Enhancing Agricultural Innovation: How to Go Beyond the Strengthening of Research Systems

This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the in Washington, DC. One of the main conclusions of the workshop was that " strengthened research systems may increase the supply of new knowledge and new technologies, but such strengthening may not necessarily correlate very well with the capacity to innovate and adopt innovations throughout the agricultural sector, and thereby with economic growth. " This paper uses an innovation systems perspective to explore which other interventions may be required. The innovation systems concept is not new. It has been applied in other sectors, mainly in industry. The concept is considered to have great potential to add value to previous concepts of agricultural research systems and growth by (1) drawing attention to the totality of actors needed for innovation and growth, (2) consolidating the role of the private sector and the importance of interactions within a sector, and (3) emphasizing the outcomes of technology and knowledge generation and adoption rather than the strengthening of research systems and their outputs. Although the innovation systems concept has raised interest within the agricultural sector, the operational aspects of the concept remain largely unexplored. At the same time, within and outside the World Bank, agricultural investment strategies have gone through a number of changes, some of which are closely related to the innovation systems concept. This paper takes stock of real-world innovation systems to assesses the usefulness of the innovation …