Premise

This 1.5-day interactive workshop is focused around specifying what we know and need to know to understand and strengthen agtech (i.e., venture capital-backed entrepreneurship applied to agriculture and food) in order to advance sustainable agrifood transitions. We focus specifically on innovation intermediaries – incubators, accelerators, prize competitions and hands-on investors – positioned to support entrepreneurial ventures and integrate disparate components of systems of innovation. Our critical analysis of agtech innovation ecosystems is a strategic effort to mobilize innovation capabilities to conserve the resource base on which agriculture depends, halt biodiversity loss, reverse anthropogenic climate change, and contribute to producing greater equity in economic opportunities, health and quality of life.

Objective

Convene a small group (~20) of academics and practitioners to advance relevant analysis, debates, and practices. As a starting place, we offer the following set of provocations. We invite all participants to critique this list and offer additional/alternative foci.

• The merits of focusing on innovation intermediaries as a strategic point of entry for understanding and leveraging agtech to advance sustainability.
• The implications of various problem definitions including sustainable intensification, agroecological transitions, and economic development.
• How social impact is defined, pursued, assessed, and regulated in agtech innovation ecosystems.
• Identification and dissemination of Productive Practices for advancing social impact through agtech.
• Assess the plasticity of the Silicon-Valley model of innovation. What kinds of creative “hacks” are observed and possible?
• Situating agtech innovation ecosystems within the broader agrifood innovation system. Where do opportunities lie to strengthen complementarities between public sector and private sector engagement?
• Assessing the significance of agtech in relation to contemporary socioecological problems.