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The Dutch food, agriculture and horticulture sector is innovative and export oriented, with high value-added along the food chain and significant world export shares for many products. Continuous adoption of innovation has permitted to reach high levels of productivity and sustained productivity growth, in particular at the farm level, in a context of increasing environmental regulatory constraints. The challenge is whether marginal improvements in current technologies and know-how will be enough to pursue current rates of productivity growth – sustainably – and whether the innovation system will be able to generate the new ideas that are needed to face future challenges, including those linked to climate change.

This chapter gives an overview of the performance of the overall economy, macroeconomic developments and challenges, and the governance and institutions.

This chapter reviews general incentives in the Netherlands for investments by firms, including farms, input suppliers, and food companies. It examines basic conditions for investments established by the overall regulatory environment; Trade and investment policy, which influences the flow of goods, capital, technology, knowledge and people needed to innovate; and access to credit needed to innovate. The general fiscal policy and the treatment of agriculture are then examined. The chapter is mainly based on the latest OECD Economic Survey of the Netherlands (OECD, 2014b). Specific obstacles and incentives for investment in the agricultural sector are dealt with in later chapters of this report.

Capacity building, including provision of essential public services, is one of the main channels or incentive areas to support innovation and sustainable development. This chapter concerns three relevant policy areas: infrastructure and rural development policy; labour market policy; and education and skills policy.

This chapter describes the Agricultural Innovation System of the Netherlands and outlines recent changes. It first provides an overview of the general innovation system; describe agricultural innovation actors and their roles in the system; outlines changes in roles and changes in themes; present main policy instruments and monitoring mechanisms; and discusses views in the general public on agri-food innovation. It then describes main trends in public and private investments in R&D, mechanisms of funding and mechanisms to foster knowledge markets and networks. The next section presents an overview of policy incentives for the adoption of innovation, outlines the role of training and advisory services at farm level, and provides some information on adoption rates in primary agriculture and food processing. It concludes with reflections on recent developments. Finally, the last section outlines the participation of Dutch agricultural R&D actors in EU and international cooperation.

Innovation, Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability in the Netherlands is part of the OECD Food and Agricultural Reviews series. It was undertaken at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The review examines the conditions in which businesses in the Netherlands undertake innovation in the food and agriculture sector to become more productive and environmentally sustainable. It starts with an overview of the food and agriculture sector and outlines development challenges and opportunities (Chapter 2). A wide range of policies which influence incentives for innovation are then examined: economic stability, governance and trust in institutions (Chapter 3); a favourable and predictable environment for investment (Chapter 4); capacities and public services enabling business development (Chapter 5); agricultural policy (Chapter 6) and the operation of the agricultural innovation system (Chapter 7).

The Dutch food, agriculture and horticulture sector is innovative and export oriented, with high value-added along the food chain and significant world export shares for many products. Continuous adoption of innovation has permitted to reach high levels of productivity, and sustained productivity growth, in particular at the farm-level, in a context of increasing environmental regulatory constraints. The challenge is whether marginal improvements in current technologies and know-how will be enough to pursue current rates of productivity growth, sustainably, and whether the innovation system will be able to generate the new ideas that are likely needed to face future challenges, including those linked to climate change.

This chapter describes the overall economic, social and environmental context in which the food and agriculture sector in the Netherlands operates, and the natural resource base upon which it relies. It provides an overview of the general geographical and economic characteristics of the Netherlands; outlines the share of the agri-food complex in the economy; identifies the main structural characteristics of primary agriculture and upstream and downstream industries; provides an overview of the main food and agriculture outputs and markets; and analyses the main trends in agricultural productivity and sustainability. It finally raises a number of issues the agri-food complex is likely to face in the future.

This chapter provides an overview of the framework for agricultural policies, which is the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the main instruments and options at the EU level, the recent CAP reform for 2014-20, and its implementation in the Netherlands. It also refers to the provision of general services supported by the government. It finally discusses policy impact on innovation for productivity and sustainability.

This chapter presents the framework used in the report to analyse the extent to which Dutch policies are supportive of innovation and structural change, and affect access to and use of natural resources for productivity and sustainability, and an overview of the findings of the review of a wide range of policies in the Netherlands. In each policy area, it develops specific policy recommendations.