Photo credit: CGIAR
CGIAR aims to strengthen their partnerships with the private sector based on the Research and Innovation Strategy of . In this strategy, partnership with the private sector is recognised as essential to food system transformation.
‘CGIAR will build interdependent relationships with small, medium, and large enterprises, as well as with private sector coalitions, to accelerate sector-wide progress. These partnerships, safeguarding CGIAR’s reputation as a trusted independent party, will not be simply a one-way channel for scaling technologies, but rather pivotal to market assessment, product design, and research implementation. CGIAR understands farmers, livestock keepers, and fishers as private sector constituents, and its research will support their focus on improving both short-term and long-term prosperity, working directly with farmers’ organisations. Bringing a business focus to CGIAR work is essential to bridge the gap between innovation and use, and impact at scale. To help bridge this gap, CGIAR will make systematic use of tools such as market research, product profiles, and stage-gated research management. CGIAR will develop a one-stop shop for private sector enterprises, to enable sharing of solutions, sustainable and ethical sourcing, intellectual property rights, and transparent contracting. Demand-driven engagement with the private sector will include businesses in large middle-income emerging economies in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin America.’ (p. 31)
With the Dutch Diamond approach - meaning productive collaboration between private sector, knowledge institutes, NGOs and government - the Netherlands recognises the value of such partnerships and aims to support in strengthening this strategy. Partnership with the private sector is also one of the cross-cutting priorities in the NL-CGIAR partnership and kicked off in 2015 with a NL-CGIAR Public-Private Sector event. We therefore share relevant blogs, news items, events and strategic developments:
In the partnership the Netherlands is supporting CGIAR in strengthening their collaboration with the private sector through the writing of a white paper and subsequent joint organisation of a NL-CGIAR Strategy Meeting. Highlighting best practices and providing recommendations to CGIAR on potential pathways for strengthening its collaboration with the private sector from an institutional standpoint. More information on the white paper and strategy meeting will follow.
Strengthening international agricultural research to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals is the aim of the Netherlands – CGIAR partnership. Both Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and Research Uptake are regarded as crucial by the Dutch government. This aim is strengthened by Sarah Cummings, Wageningen University. For more information see the NWO-WOTRO website.
Senior Expert Contributions to One CGIAR Program Development: Private Sector Engagement
To address the challenges of transforming agri-food systems through stronger engagements between research institutions, public actors and the private sector towards the achievement of the SDGs, this policy brief written as part of the NL-CGIAR Research Programme raises a number of critical questions and provide a number of recommendations that ground explicitly on seven examples of public-private collaboration.
IRRI: developing CGIAR partnerships with the private sector for impact acceleration
An interview with Remy Bitoun, head of IRRI Tech Transfer, discusses the current status of engagement with the private sector from his personal perspective and what initiatives can be scaled up by the CGIAR in the context of One CGIAR.
ICRISAT: innovation broker working with private sector. An interview with Ram Dhulipala
Ram Dhulipala, Theme Leader, Digital Agriculture & Youth, and research leader of the iHub incubator, was interviewed to examine the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) interaction with the private sector.
