New science, capacity development and institutional change: the case of the Andhra Pradesh-Netherlands Biotechnology Programme (APNLBP)

North-South cooperation in the field of science and technology has been hampered by scientific and bureaucratic conventions that fail to see the systemic nature of knowledge creation and innovation. This paper discusses a Dutch development assistance programme on biotechnology that has made a specific effort to overturn these conventions. Using the example of the Andhra Pradesh-Netherlands Biotechnology Programme, the paper describes how this novel type of capacity development intervention takes a long-term perspective on institutional learning and change. The philosophy underpinning this is the integrated bottom up approach, which emphasises direct links with user communities. It thus engages directly with the question of how a more socially embedded process of innovation may be developed that can permit biotechnology to be exploited for sustainable development.