New ingredients, bold flavors and fresh energy: A recipe for reimagining food systems innovation in 2023

Will 2023 be the year in which unleash the potential of innovation to transform food systems and address climate change? We think so.

Why? Because we have seen a growing momentum for changing how we innovate, which can reach a critical juncture this year. If so, this means a shift in how the over USD 50 billion spent every year on food and agriculture innovation is used to create, reorient and phase out parts of the system that underpins food production, distribution and consumption.?[1]

Global campaigns including AIM4Climate, ClimateShot and Glasgow Agriculture Breakthrough have brought together hundreds of stakeholders behind the need to innovate fast and differently. The innovation lever of the UN Food Systems Summit, was a clear signal on the role of innovation. So the scene is set.

But of course, it’s nothing new to say that innovation will be a key lever for change in food systems. Whether it’s new ideas and technologies that shape new ways of production, like cultivated protein or hydroponics, or ways of improving more traditional food production, like feed additives that reduce emissions, or data tech enabling agroforestry - there are many technological innovations that inspire change in our food systems.?

There is a massive system of agricultural research for development, including universities, multilateral organizations, as well as national and international research networks which seek to activate this lever. Daily, there are thousands of bright minds working on developing, testing, and scaling innovations that can help us develop a food secure system in the face of climate change. They work in private companies, research institutes and on farms.

However, this innovation system is not delivering innovation at the scale and pace that we need it to combat both climate change, and its threats to our food system. [2] The directionality of our innovation systems need to be reoriented to the challenges of our time. This means investing in strategic niches of technological solutions, and matching these with social and institutional innovations that enable their scaling. [3] To do this, we need to radically reimagine how we innovate in food systems, by addressing the WHY, the WHAT and the HOW.

• Why: Earlier this month, the open-access book ‘Transforming Food Systems Under Climate Change through Innovation’ was published, which we co-authored. It provides a deep-dive into the potential of research and innovation for a food systems transformation, but also highlights that our research and innovation systems are too much intertwined with the status quo, limiting the radical shifts that we so urgently need. Restructuring incentives, away from siloes, publication fever and silver bullets, towards value-based, people-centered and demand driven innovation is going to be essential, to ensure we’re all innovating in the same direction, for the right reasons.
• What: At the moment, innovation in food systems is booming - and that’s great. But, with limited time and (especially public) resources, we need to be strategic and focussed. At the same time, we need to steer clear from promoting ‘silver bullet’ solutions - we all know better. And we need to learn how to embrace failure - if something has been tried and failed, that’s ok, let’s learn from that and invest in other ideas. Therefore, we need to identify the key game changers to invest in - more of the same will not deliver different results.
• How: Innovating on innovation will require a two-fold strategy: building on research existing infrastructure and knowledge, as well as bold and bigger collaborations. Engaged dialogue, cross-fertilization, and honest conversations between innovators, policy-makers, enterprises, leaders and changemakers will be essential in realizing that.?

To address the Why, the What and How and to reimagine innovation, in 2023, we will be working to:

1. Scan the horizon for ‘best bet’ innovations that can deliver the transformation.
2. Enable the scaling up of best bet innovations working with partners like the World Economic Forum supported UpLink.
3. Ensure inclusion and dialogue in the process - working with a wide range of partners, including Bayer with whom we brought this topic to the attention of the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this month.

We believe that by working together, we can make 2023 the year where we reimagined innovation. So... are you ready??

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[1] Zeppenfeldt, L., & Dinesh, D. (2023). Create, Reorient, Phase Out: The Way Forward for Food-System Transformation through Research and Innovation. In B. Campbell, P. Thornton, A. Loboguerrero, D. Dinesh, & A. Nowak (Eds.), Transforming Food Systems Under Climate Change through Innovation (pp. 219-223). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009227216.019

[2] Klerkx, L., & Begemann, S. (2020). Supporting food systems transformation: The what, why, who, where and how of mission-oriented agricultural innovation systems.?Agricultural Systems,?184, 102901.

[3] Koerner, J., Tasse, A., Zeppenfeldt, L., Healy-Thow, S., Givertz, E., Baethgen, W., Dinesh, D., & Vermeulen, S. (2023). Transforming Innovation Systems to Deliver Impacts at Scale. In B. Campbell, P. Thornton, A. Loboguerrero, D. Dinesh, & A. Nowak (Eds.), Transforming Food Systems Under Climate Change through Innovation (pp. 219-223). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009227216.019