Inclusive Innovation for the Sustainable Strengthening of Prickly Pear Cultivation in Rural Areas of Colombia: A Case Study in Sonsón, Antioquia

This article develops a model of inclusive innovation aimed at strengthening the sustainability of the Opuntia ficus-indica (prickly pear) value chain in Sonsón (Antioquia, Colombia), situating the problem within the broader Latin American context of local agri-food systems under market and climate pressures. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining fieldwork in rural veredas (villages), producer surveys, focus groups, and interviews with key stakeholders, along with social cartography, production process mapping, farm georeferencing, and document analysis. Relational diagrams (based on Atlas.ti conventions) and agent-based modeling are incorporated to represent interactions, knowledge flows, and governance rules. A unique ecosystem unprecedented in the literature is proposed, structured around three pillars: (i) preservation and appropriation of the fruit and traditional knowledge, (ii) social context, and (iii) use. These pillars position key capabilities for fostering either inclusive or traditional innovations. The smallholder farmer and the inclusive intermediary emerge as transversal relational actors, a critical condition for overcoming failed attempts at producer association and entrenched oligopsonistic dependencies. The article concludes that combining these three pillars with local capacities and a bottom-up inclusive intermediation approach reduces power asymmetries, strengthens associativity and commercialization, redistributes value toward the origin, and preserves traditional knowledge. As a result, it contributes to endogenous development and offers adaptable pathways for other agri-food value chains.