Analysis of the collaborative innovation network in agri-food systems: an All4Food case study

Abstract

This study aims to investigate how a collaborative network is shaped and its effects on the innovation system. Theoretical approaches to networks and resources guided a case study on All4Food, a multiactors network in the Brazilian agri-food innovation system. The results suggest that the prior personal relationship motivated the network design with the purpose of connecting stakeholders of the agri-food sector for sustainable innovative solutions. The network expansion was supported by the governance and organized into a set of coordinators and an advisory board. The network’s diversity and size imply challenges in the network management. Complementary human and knowledge resources of actors resulted in intangible (collective knowledge, trust, reciprocity, and industry articulation) and tangible network resources (governance structure, platform for matchmaking, agenda and strategic plan). The network provided positive externalities for the innovation system, such as matchmaking and forum events, research agenda, and projects for co-creation, diffusion of knowledge and capacity building. This article is justified by the methodological-empirical
contribution that the network has provided to important topics, such as
innovation, food loss and waste, and sustainability.