SPECIAL FEATURE
Operations at the OPEC Fund, who previously worked for the World Bank
and continents to learn from each other. To see what is possible in similar development contexts. To put a premium not only on South-South cooperation for its own sake, but on mutually supportive system innovation. Going deeper, a recent report co- authored by Hall features several case studies, including new approaches to irrigation in Bangladesh (see box on page 14) and sustainable food production in Australia (see box below). Both studies capture the gear-like components of system innovation, including the importance of entrepreneurship, the leveraging of new technologies and the mutually supportive interplay between public and private sector, amid societal “revolutions”. The first case study also provides an early insight into the circular economy — as the new system involved not only the sale of pumps but also their maintenance, repair and recycling.
Ijeoma Emenanjo, OPEC Fund Country Manager for West and Central Africa, Public Sector Operations
across various parts of Africa and Asia. Drawing a direct comparison, he says: “Southeast Asia is in
West Java. The reservoir helps irrigate almost 250,000 hectares of rice fields, which is more than 10-20 times the size of average irrigation projects in Africa. By contrast, the first project I did in the Zambezi area was 10,000 hectares. So, I aimed to bring not only larger irrigation systems but a new mindset on the importance of these systems over rainfed agriculture to Zambia and other countries across Southern Africa. Clearly, a lot of development is about changing mindsets, convincing people that change for the better is possible.” Against that backdrop, system innovation in the developing world can also be understood as helping countries
many ways around 20 years ahead of sub-Saharan Africa in terms of development. But if you look back to the 1960s, you’ll see that Malaysia, Indonesia, even Singapore had similar human development index scores as many African countries. I’ve spent a lot of time studying how and why many of these Southeast Asian countries transitioned ahead of their African counterparts. Bringing those lessons to my work in Africa is what I’ve done for most of my career. “The first project that I worked on in Indonesia was the multipurpose Jatiluhur Dam, an irrigation scheme in
AUSTRALIA: Sundrop farms: sustainability pioneers in the Australian food system
“In 2012, Sundrop Farms, a UK-based agri-business with operations in Australia, Portugal and the United States, developed and patented a system of greenhouse crop production that does not depend on fossil fuels, arable land and fresh water resources. The company estimates total annual cost savings at between 5 and 15 percent compared with fossil-fuel-powered glasshouses. “Reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, fresh water and diesel fuel use are estimated to amount to 26,000 tonnes, 450 million litres, and 2 million litres, respectively. The Sundrop Farms System™ integrates established technologies from across the world (solar thermal systems, greenhouse design, hydroponic systems, vertical farming, desalination technology, etc.) in a novel form. The company received considerable venture capital support and government investment in Australia. It notably signed a 10-year contract with one of Australia’s major supermarket chains to supply all of its tomatoes. “The role a sustainability pioneer like Sundrop plays in the transition is that it helps demonstrate a
sustainable alternative and provides evidence that such an alternative can benefit different value chain actors, including consumers. This is typical of the sorts of activity that emerge in the early take-off phase of transition and that help create societal and political awareness of new directions. While this example is private sector-led, it received significant public support.”
PHOTO: Mansouraboud68
Source: Hall, A. and Dijkman, J. 2019. Public Agricultural Research in an Era of Transformation: The Challenge of Agri-Food System Innovation . Rome and Canberra: CGIAR Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) Secretariat and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); pp.29, 32
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