Presentation of AKIS reports at organice congress IFOAM in Bari, September 2014

1. Innovation potential of
organic and agro-ecological
food and farming
Krijn J. Poppe

2. My introduction
Co-chair Strategic Working Group AKIS
(Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems)
of the EU SCAR (Standing Committee on
Agricultural Research)
Economist and Research Manager at LEI Wageningen UR
With a link to organic farming
• Former member non-executive board of Nautilus, an organic coop.
• Currently board member of SKAL, the Dutch organic inspection body

3. A recent experience in the field
Bionica – phytophtora resistant potato
Developed and breeded by Mr. Niek Vos,
Kraggenburg, NL
Based on search for wild resistant varieties
by Wageningen academics in the Andes and
basic breeding work (35 years ago)
This year 500+ tons are grown
However:
• Tubers have red spots due to wild variety: will this sell?
• White flesh potatoes don’t sell well in the NL, export needed
• Critical views by plant breeders who think that just one
resistance is a bridge for the virus to damage varieties with
several resistances (created by Cisgeneses). And Bionica was
created with the classic biotech.

4. My reflection on this field trip
• Innovation can take a long time
• There is a useful collaboration in innovation between
academics, breeding companies and farmers
• Technical innovations need to go hand in hand with
marketing innovations: involve retail and consumer
• Social innovation is needed to solve more complex issues
as the co-existence between organic and e.g. cisgeneses

5. Need for innovation
• How to feed 9 billion in 2050 in a sustainable way
• Economic crisis and the need for innovation
• Agriculture and food industry as an attractive sector to
invest in:
• Good returns expected
• Sustainability problems have to be solved
• Not much risk that the industry will leave the region
• Reflected in policy measures, like EIP - including
Horizon2020 and the renewed CAP

6. EU market for research and innovation..
• Research funds at national level are decreasing, in EU
increasing, companies (and even farmers) more
international oriented, large spill-overs >> EU
collaboration needed
• Cross-border collaboration in research could benefit from
harmonisation of rules and procedures for commissioning
research, to help to create to a more integrated ‘market’
for research.
 That does not mean that national or regional
authorities should give up their strategy and
agenda setting processes: but could adopt such
procedures that research institutes could easier
match national and international funds for
relevant topics.

7. Innovation is a broad concept
• The implementation of a new or significantly
improved product (good or service), or process, a new
marketing method, or a new organisational method in
business practices, workplace organisation or external
relations. [source: OECD]
• Also the public sector can innovate !
(and public aspects of agriculture)

8. Social Innovation
‒ The concept of social innovation originates in critiques of
traditional innovation theory. By calling for social
innovation, new theories point at the need to take the
social mechanisms of innovation into account (social
mechanisms of innovation)
‒ In the context of rural development, social innovation
refers to the (social) objectives of innovation – that is
those changes in the social fabric of rural societies, that
are perceived as necessary and desirable in order to
strengthening rural societies and addressing the
sustainability challenge (social inclusion / equity: the
innovation of society as well as the social responsibility of
innovations)

9. 9
The agro-innovation system and theory
• Innovation happens in a social system: “an institutional
clustering of practices among the participants (not
necessarily implying consensus)” (Anthony Giddens)
• Long-term infrastructural investment in ‘mental capital’
and its improvement is crucial for successful economic
development and for competitive trade performance (Chris
Freeman for OECD, quoting List, Keynes, and investigating historical cases in Europe and Asia)
• ‘Coupling mechanisms’ between the education system,
scientific institutions, R&D facilities, production and
markets have been an important aspect of the
institutional changes introduced in successful ‘overtaking’
countries. (Freeman)

10. Knowledge & Innovation System: 7 functions
1. Knowledge development and diffusion
2. Influence on direction of search and identification of
opportunities
3. Entrepreneurial experimentation and management of
risk and uncertainty
4. Market formation
5. Resource mobilisation
6. Legitimation
7. Development of positive externalities
(c) M. Hekkert et al.

11. Innovation by interaction in networks
• Innovation as a process has strong learning aspects: learn how
to do new things, bottom-up.
• Alternative: force (or pay for) quality standards, mandates
• Thematically-focused learning networks of different actors can
help.
• Generating learning and innovation through interactions
between the involved actors.
• participation for all in the planning of work and experiments,
their execution up until the dissemination of results and the
demonstration phase
• Members can include farmers, extension workers, food
industry, researchers, government and ngo representatives and
other stakeholders.

