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  • Publication | 2018
Innovation and development in agricultural and food systems
Global Food and Nutrition Security

This is the introducition to a book, where the authors examine and enrich the perspectives on innovation specifically in agriculture and the food sector. They build on the substantial body of recent research on innovation across disciplines, on reviews and analyses of case studies undertaken in Europe and in many countries of the Global South.

They authors aim to fulfil a twofold ambition. The first is to offer an update on the state of progress on themes for which the issue of innovation is key, especially in connection with the periodisation of the major transformations of the agricultural sector and with regards to major societal challenges. The second ambition is to present a posture that research on innovation can adopt, at the intersection of analyses that contribute to societal debates and support for addressing societal challenges.

The book consists of research from different disciplines, and show the collective dynamics at work within a joint research unit. It is organized in four main parts:

  • History and positioning of studies on innovation in agriculture

  • Current forms and figures of innovation

  • Innovating in supporting and accompanying innovation

  • Evaluating the effects of innovation on the dynamics of development

It is the pluralism and the interactions between actors from different functions, with different approaches and their perceptions that make it possible for novelties to emerge in the form of new ideas, new research practices and new products.