Research Brief: Analysis of Impact Pathways of Research on Agriculture

Summary

The findings and recommendations presented in this Research Brief are based on six regional case studies, which were performed to develop and test a methodological framework for assessing the impacts of Scientific Research on Agriculture (SRA). The aim was to investigate the complex innovation processes occurring along related impact pathways. The case studies were selected in five countries for their agro-ecological and socio-economic diversity. The methodology developed was based on the Participatory Impact Pathway Analysis(PIPA) and complemented by some additional methods, mainly to adapt the PIPA approach to the requirements of an ex-post impact assessment (using Outcome Harvesting). We also put more emphasis on the role of the actor network, considering its great importance in the agricultural sector. All cases showed that the intended impacts as defined at the beginning of the research programme are at least partially met at the time of the assessment, and that both unintended and unexpected effects occurred. Enabling and disabling factors were identified regarding the development of trust, networks and role of economic and institutional frameworks. We provide recommendations aimed at the research and research policy community on ex-ante, within-project, and ex-post research impact assessment, as well as on management of research calls and of funding frameworks.