Cultivating social innovation for agri-food sustainability transformations: a literature review

Abstract

This scoping literature review focuses on the operation and orientation of social innovations (SI) in agri-food systems, in order to understand their role in sustainability transformations. Its main objective is to analyze and synthesize the types of cases studied in SI literature, with a specific focus on what is reported regarding their characteristics, how they form relations, the societal problems they respond to and their contributions to transformation processes. The review is based on 86 empirical English articles published in Scopus and Web of Science between 2013 and 2023, covering 168 empirical SI cases. The data reveal limited geographical variation and a Eurocentric focus in the study of SI, but diverse spatial and operational foci of SI cases. We identify seven SI types: community food networks, food equity initiatives, capacity-building programs, agri-cooperatives, social agri-enterprises, agri-environmental initiatives, and tech-driven agri-services. These often-localized solutions address different internal and external relations, aim to respond to a variety of societal needs and problems, and are rhetorically linked to transformations of various kinds. In addition to providing insights into key trends in the operation and orientation of SI, this analysis contributes to the discussion on the transformative potential of SI, including the ambivalent role of strong ties between SI and the state. Furthermore, this study identifies potential research avenues for the study of SI in agriculture and food with a particular focus on rural places. In particular, we call for reflexivity in researchers' normative assumptions, more rigorous reporting of relations and transformative contributions, and more systematic approaches to better integrate findings across SI cases as well as with adjacent concepts.