Increasing the societal impacts of nanotechnology applications in food and agricultural systems

Abstract

This short perspective reflects on the last two decades of intense research in the field of nanoscale science and engineering for agriculture and food systems. Despite significant advances in knowledge and innovation that are well recognized in the scientific community, only a small number of nanoproducts have reached the market, and the societal impact of the research thus remains relatively limited. We want to reflect on what may be key reasons for this and propose four tips that will help reframe and improve some of our research practices with the aim of increasing our impact. Our views were collected through consultations and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders inside and outside of the scientific field, including regulators, successful entrepreneurs, potential users, and consumers. We want to encourage scientists to increase their consideration of actors outside of the scientific field in order to develop nanotechnologies that are needed, competitive, and acceptable to both regulators and users/consumers. The benefits of a technology must be assessed with a better consideration of the whole system (instead of a small part of it) and in a specific context that recognizes climatic, cultural, political, and economic differences. Essential qualities to increase our impact include a high capacity to continuously adapt and work in teams that bring a multidisciplinary and multisectoral understanding of the system, which is not always fully compatible with the way academic performances are currently evaluated.