Climate shocks to agriculture are threatening food security, especially in developing countries. Poverty and malnutrition are rising rapidly. Transforming our agricultural systems to be climate-resilient, productive, sustainable, and equitable, and to contribute fully to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions will require multiple game-changing innovations. Agricultural research must produce the innovations needed to do this. However, the premise of this Research Topic is that the current agricultural innovation systems are no longer fit for purpose: they are not effective in identifying and promoting game-changing innovations. They are embedded in, and support, incremental changes in existing agricultural production systems; and they largely set the research agenda. Therefore, radically reforming national, regional, and global agricultural innovation systems is critical to achieving game-changing agri-food system innovations (e.g., Vermeulen et al. 2018; Hall & Dijkman 2019; Merrey, Loboguerrero, & Zeppenfeldt 2023). What measures are needed to transform the agricultural and food research systems and how can they be achieved?
At the 26th Global Climate Conference (COP26), 45 world leaders launched “The Breakthrough Agenda Report”. The Report promotes making clean technologies and sustainable practices more affordable, accessible, and attractive than their alternatives by 2030 in the power, road transport, steel, hydrogen, and agriculture sectors.
For the agricultural sector, the Report argues that the following Breakthrough Goal must be achieved: “Climate-resilient, sustainable agriculture is the most attractive and widely adopted option for farmers everywhere by 2030.” A more recent analysis for
Clim Eat, a think-and-do tank connecting knowledge and policy to action for food and climate, uses evidence from case studies to argue that agricultural innovation systems must be transformed to achieve the Agricultural Breakthrough Goal and proposes specific concrete actions to do so (Merrey, Loboguerrero, & Zeppenfeldt 2023).
The goal of this Research Topic is to provide evidence on whether agricultural innovation systems are, or are not, fit for purpose; and if they are not, to identify what are the main bottlenecks, what systemic reforms are needed, how can they be achieved, and how will they be financed. We define “agricultural research and development systems” broadly, to include public research and extension institutions, universities, private firms, producers, donors, and consumers: each has a role to play in transforming agri-food systems.
The focus of this Research Topic is on the agri-food research and development systems themselves, not on the game-changing innovations needed. We welcome conceptual papers as well as papers such as case studies from practitioners, including research managers, consumers, and donors, based on their experience. We also welcome papers bringing lessons from other sectors. Indicative themes include:
•Is the current global agricultural research and development system (including CGIAR) fit for purpose in the 21st Century? What is the evidence that it is, or is
not, fit for purpose? If it is not, what needs to be done and by whom? How much would it cost?
•How effective are national research and extension systems (NARS) in both wealthier and developing countries in developing and scaling out game-changing
innovations? How can they become more innovative and effective?
•What is the evidence on the effectiveness of regional associations of NARS? How can they be supported to be more effective at producing game-changing
innovation research?
•What is the evidence on the effectiveness of expanding agricultural research and development partnerships to be more inclusive? How can partnerships among
researchers, producers, consumers, donors, and other stakeholders be scaled out and made more effective while managing the transaction costs involved?
•What lessons can be learned from other sectors’ innovation systems that will aid in making agricultural innovation systems more innovative?
Clim Eat link