EU agricultural research and innovation in a nutshell

Developing a long-term view on agricultural research and innovation (R&I) needs, fosters the overall consistency, sequencing and impact of R&I activities. A strategic approach helps to ensure synergies between R&I activities and other EU policies and set a common direction with Member States and for international research cooperation. The strategic coordination with Member States is crucial as the resources devoted to agricultural research and innovation at EU level still represent only about 10% of Member States public investments in the same area. The strategic approach to EU agricultural research and innovation developed in 2015-2016 aims to harness EU investments to ensure food and nutrition security in the long term, address the environmental sustainability and resilience of land-based primary production and related food and non-food systems and to boost the sustainable growth of rural areas. The strategy is implemented through a synergistic approach mobilising both Horizon 2020 and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) under the umbrella of the European Innovation Partnership 'Agricultural productivity and sustainability' (EIP-AGRI). The EIP-AGRI aims to develop a comprehensive R&I ecosystem covering all aspects of knowledge creation, exchange and use by all concerned actors in agriculture, food and non-food value chains. The implementation of the strategy mobilises a variety of Horizon 2020 instruments, covering the full spectrum of R&I from basic research to innovation (one quarter of resources are directed to innovation actions). To increase and accelerate innovation impact, the so-called 'multi-actor approach', through which end-users, such as farmers and advisers, are involved in R&I from design to implementation of solutions, is used in around two-thirds of the projects. The strategy aims also to enhance synergies with Member States (in particular through European Joint Programmes) and, beyond EU borders, to boost coordination on priority themes at the global level (through the establishment of international research consortia). The use of a systems approach in about one-third of the projects reflects the will to carry out agricultural research in close connection with the wider societal context and challenges. Close links have been established with other parts of Horizon 2020 to achieve higher impact. In particular, strong synergies have been developed with Leadership in enabling and industrial Technologies (LEIT) on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), with which a number of large projects on digital transformation have been co-funded. This factsheet outlines the main features of strategy implementation through the already selected 150 Horizon 2020 projects of interest to agriculture, forestry and rural areas (calls 2014-2017) and the still expected projects under current and future calls (2018-2020).