This book addresses the intersections of entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability in food systems, and presents high-quality research illustrating the central role that food consumption and production play in achieving sustainability goals. Entrepreneurship and innovation have become particularly relevant aspects in the European Union (EU), especially since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were announced in 2015. In many cases, innovations tend to arise from small and medium-sized enterprises, and from completely new entrepreneurial endeavors. This book represents essential reading for researchers and young academics seeking to reduce disparities and inequalities in food production and consumptions patterns. By encouraging sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation, it will also help young scholars find support for their startup ideas.

Fransman explains how innovation happens and which factors can help or hinder, by treating innovation as a systemic phenomenon, or ecosystem of players and processes. It will appeal to economists, other social scientists, business people, policy makers, and anyone interested in innovation and entrepreneurship.

“We do not know where Silicon Valley is really located”, Feldman writes, because these types of organization, when they are dynamic, are moving and fluid. Innovation and production ecosystems or clusters are proliferating today because they seem to be adapted to the demands of innovation, growth and employment. The process leading to their institutionalization escapes a summary analysis of the behavior triggered by monetary incentives or, at the very least, makes it richer. The relational aspect becomes predominant, the interactions between the participants testify to the difficulty of separating the geographical and social dimensions. In the most prominent American clusters, public/private linkages and the building of social links express the centrality of networks in the innovation process. The European vision seeks to articulate entrepreneurial discoveries with vertical public interventions. The competitiveness poles in France suffer from the fact that public choices seem to be torn between two contradictory objectives: efficiency and equity.

"We do not know where Silicon Valley is really located", Feldman writes, because these types of organization, when they are dynamic, are moving and fluid. Innovation and production ecosystems or clusters are proliferating today because they seem to be adapted to the demands of innovation, growth and employment. The process leading to their institutionalization escapes a summary analysis of the behavior triggered by monetary incentives or, at the very least, makes it richer. The relational aspect becomes predominant, the interactions between the participants testify to the difficulty of separating the geographical and social dimensions. In the most prominent American clusters, public/private linkages and the building of social links express the centrality of networks in the innovation process. The European vision seeks to articulate entrepreneurial discoveries with vertical public interventions. The competitiveness poles in France suffer from the fact that public choices seem to be torn between two contradictory objectives: efficiency and equity.

This volume highlights the interplay between different types of innovation systems. It recognizes the need to develop new lenses to formally account for adaptative behaviour within clusters, networks or regional innovation systems using the ecosystem metaphor.

This book presents multidisciplinary research that expands our understanding of the innovation system (IS) and the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) perspectives on regional economic development. It critically reviews the two concepts and explores the promise and the limits of bridging IS and EE, particularly as applied outside of the bubbling global hubs or to the types of entrepreneurship different from the high-growth variety.

Managing the ability of agriculture to meet rising global demand and to respond to the changes and opportunities will require good policy, sustained investments, and innovation - not business as usual. Investments in public Research and Development, extension, education, and their links with one another have elicited high returns and pro-poor growth, but these investments alone will not elicit innovation at the pace or on the scale required by the intensifying and proliferating challenges confronting agriculture. Experience indicates that aside from a strong capacity in Research and Development, the ability to innovate is often related to collective action, coordination, the exchange of knowledge among diverse actors, the incentives and resources available to form partnerships and develop businesses, and conditions that make it possible for farmers or entrepreneurs to use the innovations. While consensus is developing about what is meant by 'innovation' and 'innovation system', no detailed blueprint exists for making agricultural innovation happen at a given time, in a given place, for a given result. The AIS approach that looks at these multiple conditions and relationships that promote innovation in agriculture, has however moved from a concept to a sub-discipline with principles of analysis and action. AIS investments must be specific to the context, responding to the stage of development in a particular country and agricultural sector, especially the AIS. This sourcebook contributes to identifying, designing, and implementing the investments, approaches, and complementary interventions that appear most likely to strengthen AIS and to promote agricultural innovation and equitable growth. It emphasizes the lessons learned, benefits and impacts, implementation issues, and prospects for replicating or expanding successful practices. The information in this sourcebook derives from approaches that have been tested at different scales in different contexts. It reflects the experiences and evolving understanding of numerous individuals and organizations concerned with agricultural innovation, including the World Bank. This information is targeted to the key operational staff in international and regional development agencies and national governments who design and implement lending projects and to the practitioners who design thematic programs and technical assistance packages. The sourcebook can also be an important resource for the research community and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).