Smart Innovation as a Component of the Organizational and Economic Mechanism for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in the National Agri-food System

Abstract

This paper aims to assess the impact of smart innovation on implementing the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the national agri-food system, as stated in the UN concept paper “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” Within the methodological framework based on the principles of sustainability, taking into account the author’s approach to the essence and content of the organizational and economic mechanism of achieving the SDGs in the studied industry, the paper identifies the problems and prospects of implementing smart innovation that affect the transformation of the national agri-food system and determine the priorities of economic practice. The authors prove the thesis that new technology and breakthrough innovation are of priority importance for implementing the UN SDGs in the Russian agri-food system, providing access to international agri-food markets. The author’s approach to the idea of wide implementation of smart innovation in the achievement of the SDGs in the national agri-food system (AFS) is based on the idea that justified and technologically realized complex progressive innovation on a digital platform will allow creating conditions for implementing sustainable socio-ecological and economic development of the studied industry. Nevertheless, in the theoretical and methodological aspect, the achievement of the UN SDGs in the Russian AFS based on smart technology is not fully studied which led to the choice of the topic and the goal of this research. The authors conclude that global trends in the sustainable development of the national AFS, which are largely relevant to Russia, indicate the growing importance of the formation and implementation of an organizational and economic mechanism to achieve the UN SDGs in the AFS, taking into account the innovation factor. The correlation between innovation and progress toward achieving the UN SDGs is shown to be uncontroversial. It is defined in SDG 9 “industry, innovation, and infrastructure:” “Build resilient infrastructure and promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and innovation.” The research novelty lies in the fact that the impact of smart innovation on achieving sustainable growth of the Russian AFS in the context of the UN SDGs has been comprehensively investigated for the first time. The authors prove that advanced technology, sustainable solutions, and breakthrough innovation are crucial for achieving the UN SDGs in the Russian AFS. Moreover, they indicate that the Russian AFS with the introduction of smart technology is the main condition for improving the competitiveness of the industry and ensuring the country’s entry into international agricultural markets.