Blog Reflections on Risk, Reward, and the Future of Agrifood-Tech Innovation – The A4IP Flagship Event 2024

In today’s rapidly evolving agrifood landscape, technological innovations are crucial for addressing key global challenges such as food security and climate change. However, these advancements are fraught with risks, particularly in regions where agriculture forms the backbone of livelihoods. These risks include long development cycles, biological dependencies, and climate variability, all of which drive investor hesitancy. For startups in this field, the stakes are high - evidenced by a daunting 90% failure rate across sectors. But, as highlighted throughout the event, multilateral cooperation provides an avenue for mitigating these risks and fostering collaboration across borders, sectors, and disciplines.

Watch the event highlights reel below:

Through insightful keynotes, panel discussions, success stories, and high-level remarks, speakers shared on how multilateralism allows for shared risk and collective rewards, enabling innovative solutions to transcend national and sectoral boundaries. As underscored across interventions, no single country, organization, or initiative can tackle the complex challenges of agrifood-tech innovation alone. The power of international collaboration lies in the ability to pool resources, align goals, and co-invest in scalable solutions that benefit everyone—particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the need for sustainable agriculture is most urgent. 

The event, emceed by A4IP’s Megan Steele, opened with inaugural remarks from: 

• Juan Lucas Restrepo, Director General, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT / CGIAR 
• Hany Ayaad, CEO, Innovation Support Fund, The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research – Egypt 
• Ayason Kennedy, Policy Officer - Rural Development, African Union Commission  
• Massimo Zaurrini, Director, Africa e Affari

The stage was thus set for Dario Giuliani, Founder & Managing Director, Briter Bridges Ltd, to deliver a keynote speech on the investment trends that are driving growth of agrifood-tech innovation, and means by which international cooperation unlock further capital and support long-term impact. The first of two panel discussions was then called into session, focused specifically on The Promise of Emerging Agrifood-Tech Solutions, with intervention from: 

• Frida Koslowski, Deputy Director, ARC Accelerator, & Head of Operations, Kindling 
• Martino Melli, Head of Office, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) Cairo 
• Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Director, Adaptive and Equitable Food Systems, Gates Foundation 
• Sherief Kesseba, Managing Partner, Climate Resilient Africa Fund 
• Angela Bonato, CEO, BeadRoots 
• Cecilia D'Alessandro, Deputy Workstream Head, Sustainable Food Systems, European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) 

Next, five ambitious innovators took to the floor to present their cutting-edge agrifood-tech solutions and share insights on the power of multilateralism in driving success:  

• Ahmed Hamad, Co-founder, Milkup 
• Luca Alinovi, Co-founder & CEO, Aflabox 
• Christopher Kettle, Principal Scientist, My Farm Trees, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT/CGIAR 

Angela Bonato, CEO, BeadRoots 

Alessandro Bucciarelli, Head of Agronomic Products and R&D, xFarm Technologies 

One by one these pioneers formed a collective narrative of resilience and opportunity, illustrating the tangible benefits of multilateral backing, and how innovation thrives when supported by shared resources and collaborative funding models. Mirja Michalscheck, Post Doctoral Researcher, Knowledge & Action Hub for Resilient Nature-Based Water Solutions, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), supplemented the session with a recorded intervention. 

The second panel discussion, Multilateral Pathways to Foster Agrifood Technology Transfer, explored various models of how international cooperation can strengthen cross-border and inter-sectoral partnerships to accelerate innovation, deployment, and impact, with participation from: 

• Biagio di Terlizzi, Deputy Director, CIHEAM Bari 
• Seth Charles Mkisi, Managing Director, Shamba Box, Tanzania 
• Gladys H. Morales, Global Head of Innovation, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)  
• Guido D’Urso, Full Professor of Agricultural Hydraulics, Irrigation management and Remote Sensing, Department of Agricultural Sciences - University of Naples “Federico II” 
• Mohamed Wageih, Agrofood Project Officer, PRIMA Foundation Egypt 

Finally, the program concluded with actionable reflections and closing remarks offered by: 

• Gungu Mibavu, Representative of the Ministry of Agriculture for the United Republic of Tanzania 
• Annette Schneegans, Head of UN Section & Deputy Permanent Representative of the European Union to the United Nations Organizations in Rome 
• Gianpiero Menza, Senior Manager, Partnerships & Innovative Finance, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT / CGIAR 
• Javier Mateo-Vega, Global Director of Partnerships and Communication, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, & Senior Director of Partnerships Intelligence, CGIAR 

One of the most compelling takeaways from the event was the need for a holistic approach to de-risking innovation. Technologies such as AI-driven platforms, genomic editing, and ag-biotech are reshaping agricultural productivity, yet, such solutions will only fulfil their potential through the inclusive and equitable cooperation of diverse stakeholders. Multilateral frameworks can act as critical enablers by reducing the financial and operational uncertainties associated with agrifood-tech. Public-private partnerships (PPPs), for example, offer a model for pooling resources and sharing expertise between governments, international organizations, and the private sector. Such collaborations are instrumental in scaling technologies that promise both sustainability and profitability. 

Discussions delved into the importance of regional innovation hubs as vehicles for technology transfer and cross-border partnerships, particularly in the LMICs. These hubs foster the conditions necessary for scaling agrifood-tech innovations, drawing in both local and international investment. Furthermore, the development of innovative financing models was emphasized as a way to increase investor confidence, particularly in emerging markets. In addition, it became increasingly evident that fostering innovation in LMICs, regions that often experience the harshest impacts of climate change and food insecurity, requires targeted investments and partnerships.