This chapter provides a definition of innovation, highlights its importance in fostering economic growth, and outlines the main challenges and opportunities faced by Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS).

This chapter presents an overview of the main trends in Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). AIS are diverse, but there are common trends in developed and emerging economies. The scope of innovation has broadened and today AIS include more actors and more diverse institutions. At the international level, a greater number of countries (e.g. Brazil) are active players in agricultural R and D and technology transfers. As such, there is an increased need for interaction not only across components of the AIS, cut also with other innovation sectors and across countries. This is especially the case as budget constraints have been tightened in many countries, while demand for more innovation is growing. This requires stronger governance, planning, priority setting and evaluation mechanisms. This, in turn, has prompted many countries to review their AIS and its performance.