of the conversation.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE APPROACHES
Chemonics’ approach to innovation engages local communities in defining problems and co-creating solutions through a blend of several methods, including:
Don’t Look For a Startup Idea, But a Startup Problem (Forbes)
An In-The-Box Method for Creative Problem Solving (Behavioral Scientist)
The Surprising Power of History in Creative Problem Solving (Inc)
Drones Present Modern Solution for Heritage Wine Industry
TRIZ IMPACT STORY
Illuminating Lebanon in Its Darkest Times
Innovating Techniques and Technology to Improve Education in Tajikistan
Adapt these potential general solutions to your specific problem and operating context
Identify generalized solutions for this type of problem
Identify a “generic” problem that is the most like your specific problem
Define your specific problem that you have, and its root causes
The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving — commonly referred to by the Russian acronym “TRIZ” — is the process of adapting an existing solution to solve a current problem in a new and local context. TRIZ is based on the premise that throughout history “general” solutions have been developed to address many of the world’s problems, and those solutions can be efficiently and effectively adapted to solve “specific” problems that arise in the modern world. The methodology is based on the finding that problems and solutions not only repeat across industries, but that technology also evolves in similar patterns. The two essential components for the application of the TRIZ methodology are:
TRIZ principles have informed Chemonics’ project teams and our local partners to improve Tajikistan’s education system, to keep kept water flowing to a farming community in Lebanon, and to help our clients, partners, and beneficiaries take on the world’s toughest challenges every day.
An awareness of the general solutions that have been created to solve specific problems in the past. The ability to use the power of analogy to find the similarities between pre-existing generalized solutions and their ability to solve specific present-day problems.
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EXAMPLES IN OUR WORK
Finding Your Next Big (Adjacent) Idea (HBR)
Exploring the Adjacent Possible — The Origin of Good Ideas (Understanding Innovation)
The Key Lessons From “Where Good Ideas Come From” by Steven Johnson (Blinkist)
In TransIT: Enhancing Visibility Across In-Country Supply Chains
ADJACENT POSSIBILITIES IMPACT STORY
3 Questions with Mohammad Youssef: COVID-19, Technology, and Innovation
The Nuts and Bolts of STEM in Moldova
Apply the solution to the problem
Create a new combination of those resources to develop a solution to the problem
Assess the problem-solving resources that are most easily accessible
Identify the root cause of the problem you are attempting to solve
Adjacent Possibilities is the process of achieving innovation by using new combinations of what is already available within a system. Through this methodology, innovators create solutions from that which is closest to them, and in doing so avoid the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of pursuing remote or non-existent resources. The term “Adjacent Possibilities” is attributed to theoretical biologist Dr. Stuart Kauffman who posited that living organisms most efficiently and safely progress to the evolutionary phase that is closest or “adjacent” to them given the environmental conditions available at the time of their evolution. This concept — that of efficiently evolving solutions by using the nearest available resources — is at the core of the Adjacent Possibilities methodology. The mindset of Adjacent Possibilities helped Chemonics’ project teams and our local partners more efficiently create an Intranet network to provide education for children in a Syrian IDP camp, brought greater visibility into health supply chains in Mozambique, and continues to help our clients, partners, and beneficiaries take on the world’s toughest challenges every day.
Design Thinking for Social Innovation (SSIR)
Design Thinking, Explained (MIT)
Design Thinking, Defined (IDEO)
Human Centered-Design: Why Asking the Right Questions is Critical in International Development
DESIGN THINKING IMPACT STORY
A User is a User: 3 Tips from the Private Sector for Human-Centered Design
3 Questions with Andrew Hassan on Hacking COVID-19
Combating Wildlife Crime Through a Role-Playing Game in South Africa
3 Lessons for Empowering Youth to Drive Sustainable Change Through Innovation
The Case for Youth Engagement in the Program Design Process
Relief Is Just an App Away in the Philippines
Test the viability and sustainability of solutions, and whether they have addressed the end user's needs
Develop potential solutions to those problems using new or existing technology
Identify the root causes of the problems end-users are attempting to solve
Interview end-users to understand the exact challenges they are trying to overcome
Design Thinking is a user-centered approach to innovation that integrates the needs of customers, the possibility of new solutions, and the requirements for success. Empathy is the core of Design Thinking. Those using this methodology begin by interviewing the potential users of a product or solution to understand their needs and pain points around the exact challenges they are trying to overcome. With these insights, design teams generate ideas for new solutions that are uniquely tailored to meet the needs of the user. Once those potential solutions are developed, design teams then test their viability and sustainability, and whether they truly addressed the end user’s needs. The goal of design-thinking is to identify solutions that are desirable, viable, and feasible. There are many approaches to design-thinking, but all include key phases focused on understanding and validating problems, generating ideas and bringing them to life, testing and refining based on user feedback, and launching innovative solutions into action. Design Thinking principles informed how Chemonics’ project teams and our local partners provided financial relief to millions of Filipinos in the face of COVID-19, helped combat wildlife crime in southern Africa, and continue to help our clients, partners, and beneficiaries take on the world’s toughest challenges.
