Innovation, Productivity and Sustainability in Food and Agriculture: Main Findings from Country Reviews and Policy Lessons

Foreword
Key findings
Chapter 1.  Main policy lessons from selected country reviews
	Strengthening the long-term performance of food and agriculture
	A framework to review policies affecting the food and agriculture sector
	Further productivity and sustainability improvements are needed in food and agriculture
	Removing policy distortions and regulatory impediments along the value chain
		Remove support that most distorts agricultural commodity markets
		Improve the functioning of input markets
		Reduce barriers to trade
	Making the agriculture research and innovation system more responsive to needs
		Agricultural innovation systems are diverse
		Governments traditionally play an important role in agricultural innovation systems
		Agricultural innovation systems are in transition
		Improve the governance of agricultural innovation systems
		Simplify research programming to improve effectiveness and transparency
		Improve complementarity of public funding of agricultural R&D with private investment by focusing on areas with characteristics of public goods
		Strengthen private contribution to R&D and innovation for food and agriculture
		Strengthen linkages within the agricultural innovation system and across sectors
		Facilitate international R&D co-operation
		Strengthen farm advisory systems to facilitate adoption
		Address skills need in food and agriculture
	Ensuring a stable and enabling policy and regulatory environment to facilitate investment
		Modernise regulations
		Align policies and regulations towards sustainability improvements
	Using agricultural policy to strengthen the sector’s long-term performance
	Improving policy coherence
		Develop comprehensive strategic plans, including the whole value chain
		Minimise policy incoherencies
		Target interventions to the issue at stake
	Fostering the relevance and impact of country reviews
	Notes
	References
Chapter 2.  Productivity and sustainability challenges for food and agriculture
	Main challenges and opportunities for food and agriculture
	Trends in productivity growth
	Trends in sustainability performance
	Main knowledge gaps
	Notes
	References
Chapter 3.  Drivers of agricultural productivity and sustainability performance
	Innovation
	Structural change
	Natural resource use and climate change
	Common drivers for agriculture productivity and sustainability
	Main knowledge gaps
	Notes
	References
Chapter 4.  Agricultural policy environment
	Most support to agriculture goes to individual producers
	Most support to producers is not linked to outcomes
	Some measures target innovation, structural change, natural resources  and climate change
	General services are key to improving long-term performance of food and agriculture
	Main knowledge gaps
	Recommendations on agricultural policies
		Adopt a food and agricultural system strategy
		Focus agricultural policy on the sector’s long-term development objectives
		Strengthen capacity to respond to future challenges and opportunities
		Better information for better agricultural policies
		Identify market and policy failures when providing support to producers
		Reduce agricultural policy distortions
		Remove impediments to innovation, structural change and sustainable resource use
		Harness agricultural policy measures to target more precisely productivity and sustainability drivers
		Provide more specific incentives to innovation and adjustment
		Strengthen incentives to sustainable use of natural resources
		Promote farmers’ preparedness and risk management to facilitate future investment
		Better target investment support to needs
		Better account for the diversity of the farm population
		Pursue wider objectives with non-sectoral policy
	Notes
	References
Chapter 5.  Innovation policy and the agricultural innovation system
	Diversity of actors and systems
	Governance of agricultural innovation systems
	Public funding of agricultural R&D
	Private role in food and agricultural R&D
	Policy incentives to private investment in R&D and innovation
		Intellectual Property Rights
		Support to R&D investment
	Public-private co-operation for innovation
	Farm advisory systems
	International research co-operation
	Summary of innovation policy indicators
	Main knowledge gaps
	Recommendations to improve the agricultural innovation system
		Improving governance of agricultural innovation systems is key
		Strengthen linkages within the national innovation system to increase efficiency and responsiveness to needs
		Simplify research programming to improve effectiveness and transparency
		Focus public funding of agricultural R&D in areas with public good aspects to improve complementarity with other efforts
		Strengthen private contribution to R&D and innovation for food and agriculture to increase impact
		Facilitate international R&D co-operation
		Strengthen farm advisory systems to facilitate adoption
		Facilitate knowledge sharing and information dissemination
	Notes
	References
Chapter 6.  General policy environment for food and agriculture
	Facilitating investment
	Developing capacities and services
	Main knowledge gaps
	Recommendations to improve the general policy environment
		Improve information on the link between general policies and agriculture to guide decisions
		Improve the policy and regulatory processes to facilitate investment
		Ensure non-sectoral polices improve the functioning of agri-food markets and trade
		Align policies and regulations towards sustainability improvements
		Develop rural infrastructure and services to improve connection
		Address labour and skills need in food and agriculture
	Notes
	References
Chapter 7.  Policy coherence in food and agriculture
	Policy incoherence slows progress towards agriculture productivity and sustainability
		Incoherencies in general policy goals
		Incoherencies across policy areas
		Incoherencies within policy areas
		Incoherencies in policy approaches
	Responses to policy incoherence
	Main knowledge gaps
	Recommendations to minimise policy incoherence
		Assess and target the main policy incoherencies.
		Ensure that no new incoherencies are introduced
		Encourage synergistic policy plans, build policy bridges and support win-win policy solutions
	Notes
	References
Annex A. Some concepts and indicators used in the Framework
Annex B. Overview of reviewed countries
Annex C. Country notes
	Australia (2015)
	Brazil (2016)
	Canada (2015)
	China (2018)
	Estonia (2018)
	Japan (2019)
	Korea (2018)
	Latvia (2019)
	Netherlands (2015)
	Sweden (2018)
	Turkey (2016)
	United States (2016)