热博体育

The book Pathways  to agrifood  system  transformation:  From Local  Innovation to Policy Change was first presented at the in Brussels in March 2025, and will also be promoted in Montpellier on 16 April at the closing workshop of *.

"This second compilation covers the way in which a multitude of technical, organizational and social innovations have helped transform farming and food systems from a local to a policy level, by responding to the urgent issues facing rural players", says Aurélie Toillier, innovation management researcher with 热博体育 and leader of DeSIRA-LIFT Service Area 1.  It also highlights the levers identified by DeSIRA project teams that would ensure the sustainability and perennity and extension of the solutions implemented in each context.

Skill building and changes in practices

Building the skills of all the players involved in an innovation project enables collective changes in both attitudes and practices, ensuring greater anchorage of the innovations rolled out. For example, this is demonstrated by the Santés & Territoire project led by 热博体育 in Senegal. The project set out to improve farming practices, backed by the One Health approach. Producers are partnered with various other players to participate, via a living lab, in the entire innovation process: co-identification of issues, co-design of solutions, analyse of results, etc. Involving producers as key players in change makes innovations more sustainable.

Diversity of players and economic viability

Involving a range of players is also essential to the economic viability of innovations. In Ivory Coast, the MARIGO project, coordinated by 热博体育, supported the agroecological transition of periurban market garden crop growing. The aim was to boost the diversity and quality of locally grown vegetables. However, one of the main obstacles to market access in Ivory Coast was the high cost of such vegetables, compared to cheaper, lower quality rivals. To address the issue, the MARIGO project relied on raising consumer awareness of the importance of the link between quality price, while promoting an Ivorian "organic" to guarantee the quality of agroecological products.

Involving decision makers to support new public policy

Providing robust scientific data and involving policymakers speeds up the inclusion of innovations in national public policy. The CLIMALOCA project in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru is a good example. It set out to reduce cadmium levels in cocoa beans, a crucial issue for cocoa exports to the EU, which has strict limits on this heavy metal found naturally in beans. In Colombia, tools developed by the project, notably cadmium content mapping, enabled the development of suitable solutions. This scientific progress, aimed at ensuring sustainable cocoa, facilitated talks with the authorities and proved useful for adapting national soil and crop management plans.

To quote another example, in Southeast Asia, the ASSET project used a pathway covering several decades, comprising a number of successive projects and initiatives led by a range of partners to provide a sound basis for the agroecological transition policy guidelines adopted in late 2024 by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Impacts of DeSIRA projects

The stories presented in the book give a concrete, varied account of the impacts of DeSIRA projects on agricultural policy and advice services, as well as production systems and value chain organization. "This second book highlights the need to combine a range of research and co-innovation activities with different player networks aimed at solving urgent problems, to ensure long-term changes in agricultural and food systems", Aurélie Toillier concludes.

*DeSIRA-LIFT is funded by the European Commission/DG INTPA (FOOD/2021/424-11) and implemented by a consortium of organizations belonging to Agrinatura (Wageningen UR, 热博体育, ISA-University of Lisbon, NRI-University of Greenwich, and SLU) and EFARD (COLEAD).