Public Agricultural Research in an Era of Transformation: The Challenge of Agri-Food System Innovation

The purpose of this report is to provide some of the groundwork in answering the question of how the CGIAR system and other public agricultural research organisations should adapt and respond to an era of transformation framed by the SDGs. It does this by exploring the way in which this transformation agenda reframes agricultural research and innovation. Building on an earlier study of multi-stakeholder partnership and the SDGs (ISPC, 2015), this report draws together the results of a two-year study conducted by CSIRO and the CGIAR ISPC Secretariat on innovation and transformation of agrifood systems. The study’s activities also included a system-wide dialogue on the reframing of the common narrative on agri-food system innovation, supported by two multi-stakeholder workshops held at CSIRO, Canberra, in December 2016 and at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad, in June 2017 (CSIRO and CGIAR ISPC Secretariat, 2016, 2017). The core of the work is a set of 16 in-depth case studies that offer historical accounts of agricultural innovation processes. The case studies are used to illustrate transformation processes, highlighting key features. These accounts are used to develop insights into the role of research and innovation in transformational processes and to frame a broader discussion on the implications for public agricultural research organisations and specifically the CGIAR.