From technology transfer to systems transformation: CGIAR's ways of working through a just transition lens

Just transition has emerged as an important framework for ensuring that agrifood systems transformation is not only environmentally sustainable but also socially equitable. This paper examines the extent to which the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)'s 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy and three of its ways of working—systems transformation, multiple transformation pathways, and partnerships—align with the principles of distributional, procedural, and recognition justice. Drawing on recent independent evaluations, it finds that CGIAR has increasingly incorporated many core elements of a just transition despite not adopting justice as an explicit organizing framework. However, the evaluations also show that implementation has lagged conceptual ambition. Organizational capabilities, institutional incentives, and financing arrangements have evolved more slowly than the collaborative, adaptive, and context-specific approaches promoted by the strategy. The paper argues that advancing a just transition in agrifood systems requires transforming not only food systems themselves but also the research institutions, performance systems, and investment models that shape how knowledge is generated, shared, and applied.