Innovation, Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability in Sweden is part of the OECD Food and Agricultural Reviews series. This review was undertaken at the request of the Swedish Ministry for Enterprise and Innovation and it examines the conditions in which farms and businesses undertake innovation in the food and agriculture sector to become more productive and environmentally sustainable.

Since joining the European Union (EU) in 1995, Sweden has promoted EU and domestic agricultural policy reforms to move towards a more market-oriented and sustainable agricultural system. These policies are aimed at achieving high levels of environmental performance and animal welfare while also ensuring high productivity and financial viability for farmers, and lowering government expenditures. Over the years, these policies have led to a high level of confidence by Swedish consumers and citizens in the overall performance of their agricultural and food system.

This chapter summarises the findings of the review and presents policy recommendations to foster productivity and sustainability in the food and agriculture sector in Sweden. Policies are examined using a framework developed by OECD to analyse the extent to which a country's policies support innovation, productivity growth, structural change and sustainable use of natural resources in the food and agriculture sector.

This chapter outlines the overall economic, social and environmental context in which the food and agriculture sector in Sweden operates, and the natural resource base upon which it relies. It discusses the challenges and opportunities for the sector; describes the natural and economic context; shows the importance of the agricultural sector in the economy; outlines the main structural characteristics of the sector; and analyses the main trends and performance in agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability

This chapter gives an overview of the performance of the overall economy, the macroeconomic developments and challenges, governance and institutions, and the incentives in Sweden for investment by firms, including farms, input suppliers, and food companies. The overall regulatory system and conditions for investment are described, in particular as they relate to agriculture and the food sector. Trade and investment policies are examined, as are the credit and tax incentives for R&D in the context of new technologies and innovations in the food and agriculture sector.

Capacity building, including provision of essential public services, is one of the main channels to support innovation and sustainable development. This chapter focuses on three relevant policy areas: infrastructure and rural development policy; labour market policy; and education and skills policy.

This chapter provides an overview of the agricultural policy framework and instruments, focusing on European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and national (non-EU) measures, and their implementation in Sweden. Particular attention is paid to measures related to knowledge generation, knowledge transfer and innovation. Finally, there is a discussion of the likely policy impact of agricultural policies on innovation, productivity growth and sustainability performance.

This chapter describes the Swedish Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) and outlines recent changes. It provides an overview of the general innovation system; identifies the actors in agricultural innovation and their roles; describes main trends in public and private investments in agricultural R&D, and discusses mechanisms to foster knowledge flows and national and international collaboration; and gives an overview of policy incentives for the adoption of innovation, outlining the role and diversity of knowledge and innovation intermediaries, including farm advisory services. The final section describes research outcomes and impact, as well as innovation adoption in primary agriculture and food processing firms.