The Dutch food, agriculture and horticulture sector is innovative and export oriented, with high value-added along the food chain and significant world export shares for many products.

Innovation, Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability in the Netherlands is part of the OECD Food and Agricultural Reviews series. It was undertaken at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The review examines the conditions in which businesses in the Netherlands undertake innovation in the food and agriculture sector to become more productive and environmentally sustainable. It starts with an overview of the food and agriculture sector and outlines development challenges and opportunities (Chapter 2). A wide range of policies which influence incentives forinnovation are then examined: economic stability, governance and trust in institutions (Chapter 3); a favourable and predictable environment for investment (Chapter 4); capacities and public services enabling business development (Chapter 5); agricultural policy (Chapter 6) and the operation of the agricultural innovation system (Chapter 7).

Markets that function well within a stable regulatory and policy environment are key to improving the productivity and sustainability of the food and agriculture sector. This report contains the main findings and policy lessons gained from a series of wide-ranging country reviews on how government policies can improve sectoral productivity and sustainability through their impact on innovation, structural change, natural resource use, and climate change. Improving the policy environment would require rolling back those policies that distort markets the most and retain farmers in uncompetitive and low-income activities, harm the environment, stifle innovation, slow structural and generational change, and weaken resilience.

Australia’s agriculture and food industries are well placed to contribute to the economy’s future growth given the robust prospects of global food demand and the continuing high international competitiveness of these sectors.

Estonian agriculture has undergone significant growth and structural change since the 1990s in a policy and regulatory environment that has been mostly supportive of investment. The implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy has contributed to the modernisation of the country's agriculture.

Agricultural innovation in Sweden has sought to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the agri-food sector by ensuring a high level of environmental and animal welfare standards, while raising the productivity and financial viability of farms.