Strengthening agricultural innovation capacity: are innovation brokers the answer?

Taking the case of Dutch agriculture as an example, this paper examines the role of innovation brokers in stimulating innovation system interaction and innovation capacity building, and reflects upon their potential role in developing countries’ agriculture. It concludes that innovation brokerage is likely to be relevant in emerging economies, that public or donor investment may be needed to overcome inherent tensions regarding the neutrality and funding of such players in the innovation system, and that stimulating the emergence of innovation brokers requires a policy that supports institutional learning and experimentation to ensure that the brokers become contextually embedded.