Blog A4IP Flagship Event 2025 recap: Innovating agri-food research & development models for a changing landscape

Across the panels, sessions, and startup pitches, experts and entrepreneurs engaged in a high-level dialogue on innovation, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship, with a clear focus on turning science into real-world impact. Below are the key takeaways from the discussions:

• AI is reshaping scientific discovery and ideation: From field data collection and crop monitoring to precision farming, AI is becoming a core driver of agricultural innovation. For scientists and innovators in food systems transformation, AI is no longer optional.
• A new generation of scientists is embracing entrepreneurship: Increasingly, purpose-driven researchers are looking beyond academic publications, launching startups through diversified business models, and co-developing innovations that create tangible impact.
• Derisking and diversifying investment in agtech is critical: The current funding slowdown has raised questions about whether traditional venture capital models fit agriculture’s long timelines. There is a growing need for patient capital and blended finance, with public funding playing a key role in reducing investment risk.

• Innovation must be context-specific:

“Put the users in the center — the farmers. They already have knowledge and maybe some solutions themselves, but the enabling environment is not helping them to really thrive. If you start from their realities, innovations can become more effective and better embedded in local livelihoods,” emphasized Charlotte Verburg, First Secretary of Water and Food Security Advisor, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Niger. 

Technology and data alone aren’t enough. Solutions must be tailored to farmers' diverse realities, respecting cultural, ecological, and economic contexts, especially as data becomes a competitive asset for farmers.  

• Unusual partnerships are essential 

“I think the big shift that we have seen is actually the shift from calling things pilots and lighthouses to moving to scale. Urgency has really finally hit corporates, particularly food corporates, when it comes to what’s happening as a result of climate change in food and agriculture. So what I’ve seen is actually more uptake in changing agricultural practices to safeguard our food for the future,” shared Dorothy Shaver, Global Foods Sustainability Lead, Unilever Food Business Group. 

Stronger international cooperation, public-private partnerships, and multi-stakeholder engagement— facilitated through decentralized innovation hubs — will accelerate tech transfer and empower local innovation.  

“We eat technologically. We are human. Technology is not just a tool; it is the way in which we inhabit this world. The question is not whether we can do away with technology to feed ourselves, but under what conditions the irreplaceable technological mediation of our food preserves our humanity and fosters justice for all,” reflected Don Andrea Ciucci, Coordinator of the Secretariat, Pontifical Academy for Life. 

Beyond funding, innovators need holistic support: Access to technical expertise, strategic networks, and global advocacy platforms is essential for navigating regulations, reaching markets, and scaling impact.  

Speakers agreed that global transformation requires collective effort—researchers translating science into solutions, investors providing catalytic capital, and governments creating enabling policies and environments.  

“What we have seen is just how the landscape of international development is changing, which poses significant threats, but important opportunities,” reflected Juan Lucas Restrepo, Director General of the Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT.