Strengthening CGIAR - private sector engagement for innovation and scaling

12 April 2022.  Open for Business; Strengthening CGIAR - private sector engagement for innovation and scaling

A partnership Event took place to strengthen CGIAR-private sector engagement for innovation and scaling. 

The event provided an opportunity for CGIAR and its partners (research, government, civil society and private sector organisation) to discuss, share experiences, evaluate and identify pathways for strengthening collaboration between CGIAR and the for-profit private sector and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The CGIAR 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy recognises private sector partnership as an essential component of food systems transformation. The Netherlands acknowledges the value of co-creation within research, which is driven and facilitated through the Dutch Diamond approach, as a means of collaboration between government, private sector, knowledge institutes and civil society organisations. To this end, the Dutch government aims to support CGIAR in strengthening its new strategy.

Launch of Special Report: Open for business - Pathways to strengthen CGIAR’s responsible private sector engagement NL-CGIAR Strategic Partnership. April 2022, 45pp

Cummings, S., J. Koerner, M. Schut, R. Lubberink, T. Minh, D. Spielman, J. Vos, M. Kropff (ed.) and C. Leeuwis (ed.) 2022. 

This Special Report has been jointly written by experts from the Netherlands and CGIAR. The special report includes three next steps that CGIAR can immediately take to start tapping into the enormous potential and opportunities available with private sector engagement:

1. Step 1. An organisational approach: Identify how the roles, responsibilities, mandates, resources and facilities for private sector engagement are distributed across CGIAR to take the process forward. The Private Partnerships for Impact Department under the Global Engagement and Innovation Division will lead this work.
2. Step 2. Mandated task force: Develop a temporary but clearly mandated task force and consultation process within CGIAR, and with external stakeholders, to discuss the recommendations of this report and receive wider inputs.
3. Step 3. Strategic action plan: Develop a strategic action plan covering phased, planned and funded activities for the different support functions of what could become a one-stop-shop for CGIAR’s private sector engagement.

Extracts:

For FAO, mobilizing the capacities and resources of the private sector is seen as essential for achieving the SDGs. This is particularly the case for global agri-food systems where the private sector has an important role. (page 14)

Market concentration by multinational enterprises in the food industry has apparently had a negative impact on policies and innovation agenda setting (page 16)

Relatively few partnerships have led to joint innovation processes with the private sector (...)  Primary impediments to PPPs were found to be perceptions of the private sector, competition and risk, while issues of costs and conflicting incentives are secondary. (page 17)

CGIAR and the private sector need to embrace and co-invest in novel mechanisms such as exchange programmes, impact funds, innovation hubs and scaling incubators to achieve their joint ambitions.  The partnership evaluation of CGIAR75 found that although partnerships with the private sector have increased, engagement with large multinationals, in particular, has been slow. (page 24)

In the recent ‘CGIAR 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy’ mainly focus on the private sector’s role as an innovative funding source, and not so much on working with the sector as an innovation, scaling or learning partner (page 24)

Some engagement mechanisms are more common place and their effectiveness has been studied (e.g., innovation platforms), whereas others (e.g., start-ups and scaling incubators) are newer to CGIAR and its partners, requiring exploration, testing and fine-tuning. Each of the engagement mechanisms comes with its own specific advantages and disadvantages, challenges and opportunities. (page 25)

In-depth studies showed that the effectiveness of innovation platforms highly depends on the type of 
problem being addressed, and proposed solution, as well as the presence of existing partner networks in which agricultural stakeholders are already working together. (page 26)

Recommendations
There are four key recommendations that can lead to the development of a set of mechanisms that
can guide CGIAR in engaging with the private sector. One is to Explore and experiment with novel engagement mechanisms such as scaling incubators, innovation hubs, and co-investment arrangements to better understand how they can add value, what the risks are, and how to best institutionalize and manage such mechanisms across CGIAR. (page 27)

A Potential engagement mechanism to mobilize (private) investment is the strategic engagement with investors and development banks; innovative finance mechanisms including accelerators, incubators, start-ups; challenge funds; blended finance; impact investing. (page 25)