Public Private Sector Partnerships in an Agricultural System of Innovation: Concepts and Challenges

The purpose of this paper is to explore current practice, speculate on future patterns of PPP and discuss how partnership can be leveraged in the development process. The paper seeks to view PPP experiences and their potential from two perspectives. The first perspective is that of the innovation systems concept with its emphasis on strengthening capacity in the sense of linkages, multiple sources of innovation, and institutional contexts (norms, routines and habits) that shape knowledge flows and learning. The second is the perspective of what a market-driven agricultural sector might look like in coming years, the way the sector is likely to contribute to poverty reducing economic development, and the important role agro-based firms and companies are likely to play in this scenario.