In this presentation Dr Andy Hall proposes the core elements of agri-food systems innovation narrative to catalyse a new conversation about how stakeholders including research agencies can engage in transformational change processes, like the SDGs.

1. Agri-food systems innovation
Reframing the conversation
Andy Hall (CSIRO), Jeroen Dijkman (ISPC), Bruce Taylor (CSIRO), Liana Williams (CSIRO) and
Jennifer Kelly (CSIRO)
AGRICULTURE & FOOD

2. What is this really about?
• Not about tools and neat prescriptions about how to drive transformational
innovation in agri-food systems.
• The set of factors that reinforce and even reward business as usual in global
efforts to promote innovation in an era of a transformational development
agenda
• These factors take form in organizational capabilities, practices and polices,
patterns of public investments and much more
• Sitting behind these factors are simplistic, unrealistic and deeply entrenched
common narratives of how change and innovation takes place.
• This is a rallying cry to find way change that common narrative
Agri-food systems innovation: Reframing the conversation | Andy Hall2 |

3. How did we get here? Our journey.
• Can we develop a framework to better understand the relationship
between different innovation processes and the impact that results?
• Our starting assumption was that while innovation processes are context
specific, broad patterns of practices and partnership associated with
innovation and impact would emerge.
• Our logic was that these patterns could then form the basis of a
framework to better explain how impact takes place, and point to tools
and practices that increase the likelihood of innovation and impact
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4. How we did it.
• Case studies of how innovation processes and impact unfold over
time.
• Historical accounts that explain the pathway: series of events, key
players, role of research and technology, but also policy and other
factors.
• Three rounds of case studies
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5. Notable features
• Initiators: Often research led, sometimes technological
breakthrough, some times policy led with technical and
institutional responses.
• Solutions to impact long term, many false starts and u-turns
• Step change impact at scale happens when technology is coupled
with systems level changes (values, behavior, networks, reflected
in markets and)
• Strong alignment between public, private and civil society
interests and agenda at a macro level key ingredient in system
change.
• “coalition of interest” “A conspiracy for change” “Supportive
political economy”
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6. Impact
Time
Incremental innovation
Systems optimization
Radical innovation
Sub-systems transformation
Transformative innovation
System transformation
Agri-food systems innovation: Reframing the conversation | Andy Hall6 |

7. Local Optimisation
Transformational
Change
Scale of Impact
System
optimization
System
transformation
System
replacement
Sub-system
transformation
Alignment around
production & market
constraints and
opportunities
Macro political
alignment
Quality of process
Mechanisms for
aligning stakeholders
around strategic
directions
Mechanisms for
aligning stakeholders
around immediate
challenges &
opportunities
Mechanisms for
aligning stakeholders
around emerging
challenges &
opportunities
Quality of feedback and
learning between
scales
Agri-food systems innovation: Reframing the conversation | Andy Hall7 |

8. Our big surprises
• Good practice matters, but not as much as favorable political
economy: The degree of alignment of public, private and civil
society sectors, often political alignment at the macro level.
• Most cases where focused on systems optimization and
incremental changes (despite the more transformational rhetoric)
• Locked into this by organizational capabilities, enduring routines
practices and polices, patterns of public investments creating.
“this is how stuff gets done around here”
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9. Incremental innovation lock-ins
• Funding models: short term, unrealistic impact expectations, silos,
leverage of public funding, governance
• Evaluation traditions and KPIs: historical performance measures
and performance framing, weak learning orientation.
• Demand led research and innovation: short term quick wins vs
long term. Farmer centric vs agri-food system centric
• Path dependency of legacy research: out of step with rapidly
evolving agri-food systems trends
• Patterns of capability and skills: historical origins, takes time to
change
• Rusted on partnerships: what worked well in the past might not
be fit for the future
• Vision, leadership and policy coherence:
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10. Just to be clear……… what is the problem?
• This is not critique the actions of practices of development
stakeholders per se.
• Not undervaluing incremental change processes.
• It is a critique of the meta or common narrative that provides the
signals that reinforce and maintain lock-ins at a time when
transformational change is an unavoidable fact of life.
• The challenge is to change the “hidden hand” of the common
narrative.
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11. Core elements for a narrative of agri-food system
transformation
• Setting the scene: multi level agri-food systems
• Resetting assumptions and expectations
• Multiple pathways
• Effective practices and processes
• Investing in future science and innovation
• Understanding and tracking success
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13. Resetting assumptions and expectations
• Unpredictability of innovation and change processes.
• Few simple cause-effect relationships
• May take many years
• Unexpected outcomes
• Multi-level, multi scale process
• Being realistic about roles of different actors in system change and
and matching expectations to these roles. No organization can do
everything.
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14. Multiple pathways
• Recognizing and engaging with different sources and process of
change.
– Mission orientated
– Open source innovation communities
– Civil society movements
– Business-led development coalitions
– “business as usual” where it works
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15. Effective practices and processes
• Fostering strategic alignment of public, private and civil society
interest around transformation
• Working with emerging opportunities and dynamics in markets,
policy and societal shifts
• Partnership architectures
• Funding modalities
• Governance
• Critical assessment / learning
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16. Public good investment in future science and
innovation
• Addressing market failures in research
• But also addressing systems failures in innovation
• Building new capability in both science and innovation
• Establishing new innovation trajectories
• Public or philanthropic roles
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17. Understanding and tracking success
• Better definitions of what success looks like on the pathway to
transformation
• Performance measures of stakeholders better aligned to the role
they play in the transformation process
• Greater emphasis on the capacity of agri-food systems to respond
to unpredictable futures
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18. Is this narrative in line with experiences
and how do we propagate it?
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19. Thank-you
Questions?
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