190
most apparent with larger food and agriculture companies that have adopted the UN
SDGs as part of their CSR strategies. Of the 169 targets embedded in the UN SDGs,
only 15 are directly related to hunger and poverty eradication.
13
The focus and capital commitment needed to meet the SDGs will redirect funding away from hunger
and poverty programs to environmental and sustainable goals such as deforestation,
sustainable seafood, and carbon footprint. The gap in agricultural yield and farm
output will not be closed with traditional approaches to R&D and investment funding, but will require a new approach to agricultural innovation, particularly for
developing nations to close the agricultural productivity gap they experience.
Over the last several decades, the United States, historically the leader in agriculture research, has reduced the growth of its investments in agricultural and crop
research, further amplifying the reduction in available agricultural innovation to
developing nations and smallholder farmers (Fig. 7.8).
As government investments have been reduced, the private sector has seen an
opportunity to invest in profitable research and development projects. Through
much of the twentieth century, private equity and venture capital firms invested in
new business opportunities and potential growth business operating models. In the
13 http://businesscommission.org/our-work/valuing-the-sdg-prize-in-food-and-agriculture
Fig. 7.8 Slowing US public R&D spending for agriculture. (Source: https://www.ers.usda.gov/
webdocs/publications/89114/err-249.pdf?v=43244. Heisey, Paul W., and Keith O. Fuglie.
Agricultural Research Investment and Policy Reform in High-Income Countries, ERR-249,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, May 2018 Public USDA CRIS data
series OECD Library Global and US Trends in Agricultural R&D in a Global Food Security
Setting 2012, OECD, Agricultural Research Investment and Policy Reform in High Income
Countries, USDA May 2018 DC Donnan analysis)
D. Donnan
most apparent with larger food and agriculture companies that have adopted the UN
SDGs as part of their CSR strategies. Of the 169 targets embedded in the UN SDGs,
only 15 are directly related to hunger and poverty eradication.
13
The focus and capital commitment needed to meet the SDGs will redirect funding away from hunger
and poverty programs to environmental and sustainable goals such as deforestation,
sustainable seafood, and carbon footprint. The gap in agricultural yield and farm
output will not be closed with traditional approaches to R&D and investment funding, but will require a new approach to agricultural innovation, particularly for
developing nations to close the agricultural productivity gap they experience.
Over the last several decades, the United States, historically the leader in agriculture research, has reduced the growth of its investments in agricultural and crop
research, further amplifying the reduction in available agricultural innovation to
developing nations and smallholder farmers (Fig. 7.8).
As government investments have been reduced, the private sector has seen an
opportunity to invest in profitable research and development projects. Through
much of the twentieth century, private equity and venture capital firms invested in
new business opportunities and potential growth business operating models. In the
13 http://businesscommission.org/our-work/valuing-the-sdg-prize-in-food-and-agriculture
Fig. 7.8 Slowing US public R&D spending for agriculture. (Source: https://www.ers.usda.gov/
webdocs/publications/89114/err-249.pdf?v=43244. Heisey, Paul W., and Keith O. Fuglie.
Agricultural Research Investment and Policy Reform in High-Income Countries, ERR-249,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, May 2018 Public USDA CRIS data
series OECD Library Global and US Trends in Agricultural R&D in a Global Food Security
Setting 2012, OECD, Agricultural Research Investment and Policy Reform in High Income
Countries, USDA May 2018 DC Donnan analysis)
D. Donnan