A billion in funds to boost innovation in agriculture has resulted in projects that are not very innovative and that only partially involve farmers. This is the laconic conclusion of a report by the EU Court of Auditors on EU instruments to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability through innovation (EIP-Agri). Instruments that have not fully exploited their potential.
EU judges: few applyful results from investments
“Despite the fact that between 2014 and 2022,” reads the ECA report, “national and EU funding of almost EUR 1 billion was channelled to stimulate innovative practices in agriculture, the initiatives rarely succeeded in producing applyful, practical or widely adopted innovations.
The European Innovation Partnership
the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-Agri), introduced in 2012, is financed by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as well as the EU’s research and innovation policy (Horizon Programme). Under the CAP 2014-2022, the instrument has supported over 4,000 innovative projects aimed at improving productivity and sustainability through collaboration between farmers, researchers, consultants and agribusinesses.
“The concrete requireds of farmers were not taken into account”
“Innovation,” commented the Court’s member in charge of the audit, João Leão, “is essential if the agricultural sector wants to improve its economic, environmental and social sustainability. But the instruments put in place to enhance innovation at farm level have not created the best apply of the allocated resources. Moreover, some opportunities have not been seized: for example, the concrete requireds of farmers have not been taken into account, despite the fact that direct involvement of farmers increases the likelihood of success’.
70 projects implemented in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Poland
The Court’s auditors conducted a data-based analysis and examined a large sample of 70 projects in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Poland. The Court found that innovation potential was rarely a decisive criterion in project selection and that there was generally little involvement of farmers and insufficient attention to their requireds in terms of innovation.
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