Readiness of developing East Asian countries to embrace transformative innovations

is often an important element of effective adoption of many production-oriented innovations that are more suitable for scale economies. Capital requirements or land ownership and structure may, however, be prohibitive to smallholder adoption of precision agriculture, mechanization, and some urban farming and CSA practices. land consolidation or collective action among many farms may alleviate such constraints in reaching sufficient economies of scale. Similarly, some innovations (for example, CSA, precision agriculture, organic farming) require a higher level of skills and knowledge, making their adoption more challenging in isolated or poorly serviced locations and among the less educated and aging farmers. The higher costs of improved seed (for example, through biotechnology or GE) or feed additives, however, have often been offset by reduced costs (of labor and pesticides) and higher yields and improved growth and health of livestock.

Innovations in the food chain have the potential to improve health outcomes (for example, by reducing foodborne disease), and through improved traceability, to reduce FlW and GHG emissions. They may also to some extent improve productivity (improved efficiency and reduced FlW). At present, costs may discourage firms, and benefits to farmers depend on their ability to join trading and e-commerce schemes. low-cost and collective storage solutions, however, offer great potential to smallholders.

The value of food consumption- and nutrition-related innovations lies primarily in their health aspects. plant- and insect-based sources of protein also offer commercial opportunities for smallholders and may result in environmental benefits (fewer livestock and GHG emissions). lab-grown meat also promises commercial opportunities, environmental sustainability, and health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased consumer interest in alternative meats. However, at present, such technology is beyond the reach of most firms and farmers. Costs and access to products with enhanced consumption and nutrition characteristics may be prohibitive and limit uptake by less affluent members of society, although much effort goes toward reducing the cost to consumers of such alternative sources of protein.

This section discusses the developing East Asian countries’ capacity to embrace specific transformative innovations. Additional details on country capacity are provided in appendix E.

Overall capacity for transformative innovations across East Asia

The transformative innovations vary by level of science, technology, and innovation (STI) capacity required for their development as well as the level of ease with which they can be adopted in the existing agri-food system context, that is, considering farmer-enterprise capacity, access to innovation and finance, infrastructure, and so on. Figure 5.2 presents a simplified and subjective ranking of a range of innovations and the associated STI capacity requirements and ease of adoption. For instance, easy-to-adopt innovations include fortification, varieties, and agrochemicals, whereas greater skills and effort are required to adopt many forms of precision agriculture, food safety applications, and urban farming