Perceived levels of innovation within and between processing businesses

The findings from the survey show that processing businesses in both clusters recorded minimal levels of innovation (Appendix 2). Internally, only 11.8% and 5.8% of processing businesses in the pineapple and palm clusters respectively said they were ‘Very Innovative’ in their operations. The majority of processing business in both clusters (54.9% and 47.1%, palm and pineapple respectively) indicated that they had been ‘Slightly Innovative’ over the past years. Measuring innovation between the range ‘Very innovative’ and ‘Slightly Innovative’, a higher percentage of processing businesses within the pineapple cluster believed their businesses have been very innovative when compared to those in the palm cluster.

When it comes to comparing the level of innovation among processing businesses, only 11.8% and 6.1% of the processing businesses in the pineapple and palm clusters respectively indicated that they were ‘Very Innovative’ in their operation in comparison to other processing businesses. A relatively higher number (41.2%) of the businesses in the pineapple cluster said they are ‘Innovative’ in their operation in relation to palm processors. Compared to the pineapple businesses, a slightly lower number of processing businesses in the palm cluster (29.3%) stated that they were ‘Innovative’ compared to other businesses that operate within the cluster. It suffices to note that a relatively high percentage (22%) of the palm processing businesses said that they were ‘Not Innovative’ in their operations compared to other processing businesses operating in the cluster. In contrast, only 5.9% of the pineapple processing businesses indicated that they were ‘Not Innovative’ in their operations compared to other processing businesses in the cluster. In comparing perceived innovativeness between processing businesses within the clusters, the findings show that processors in the pineapple cluster are more likely to perceive themselves as more innovative compared to those in the palm cluster.

Justifying the levels of perceived innovation in the clusters

The processing businesses in both clusters offered several reasons for their operational innovativeness. Survey respondents gave several responses when they were asked to mention the most important innovative activity that their businesses had undertaken in the last two years. The responses from the survey have been categorised into six main headings, as can be seen on Figures 6.1 and 6.2. Innovation in this sense is made up of activities that influence the production process, the type of product offered, and creative ideas that have the capability

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of influencing businesses performance in the industry. The categorisation is explained in Table 6.2 below.

Table6.2: Categorisation of forms of innovative activities in clusters Categorisation Explanation of category

Mechanising operation by introducing new processing methods

This involves the introduction of new machinery or

technologies in the production process in order to positively influence production. They include mechanisation of

packaging lines, installation of depulpers, boilers and processing lines, etc.

Refurbishment of

machinery and operating environment

This involves all processes that lead to upgrading of existing infrastructures and technologies in the production process. They include modernising the electrical systems, expanding the boiler capacity, maintaining and repairing existing technologies, etc.

Best practices as prescribed by the industry

They involve processing businesses working towards using required industrial benchmarks in their processing activities. They include minimising the free fatty acid level, using steam boiling methods, etc.

Further processing of by- products or expanding product range

This involves product diversification and processing of aspects of the by-products to maximise the use of raw materials. They include extracting palm kennel oil and animal feed,

introducing new product lines, rebranding, etc.

Renewable energy supply This involves the generation of new forms of energy to support the processing activities. They include biogas and solar, etc. The findings show that the majority of the businesses in the clusters had pursued innovative activities. For instance, about half (47%) of the processing businesses surveyed in the pineapple cluster indicated that ‘Further Processing of By-products or Expanding Product Range’ was the most important innovative activity undertaken. In the case of the palm cluster, ‘Refurbishment of Machinery and Operating Environment’ was mentioned as the most important innovative activity (39%) pursued. All the processing businesses surveyed in the pineapple cluster indicated in turn that they had been engaged in some innovative activity during the last three years. That said, more than a quarter of the processing businesses surveyed (28%) in the palm cluster indicated that they had not pursued any innovative activities in the last three years. This result may be attributed to the dominance of small-scale palm processing businesses whose scale and mode of operation had seen little to no improvement. In another breath, some processing businesses in the pineapple cluster (6%) had selected ‘Renewable Energy Supply’ as their most important innovative activity, although none of the processing businesses in the palm cluster mentioned this activity as

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being important The foregoing analyses of these categories a is illustrated in Figures 6.1 and 6.2 below.

Figure 6.1: The most important innovative activities undertaken by palm processing businesses

Figure 6.2 The most important innovative activities undertaken by pineapple businesses

The findings from the categorisation show that processing businesses in the pineapple cluster appear to be more innovative than those in the palm cluster. For instance, with the rising

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difficulties in energy supply in the Ghanaian economy since 2012 (Republic of Ghana Budget, 2015), the inclusion of ‘Renewable Energy Supply’ in the list of important innovative activity in the pineapple cluster means that these processing businesses are more responsive towards productivity. The finding on innovation activities synchronises with the different sources and forms of knowledge and information. The pineapple cluster, which has greater external links and more codified form of knowledge flowing in the cluster, appears to be comparatively more innovative than the palm cluster, which depends more on a tacit form of knowledge from within the cluster and local economy.