Boosting agrifood research and innovation cooperation for impact at scale; a conference report

To achieve sustainable impact at scale, agrifood research and innovation (R&I) cooperation can be boosted through the following mechanisms:

• Co-ownership of design and implementation of R&I projects by multiple stakeholders (researchers, farmers, enterprises, and policy makers) with multi-actor approaches and through place-based innovation tools such as living labs.
• Institutional ownership to align economic, environmental, and social outcomes of R&I projects with local, national, and regional priorities.
• Viable and inclusive financial strategies to support experimentation, risk-taking, scaling of innovation and long-term commitments.
• Strengthening the capacities of the people and institutions that drive innovation processes.
• Investments in systems thinking, knowledge integration and long-term support to connect science, policy, and practice. Such investments will realize the potential of transformative approaches such as agroecology that address production, climate, biodiversity, and equity challenges in agrifood systems. 

These main lessons were shared and validated during the conference ‘Boosting agrifood research and innovation cooperation for impact at scale’ which took place in Brussels (11-13 March 2025). They were built on the collective achievements and consolidated lessons of the R&I programmes implemented or supported by the European Union (EU). To effectively contribute to desirable agrifood systems transformation in this time of poly-crisis, investments in R&I are more than ever required and need to be done in partnership. This premise of the conference was widely endorsed by participants and speakers as Patrick Caron, Vice Chair of the CGIAR board, alluded to in his closing remarks: ‘We need research in partnership when we move in the unknown; not just to value synergies and prevent duplication, but also to enlighten our common destiny.’ The R&I orientation for food systems transformation was discussed with a focus on innovative approaches such as agroecology, nature-based solutions, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

The conference was organised with the explicit intention to inform future programming and investments in agrifood systems R&I. This report summarizes the main conclusions and recommendations of the conference that will feed into the new EU-AU FNSSA Roadmap (Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture) and other relevant European, African, and global policies. Reflections and recommendations for current and future R&I cooperation include:

• Strengthen the international dialogue on R&I cooperation;
• Provide coherent support to future R&I programming and interventions;
• Strengthen the coordination and governance of AU-EU R&I initiatives;
• Build innovative funding mechanisms to support innovation at scale.