12. Different objectives,
methods, and public roles

13. Science versus Innovation driven research
Aspect Science driven research Innovation driven research
Incentive to program a
topic
Emerging science that can
contribute to solving a societal issue
(or a scientific question)
An issue / problem in society that can
be solved by new research, or a new
idea to solve an existing issue
Participation of users
In demonstration phase / via
research dissemination
In agenda setting, defining the problem
and during the research process
Quality criteria Scientific quality Relevance (for the sector or a region)
Focus Research organisations
Networks of producers and users of
knowledge
Diffusion model Linear model System (network) approach
Type of government
Science / Research Policy Innovation Policy
policy
Economic line of
thinking
Macro-economics Systems of innovation
Type of research
Interdisciplinary with absorption
capacity in AKIS (to work with
material science, ICT, chemistry
etc.).
Transdisciplinary and translational with
close interactions.

14. Education
Research
Consumers
Retailers
Food
processors
Extension
Input
suppliers
Farmers

15. ERANETs
Research
JPIs
Education
Consumers
Retailers
Food
processors
Extension
Input
suppliers
Farmers
Member states

16. Education
Research
Consumers
Retailers
Food
processors
Extension
Input
suppliers
Farmers
Member states
ERANETs
JPIs
EIP-Agri’s
Operational
Groups

17. Interactive innovation and transdisciplinary research
Large pool of OGs
Many Networks
Operational
Group
Several
Projects
Thematic Network Multi-stakeholder
Research Project
Farmers For replication and up-scaling:
• End user material
• Identify blockades
• Research agenda
Transdisciplinary research:
Operational Groups as
Researcher
NGO cases and co-innovators
Food company

18. Practical tips and further implications
• How can a researcher find other stakeholders ?
• Many do have contacts in their region with farmers,
extensionists, food companies
• Many have international contacts with other researchers
(that have local contacts)
‒ Search LinkedIn, join Eur. Assocations
• And ICT is at your disposal...
• And how about my publication and citation indices ?
• Review papers and transdisciplinary research can be
published (be creative !)
• Incentives on excellence should be complemented by
indicators for relevance and impact

19. Multi-actor innovation benefits from ICT
Software type Tools evaluated Successful examples
Knowledge portals (KP) Search engines: Google, Yahoo
Slide and document sharing:
Slideshare
Video and photo sharing:
YouTube, Flickr
VOA3R, eXtension, Chil
E-document management
systems ( E-MS)
Digital libraries: Groen
Kennisnet in NL, Organic
Eprints
Organic Eprints, Agriwebinar
Data Warehouse (DW) Eurostat, FADN FADN
Groupware (GW) Wikipedia, Yammer,
Crowdsourcing
British Farming Forum, Lego
Cuusoo, Climate CoLab, P&G
Connect+Develop, Betacup
Challenge
Community of practice (CoP) ResearchGate, Erfaland Disease surveillance and
warning systems, IDRAMAP
Social communities of interest
(SCI)
Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+,
Ning, Quora
AgTalk+, E-Agriculture, Jeunes-agricultuers,
Rede Inovar
Individual communities of
interest (ICI)
Wordpress, Twitter, Blogs AG Chat

20. Special attention is needed to incentivize research to be
responsive to the needs of innovation processes

21. National and regional governments can
stimulate innovation
by implementing the EIP. This should be translated in an
instrument portfolio that:
• Gives incentives for research, development and innovation;
• Stimulates knowledge exchange, adoption of innovation,
technical application in the production process;
• Supports the activities of facilitators, innovation brokers and
tutoring paths for farmers to implement innovations;
• Value the input and knowledge of farmers;
• Supports operational groups also to develop cross-border
interactions;
• Invests in AKIS-subsystems that have been underdeveloped in
the specific national or regional situation.

22. Thank you for your
attention
krijn.poppe@wur.nl
www.lei.wur.nl
References
• Reflection paper AKIS 1
• Orientation paper AKIS 2
• Summarizing powerpoint
presentation available on
SlideShare