The academic literature largely acknowledges participation as a key condition for the successful upgrading of informal settlements. However, how individual participative actions of different actor groups and reactions of dwellers combine to influence project outcomes of upgrading processes has not been studied. This article posits that different combinations of presence or absence of collaborative interactions between dwellers and other actors will decisively predict the success and failure of projects. Specifically, we argue that interactions between different groups of implementers and dwellers are conditioned by distinctive value systems - institutional logics - , which provide specific challenges to establishing collaborative interactions with dwellers as the actors conduct their roles. We identify sufficient combinations of participative actions that may lead to successful upgrading using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) on 15 informal settlements in Kenya's secondary towns that were recently upgraded. Our findings indicate that participation has to consider a multiplicity of actors, who are guided by different logics; it has to span over the whole implementation cycle. It also has to deal reflexively with the issue of representation of the community. This extends the understanding of participation to a perspective that emphasizes the capabilities of implementers to enact collaborative relationships by bridging between their own and the community's institutional logic.

Climate change continues to affect the availability and quantity of water needed for food production globally. Due to this, authorities have increasingly advocated for the adoption of water-saving practices and technologies such as drip irrigation systems to increase food production as well as efficiently conserve dwindling water resources. Such technologies promise efficiency but pose adoption challenges, especially to farmers as they transition from either rainfed agriculture or other less efficient irrigation technologies. This paper investigated the challenges associated with the adoption of drip irrigation with a focus on the Kenyan context. We employ insights from the sociotechnical systems approach that take into account technology elements such as infrastructures, rationale and meaning, organizational modes, social interactions, and time and space in relation to farmers’ capabilities to transition. The paper elucidates new capabilities that policy should take into account that smallholder farmers require to transition toward drip irrigation technology consequently improving their yields. Relevant and recently published scholarly articles and grey literature, formed the database and were reviewed and qualitatively analyzed. To complement these, eight key informants were consulted. Insights gathered are relevant to practitioners within the drip irrigation field and the method is potentially useful for analysis of other agricultural technology systems.