Tracking innovations at food systems scale to reveal and foster multi-sectoral synergies in the agricultural sector

Agricultural systems’ transition must tackle with broader food systems’ organization to unlock transition. To do so, systemic innovations programs are developed to coordinate innovative actors and involving them in food systems’ transition. Based on the analysis of three innovation programs in Wallonia, namely the TERRAÉ platform for agroecology, the Manger Demain Unit for sustainable food systems and the Wagralim pole for agrifood industrial sector innovations, we track innovations at food systems scale. We characterized such innovations from the objectives they are targeting according to specific stakeholders’ type (farmers, intermediaries, and consumers). Identifying five related innovation domains, ten systemic innovations involving all stakeholders’ type and eight transversal objectives combining innovations from different domains, we analyze ongoing synergies in Wallonia. As the agricultural innovation program was mostly relying on sectoral synergies with the aim of representing all agricultural sector stakeholders, other innovation programs were keener to develop multisectoral synergies but for specific agricultural and food systems model as short-supply chains. By further analyzing the links between innovations from different domain and other systemic innovations or transversal objectives, we suggest a methodological framework based on an iterative process to integrate agricultural innovation programs in multisectoral synergies at food systems’ scale.