1
© The Author(s) 2021
H. Campos (ed.), The Innovation Revolution in Agriculture,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50991-0_1
Chapter 1
The Quest for Innovation: Addressing User
Needs and Value Creation
Hugo Campos
1.1 Why Innovation?
The need to innovate is more urgent than ever before. While every economic sector
has this need, few are more pressing than agriculture and agrifood systems, as they
provide, every single day, food, feedstuff and fibers to humankind. The unforeseen
arrival, and far reaching impact, of the COVID-19 pandemic, only reinforces the
pressing need to get much better and effective at innovation efforts.
There have been many successful innovations in the field of agriculture to date,
leading to increases in farmer productivity and production in many developed and
developing countries. As a consequence, the number of people employed as farmers
has fallen dramatically in some parts of the world: in 1900, 4 in 10 US jobs were in
agriculture, whereas in 2010 this number fell to 2 in 100 (Autor 2014). However, in
Africa and Asia, agriculture still remains as a significant source of jobs and income
for many people. In Africa alone, despite declining as a share of employment, selfemployed farming remains the single largest source of employment, where it
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or
more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new
order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old
order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new
order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries… and
partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything
new until they have had actual experience of it. – Niccolò Machiavelli
This work has been supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, investment (OPP1213329),
awarded to the International Potato Center (SweetGAINS). It was undertaken as part of, and
funded by, the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) and supported by
CGIAR Trust Fund contributors (https://www.cgiar.org/funders/).
H. Campos (*)
International Potato Center, Lima, Peru
e-mail: h.campos@cgiar.org
© The Author(s) 2021
H. Campos (ed.), The Innovation Revolution in Agriculture,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50991-0_1
Chapter 1
The Quest for Innovation: Addressing User
Needs and Value Creation
Hugo Campos
1.1 Why Innovation?
The need to innovate is more urgent than ever before. While every economic sector
has this need, few are more pressing than agriculture and agrifood systems, as they
provide, every single day, food, feedstuff and fibers to humankind. The unforeseen
arrival, and far reaching impact, of the COVID-19 pandemic, only reinforces the
pressing need to get much better and effective at innovation efforts.
There have been many successful innovations in the field of agriculture to date,
leading to increases in farmer productivity and production in many developed and
developing countries. As a consequence, the number of people employed as farmers
has fallen dramatically in some parts of the world: in 1900, 4 in 10 US jobs were in
agriculture, whereas in 2010 this number fell to 2 in 100 (Autor 2014). However, in
Africa and Asia, agriculture still remains as a significant source of jobs and income
for many people. In Africa alone, despite declining as a share of employment, selfemployed farming remains the single largest source of employment, where it
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or
more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new
order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old
order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new
order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries… and
partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything
new until they have had actual experience of it. – Niccolò Machiavelli
This work has been supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, investment (OPP1213329),
awarded to the International Potato Center (SweetGAINS). It was undertaken as part of, and
funded by, the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) and supported by
CGIAR Trust Fund contributors (https://www.cgiar.org/funders/).
H. Campos (*)
International Potato Center, Lima, Peru
e-mail: h.campos@cgiar.org