Youth- and community-led innovations in local food systems: Drivers, impacts and scaling pathways

Abstract

This study investigates youth- and community-led innovations in local food systems in Kota and Baran districts of Rajasthan. Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from 400 respondents (200 per district). Composite indices for innovation outcomes and innovation performance were computed from 5-point Likert items and standardised to a 1-5 scale. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, simple and multiple regressions, and subgroup analyses (district and leadership type) were conducted. Innovation performance was strongly associated with outcomes (r = 0.989); the simple regression indicated a near one-to-one relationship (b = 0.991, p <. 001), and the complete model, including performance, age, education, gender, and innovation type, explained a substantial proportion of variance in outcomes (R² = 0.979). District-specific and leadership-type analyses confirmed the robustness of the performance-outcome link. The findings underscore the central role of innovation performance in achieving positive outcomes and suggest policy priorities for strengthening youth engagement, capacity-building and scaling platforms. Limitations include reliance on cross-sectional self-report measures and potential conceptual overlap between performance and outcome constructs.