How does global agricultural research and innovation cooperation influence agricultural R&I system transformation in the South? Evidence from UK-China cooperation

The need for agri-food system transformation has sparked extensive debates on reconfiguring the agricultural research and innovation system (ARIS) to tackle the multidimensional and interwoven challenges present across geographies and scales. This paper highlights the emergence of China, India and Brazil, and their increasing influence on ARIS in the South. We conceptualise global agricultural R&I cooperation (ARIC) to examine how the changing nature of the cooperation between major players from the North and the South influences ARIS transformation in the South. We propose a local–global nexus (LGN) framework to reveal multiple processes involving researchers and non-academic actors for joint knowledge production and social impact across scales. We explore LGN’s feasibility through a case study of UK-China cooperation to illustrate the necessity and key factors influencing the participation of non-academic actors including smallholder farmers in ARIC. Evidence for this paper comes from a combination of primary data collected from 52 British scientists, representatives of funding agencies and entrepreneurs regarding their experiences, opinions and perceptions of ARIC through bilateral cooperation, and second sources. This paper contributes to ARIS transformation debates from three perspectives. First, it sheds new light on transformative innovation debates by adding an ARIC element for ARIS transformation in the South. Second, it enriches a “pathways approach” by delineating four pathways of ARIC, as well as top-down and bottom-up processes across various scales. Third, it offers an LGN framework for ARIC research to address the complexity, diversity and opportunities for ARIS transformation towards sustainable and equitable agri-food systems in the South.