Resources & New Publications
Disseminating and exploiting results – A starter kit for EU-funded research and innovation projects
The European Commission has published a handy starter kit: a practical guide to help research and innovation projects maximise the economic and societal impact of their results through Dissemination and Exploitation activities.
European Commission: European Research Executive Agency, Disseminating and exploiting results – A starter kit for EU-funded research and innovation projects, Publications Office of the European Union, 2025. Read more.
Agricultural innovation frames, policies, and instruments: evolution, lessons, and future research
Scientific and technical innovation can tackle major development challenges, especially in agriculture in low- and middle-income countries. Success depends heavily on an enabling policy environment.
This paper reviews 60 years of research on agricultural innovation and public policy.
It explores three conceptual frameworks: science and technology policy, innovation system policy, and transformative innovation and scaling. Each framework’s goals, policy focus, and research methods are analyzed.
Five future research priorities are identified: integrated assessment frameworks, context-sensitive scaling strategies, solutions-oriented impact studies, organizational reform entry points, and sustainability transitions. The agenda emphasizes rigorous, data-driven approaches to evaluate innovation outcomes.
It highlights the importance of local context in scaling agronomic and natural resource innovations. Organizational, institutional, political, and economic factors are critical for effective policy design.
Ultimately, the study calls for multi-scale, systemic approaches to inform policies that achieve real-world development impacts.
Catherine Ragasa, David Spielman, John Lynam, Agricultural innovation frames, policies, and instruments: evolution, lessons, and future research, Food Policy, Volume 137, 2025, 103008,
ISSN 0306-9192. Read more.
For IDRC, “scaling impact” implies optimizing results in ways that will matter to people and our planet. By critically reflecting on how we can make the most of our investments in research and scale impact, we have learned that there is no single approach or method to make this happen.
Scaling science is borne of the belief that we can be more systematic and scientific about the way we scale, and that by doing so we increase the likelihood that our research will effect meaningful change. Scaling science is about maximizing the positive impacts of innovation while carefully studying how scaling unfolds.
IDRC did not invent the scaling science concept; it is a description of the creativity and imagination of the innovators we have worked with and our reflections on their work.
Scaling impact is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring that innovative solutions reach the people and places that need them most. This course equips you with the knowledge and tools to scale responsibly — balancing ambition with equity and sustainability.
Whether you are a researcher, practitioner, funder, policymaker, or student working toward sustainable and inclusive development, this course is designed for you. Taught by a global faculty of leading researchers and practitioners, it combines concise video lectures on theory with real-world case studies and interactive activities you can complete at your own pace. Read more.
Cameroon: UK supports new generation of Central Africa researchers
British High Commission Yaoundé showcases cohort CRAFT Scholars and highlights landmark investment in Congo Basin Science.
The British High Commission in Yaoundé has unveiled scholars under the pioneering Congo Rainforest Alliance for Forest Training for Sustainable Development (CRAFT) programme, a major milestone in advancing worldclass, locally led scientific research across the Congo Basin.
UK support for a new generation of Central African researchers represents a decisive step toward building locally anchored, globally competitive expertise. Their work will generate essential new knowledge on the Congo Basin’s climate, forests, water systems, and societies areas where longstanding data gaps have hindered evidencebased policymaking for decades.
Through their research, the scholars will help drive a transformative scientific agenda that closes the knowledge gap between the Congo Basin and other major tropical forest regions, such as the Amazon. Their work will also support Africacentred approaches to climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable land use. More here.
AI Boosts Research Careers but Flattens Scientific Discovery
New analysis suggests AI tools narrow the span of ideas explored
AI is turning scientists into publishing machines—and quietly funneling them into the same crowded corners of research.
That’s the conclusion of an analysis of more than 40 million academic papers, which found that scientists who use AI tools in their research publish more papers, accumulate more citations, and reach leadership roles sooner than peers who don’t.
But there’s a catch. As individual scholars soar through the academic ranks, science as a whole shrinks its curiosity. AI-heavy research covers less topical ground, clusters around the same data-rich problems, and sparks less follow-on engagement between studies.
The findings highlight a tension between personal career advancement and collective scientific progress, as tools such as ChatGPT and AlphaFold seem to reward speed and scale—but not surprise. Read more.
From Fakes to Forced Labour – Evidence of Correlation Between Illicit Trade in Counterfeits and Labour Exploitation
This report presents new empirical evidence demonstrating a robust link between trade in counterfeit goods and labour exploitation. Countries with higher levels of forced labour and informality show greater counterfeit-export intensity, indicating that illicit production thrives where workers are unprotected and easily replaced. These findings call for integrated policy action: addressing counterfeiting requires improving labour-market conditions and promoting high labour standards is important to ensuring clean and competitive global trade. Strengthened data sharing, coordinated enforcement, responsible business conduct, and enhanced social-protection systems are essential.
