Quality and innovation in food chains

Abstract

The book is based on interdisciplinary collaborative research projects. An interdisciplinary approach leads to better insights in the opportunities and constraints for quality improvement, and helps public and private actors in seizing the opportunities and removing the constraints. This publication shows how a co-innovation perspective can be developed and applied. Co-innovation entails the combination of technical, organisational and institutional changes, the involvement of various chain actors, and the introduction of complementary innovations at different levels of the food chain. Quality and innovation in food chains: lessons from Africa is an essential read for anyone involved in studying, supporting and implementing quality improvements and innovations in food chains.

Regional Innovation System in Rural Economic Institutional: Empirical Evidence From Semarang, Indonesia

“…Village institutions that have access to adequate infrastructure capacity such as financial infrastructure, availability of information and communication technology, use of information and communication technology availability, adequate companion capacity and available training tend to have better capacity for innovation. Infrastructure support is needed to support access to input and output markets, access to credit information and facilities, and technical innovation assistance (Royer et al, 2016). On the input side, the availability of infrastructure supports access to resources, market information, financial services and technology.…”

“…Market networks are also hampered by monopolistic practices, corruption and low market confidence. In addition, the quality of agricultural and industrial products in rural areas is often uneven and uncertain, making private companies reluctant to cooperate with small-scale producers (Royer et al, 2016). Supermarkets often support large and mediumsized suppliers and are close to cities, considering the lower costs and risks of doing business with large and medium-scale suppliers in these rural areas.…”

“…In the free markets era, SMEs in agricultural sectors, industries sectors, distributions and others sectors that are mostly in rural areas have difficulty competing due to economic scale factors and limitations in accessing resources (Royer, Bijman, & Bitzer, 2016). Based on New Institutional Economic Theory (NIE) (Williamson, 2015), development of the economic sector in rural areas can be done through institutional arrangements (micro level) and institutional environment (macro level).…”

“…In terms of infrastructure, guidelines for village innovation, innovation grants, assistance, innovation / appropriate technology exchanges are available for facilitating innovators (at the level of economic institutions) to undertake rural innovation activities. However, many rural areas in many developing countries have a weak Institution capacity, a low culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, and tend to be resistant to the change (Royer et al, 2016). Various policies and regulations, the development of innovation infrastructure (guidelines, applications, IT), Institution capacity (training) and culture of innovation (empowerment) have been carried out by the government, but innovation activities at the rural institutions level (such as: Bumdes, Gapoktan) have not been optimal.…”

“…Infrastructure is important, especially for farmers, industrial actors and rural institutions, to produce high quality products. That is because a poor infrastructure may cause problems of the decrease in quality and access to input resources and markets (Royer et al, 2016). In complex and dynamic environments, integrated knowledge resources become increasingly important.…”