All about ecosystems

Much has been written and discussed about the key features of functional so-called “innovation ecosystems.” These include strong research capabilities, lots of big and small businesses, a pool of talented people to recruit, access to finance (both public and private), an “enabling” regulatory environments and permissive fiscal and tax positions for businesses.

When it comes to agri-tech, you also need access to pro-innovation farmers, well-briefed advisors, as well as different cropping and livestock regimes, and a range of soil types.

The ARISE project was funded by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology to help forge collaborative links between north and south American innovation ecosystems and the UK. These included Embrapa (Brazil), agcentre (Colombia), CREA and Universidad Austral (Argentina), AgroTech (Chile), Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), as well as the Yield Lab LATAM based in Brazil, and the Yield Lab Institute in St Louis, Missouri.

The aim was to pump-prime fact-finding, brokering of collaborations and building partnerships.

Same, same…..but different

What has emerged from the project was how the different strengths of the ecosystems fit together. South America has scale and diverse production systems. By contrast the St Louis ecosystem feeds into a wider community across north America with more capital and market pull. And the UK is known for value creation through world-leading research and innovation. All have their challenges which can potentially be overcome through partnerships with each other.