OECD/EUIPO (2026), From Fakes to Forced Labour: Evidence of Correlation Between Illicit Trade in Counterfeits and Labour Exploitation, Illicit Trade, OECD Publishing, Paris,
Global Food Value Chains: An In-depth Exploration of International Trade Dynamics
The global food industry has undergone significant changes in recent years, with a growing emphasis on value chains and supply chain management. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the global food value chain, examining the various factors that shape its dynamics, including trade policies, market trends and technological innovations.
One of the unique features of this book is its focus on the management of global food value chains. The chapters provide practical insights and strategies for managing these complex networks of actors and processes, including the role of technology and innovation in improving supply chain efficiency and reducing waste. Another distinctive feature of this book is its interdisciplinary approach, drawing on insights from economics, geography and business studies to provide a holistic understanding of the global food value chain. More here.
Pass-Through of Cocoa Prices Along the Supply Chain: What’s Left for Farmers in Côte d’Ivoire?
This paper aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the price formation process for cocoa at each stage of the supply chain in the world’s largest cocoa-producing country. By examining potential inefficiencies that affect price pass-through and could explain exceptionally low farm-gate prices, the study seeks to identify segments of the supply chain where policy or market interventions could improve outcomes for farmers. Read more.
World enters era of ‘water bankruptcy’, hitting poorest
The world has entered an era of “global water bankruptcy,” according to a new report by the United Nations University. This means humanity is using more water than nature can replenish, permanently draining rivers, lakes and aquifers. Natural water reserves such as glaciers, wetlands and groundwater are being lost and cannot be fully restored. Around 2.2 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water worldwide. Nearly four billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least part of each year.
Climate change, pollution, weak governance and rising demand from agriculture and cities are driving the crisis. Many major lakes are shrinking, while groundwater levels are declining across most regions. The impacts are especially severe in low-income countries and vulnerable communities.
The report urges governments to adapt to new water realities rather than relying on past supply levels. Without urgent action, water scarcity will deepen inequality and threaten food security, health and development. Read more here.
AI Boosts Research Careers but Flattens Scientific Discovery
New analysis suggests AI tools narrow the span of ideas explored
AI tools are helping scientists publish more papers, get more citations, and advance faster in their careers. An analysis of over 40 million academic papers shows researchers using AI outperform peers in traditional career metrics. But AI-augmented research tends to cluster around the same familiar, data-rich topics. This narrowing of focus reduces the overall diversity of scientific inquiry.
AI’s efficiency may be rewarding speed and scale more than originality and surprise. The trend could create feedback loops that reinforce conformity in research topics. Automated tools make it easier to produce high volumes of papers, including lower-quality work. Scientists may overlook messier, less charted problems that are harder for AI to tackle. The report suggests this effect stems from existing scientific incentive structures.
Experts say rethinking how AI is used and rewarded could help expand scientific discovery. More here.
The Re-Export Puzzle: How the OECD addresses the largest source of distortion in merchandise trade statistics
Discrepancies between reported exports and mirror imports, commonly referred to as trade asymmetries, can complicate policy analysis, business decisions, and research. One of the most significant, yet least understood, sources of these gaps is re-exports, particularly as goods increasingly move through complex global supply chains and major trade hubs.
In a new OECD – OCDE blog post, we examine how re-exports contribute to asymmetries in international merchandise trade statistics and explain how the Balanced International Merchandise Trade Statistics dataset addresses this challenge. By identifying and reallocating re-export flows to producer countries, BIMTS provides a more coherent and comparable picture of global trade.
The latest release of BIMTS, now covering data up to 2024, offers researchers and policymakers an improved, origin-based view of trade flows and supports better analysis of global value chains.
Full article here. Check out the data here.
Logistics is no longer merely a support function but a strategic enabler of growth
The Global Trade Observatory Annual Outlook Report 2026 points to a shift in thinking among 3,500 supply chain and logistics executives. They are sending a clear message: modern logistics is a competitive advantage, and the infrastructure must be treated as a strategic priority.Across markets and sectors, we see this shift reflected in how supply chains are being redesigned, invested in and governed. REad the report here.
EU Agricultural Outlook report 2025-2035
The EU agricultural outlook, published once a year, presents the outlook for major EU agricultural markets until 2035. This Commission report is the result of a long-standing cooperation between the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Joint Research Centre.
It is based on a set of assumptions regarding the macroeconomic environment, the agricultural and trade policy environment, and international market developments from the latest OECD-FAO outlook. These assumptions imply relatively smooth market developments while markets tend to be much more volatile. Therefore, the outlook is not a forecast. More precisely, the projections correspond to average trends that agricultural markets are expected to follow in a given macroeconomic environment, if policies were to remain unchanged. Access the report here.
EU risks standing alone in defence of global scientific cooperation, says leading MEP
International research and innovation are increasingly shaped by a changing global environment. As the EU looks ahead to the next framework programmes, clarity around participation rules, international cooperation and access to funding is becoming increasingly important for organisations working with EU research and innovation programmes.
This article provides useful insights into current discussions on Horizon Europe and the future FP10, highlighting how evolving conditions may influence collaboration with associated countries and third partners. More here.
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