Why Asking the Right Questions is Critical in International Development
Investing in Youth Entrepreneurs: De-Risking a Risky Business
MOBILIZING CAPITAL IMPACT STORY
From Billions to Trillions: Using Blended Finance for Scaling Impact in Climate and Health
How Chemonics Is Mobilizing Finance for Development
With private capital flows outpacing traditional development assistance, the private sector’s vital role in global development is clear. The growing alignment of interests among the private sector and donor agencies creates a strong opportunity for shared-value partnerships that leverage public and private resources through innovative financing structures — such as blended finance, first-loss capital, and guarantee structures — to enable scaled development impact. To scale solutions that are viable and locally led, access to private capital is critical. This means financial institutions must increase the availability and affordability of services for local entrepreneurs. To facilitate these services, Chemonics works with financial institutions to develop and expand access to their offerings to help entrepreneurs and the communities they serve. We also partner with host country government ministries, central banks, regulators, and other key institutions to help create linkages between various actors in the market system and help stakeholders align interests, ensure additionality, and maximize outcomes to scale impact. Chemonics’ work developing blended finance mechanisms supported a decrease in deforestation and conversion to clean cooking in Haiti.
Expanding access to capital to empower locally led, sustainable solutions at a global scale
News: Chemonics Invests in Women’s Empowerment Social Impact Venture
PARTNERSHIPS IMPACT STORY
News: Chemonics Joins Extreme Tech Challenge as a Visionary Sponsor
Fashion Forward in Moldova
Partnerships serve as a force multiplier for local innovators because they facilitate linkages between market actors, provide targeted technical expertise, and leverage on-the-ground networks that further validate and scale viable solutions. Now more than ever, partnerships with the private sector are particularly critical to achieving inclusive growth and ensuring sustainable and resilient outcomes at scale. This is due to the role the private sector plays in providing the resources and capital needed to systematically drive innovation, which enables local innovators to access new markets and global supply chains, and expands job creation in emerging and frontier markets. Chemonics established the Center for Private Sector Engagement to incorporate innovations across the globe to facilitate high-impact partnerships and mobilize private capital to deliver transformative development outcomes. By leveraging Chemonics’ robust convening power, the Center facilitates linkages between various actors in the market system and supports stakeholders to align interests, ensure additionality, and maximize outcomes to scale impact. In our programs, Chemonics serves as a catalyst that facilitates linkages between market actors and strengthens local innovation ecosystems. For example, Chemonics enabled Moldovan companies to compete with the biggest names in fashion and see high returns on their investments through key private sector partners.
Unlocking Innovation in Pakistan’s Private Sector
COMMERCIAL VIABILITY IMPACT STORY
Navigating Enterprise-Destroying Pitfalls in SME Assistance
Growing the Next Crop of Agri-Tech Entrepreneurs Through Innovation and Scale
The validation of commercially viable business models helped Chemonics’ launch and scale ventures led by women entrepreneurs in Pakistan.
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Identifying the commitments and resources required to achieve a long-term vision of impact Validating the impact of their innovation and continuously improving upon design Mapping the competitive landscape and the innovation’s unique value proposition Developing a “go-to-market” strategy that considers the necessary requirements for minimum product viability, expediency, and cost efficiency without compromising impact Standardizing management to efficiently facilitate operations, production and delivery, marketing, and more Mobilizing strategic partnerships and capital that catalyze growth and key inflection points
As a precursor to investment and to ensure the greatest changes of success, local innovators must be empowered by the global development community to design commercially viable and sustainable solutions. Social innovations that originate from donor-funded programs need the same rigorous business analysis and planning as any other product or service. An intentional approach to business modeling and a focus on iterative, lean design ensures local innovators achieve product-market fit that enables market traction and investment ready solutions. Often, innovators need initial support, particularly with:
Developing and validating sustainable business models that are supported by paying customers or funders
She Is an Agripreneur: Enabling Female Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness
LOCALLY LED IMPACT STORY
Global Change Requires Local Leadership
Global innovations begin with local ideas, and development solutions are most sustainable and effective when communities solve the challenges they face. According to USAID’s Local Capacity Development Policy, “Locally led development is the cornerstone of sustainable development…(and it) is critical to addressing underlying factors of fragility, strengthening local humanitarian response systems, and enhancing resilience to shocks and stresses.” When local innovators are empowered to lead as entrepreneurs, they design products and services that directly align with the priorities of their own communities in response to market demand. The global development community can serve a supporting role by providing the funding, partnerships, supplemental expertise, or operational resources that locally driven ventures need to reach their goals. This way of approaching locally led development informed Chemonics’ assistance to youth entrepreneurs in Uganda through the launch and scale of the Ezy-Agric application provides agricultural services to more than 300,000 farmers and created more than 9,000 administrative and agri-input merchant jobs.
Empowering local innovators to design and drive development in their own communities
LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT IMPACT STORY
Commercial Viability IMPACT STORY
