Improving Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems
OECD Conference Proceedings
This conference proceedings from the OECD Conference on Agricultural Knowledge Systems (AKS), held in Paris, on 15-17 June 2011, discusses a large range of experiences and approaches to AKS explores how to foster development and adoption of innovation to meet global food security and climate change challenges. The conference considered developments in institutional frameworks, public and private roles and partnerships, regulatory frameworks conducive to innovation, the adoption of innovations and technology transfers, and the responsiveness of AKS to broader policy objectives.
The European Union system for health and consumer protection
This section provides a general overview of the EU system for health and consumer protection, and examines some of the initiatives that the European Commission is currently undertaking to encourage innovation in this area. The first part of the chapter presents a background on some of the challenges we are currently facing including — increasing global food demand, and aging population, hunger, food waste, increasing prices and competitiveness in the food supply chain. The second part identifies some of the initiatives designed to spur innovation through smarter legislative processes and other strategies, launched under the Europe 2020 programme. Finally, there is brief examination of challenges in three areas: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), pesticides, and nanotechnology.