Gastcollege aan Wageningen Universiteit en Researchcentrum (WUR)

Toespraak | 31-01-2011

Esteemed students and professors, ladies and gentlemen,

It’s a pleasure to be here today. Given where I am standing, it may seem that I am here to tell you how I envision our future as a top country for agriculture, horticulture and food. And I certainly plan to.

But I have also come to hear about your ideas, your visions, your suggestions. After my speech, and before we have a beer together, there will be time for a few questions. I hope you will seize the opportunity.

I have three good reasons for coming to Wageningen today.

First, one of my top priorities is strengthening the Netherlands’ position as a leading country for agriculture, horticulture and food. And this university and research centre has a crucial role to play in realising that ambition.

Second, since ‘green education’ is part of my portfolio as Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, I am also your Minister of Education.

And third, Holland and the world need you.
We need you to find the answers to some of the most pressing challenges of our time, such as how to feed nine billion people in 2050.
We need you to make sure that Holland stays at the forefront of agrofood research.
And we need you to be our innovative entrepreneurs of tomorrow, capitalising on the knowledge gained at world famous institutions like this one.

In my speech, I want to focus on three themes:
First, the challenges ahead for agriculture and the food industry.
Second how to stay at the forefront of innovation.
And third, how to strengthen our business climate.

The challenges ahead

Ladies and gentlemen, the present government decided that the interests of the agrofood sector, including horticulture and fisheries, would be better served by one single ministry for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. It sounded like a novel idea. But in fact, we were drawing on the wisdom of our forefathers, for the Netherlands had only one minister for economic affairs and agriculture right up until 1940!

The agrofood sector is crucial to our economy. It generates no less than ten per cent of our national income and one out of every ten jobs!

Holland is a world leader in the fields you are studying. We are the world’s second-largest exporter of agrofood products. Our plant breeding and seed development companies (zaadveredelingsbedrijven) register one third of all new plant species in Europe. Some new tomato seeds are more expensive than gold! We have top companies, large and small, top innovation programmes and top knowledge institutions like this university, including University for applied sciences Van Hall Larenstein and nine research centers. In my travels as the previous Minister of Foreign Affairs, I met people from Wageningen University all over the world, from China to Brazil.

These accomplishments are no small feat for a country with as little farm land as ours, with one of the highest population densities in the world and highly critical consumers. At the same time, having to surmount those obstacles is precisely what has made us so successful. And that makes me optimistic about our future.

As you may know, the foundation of our present success was laid 130 years ago, during the great agricultural crisis of the 1880s. While France and Germany resorted to protectionist measures to shield off their farmers and food industry, we – as an exporting country – chose to become more competitive and more productive. It worked.

But we cannot take our leading position for granted. Our companies face increasing competition, particularly from leading agro countries such as China, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. We need to switch to a higher gear and select our core competences and niches in order to sustain a competitive advantage in the world market.

And we need to find the answers to some pressing social and environmental issues. How can we reduce diet-related illnesses like heart disease and obesity, which currently cost us some five billion euros a year? How can we improve the quality of life of an aging population and combat age-related illnesses like Alzheimer’s? How can we feed a population of nine billion people in 2050? And at the same time reduce the impact of agriculture and the food industry on the environment? Protect biodiversity? And improve animal welfare?

With current farming methods, we would need three planet Earths to feed all nine billion people on today’s Western meat-rich diet. So we need to find ways to increase global agrofood production by at least 50 per cent, while decreasing our use of water, energy and minerals at the same time.

This is the reason why Dutch and Chinese businesses and research institutes are developing new species of cucumbers that grow bigger and need less water. And why the animal feed company De Heus has opened a factory in Ethiopia to help dairy farmers increase milk production from 8 litres a day per cow towards the Dutch level of 28 litres.

We also need to find alternative sources of energy, such as second generation biofuels or greenhouses that produce energy. We need new systems that can reduce the amount of bacteria in animal pens [stallen] and so help us decrease our use of antibiotics. We need new fishing methods with less collateral damage to the environment.

Innovation

Innovation is the key to solving these challenges. That much is obvious.

The main question is: how can we effectively stimulate innovation? How can we gain access to new worlds of possibilities that are currently beyond our imagination?

This is a pressing question, not only for the agrofood sector, but for the Dutch economy as a whole.

Not a day goes by without someone writing in the papers that it is simply a question of money. I don’t believe that.

The effect of Dutch innovation policy up to now appears to be limited. Recent surveys (by Statistics Netherlands CBS and KIA, the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda coalition, for example) show that Holland is falling behind in the rankings of most innovative countries.

My conclusion is: first, we should spend differently. Invest in those sectors that make us stand out on the world stage. We need to make choices so that we can increase effectiveness while respecting budget constraints. I’d rather fund a few world-class knowledge and research institutions like Wageningen, than a patchwork of many smaller institutions operating in splendid isolation.

I am also working to develop a new innovation fund. It will issue guarantees and loans for innovative companies and for seed and pre-seed funds.

I understand there were worries about the continuation of the innovation programme Food & Nutrition Delta. The people running the programme have built up a network of 350 companies, mostly small and medium sized, and helped many of them to innovate. That is why I am granting a subsidy of one million euros to maintain the programme bureau.

My second conclusion is that we should organise innovation in a more effective way. Most innovations fail because they remain unknown, undesired and unused. It is not enough to have the best scientists and researchers. Those researchers also have to know and respond to what businesses and society need. So that their efforts are more likely to lead to new products and services.

So how should we organise innovation? My answer is simple: look at Wageningen! The cooperation that takes place within the so-called golden triangle of businesses, knowledge institutions and government is what makes Wageningen UR so successful.

This is not an ivory tower. People here are continuously testing their ideas and assumptions in the field:

• Professors involved in fundamental research work side by side with fellow researchers at the institutes for applied research and teachers of the university for applied sciences Van Hall Larenstein.
• Companies and the government are involved from the very start when setting up research and innovation programmes.
• And every research programme has to include a section on how the results will be shared with others.

That is all enormously valuable.

The golden triangle explains why Wageningen UR is so good at valorising research. No less than 85 per cent of research results are used in practical applications!

The golden triangle model is used around Brainport Eindhoven in the field of high-tech with great success as well. I want to strengthen its use in other top sectors of our economy, from water, energy and life sciences to logistics, the creative industry and the chemical industry.

I want to challenge Wageningen University and Research Centre to lead the way by further improving cooperation with businesses – especially small and medium-sized enterprises.

Wageningen UR can also strengthen its position by further increasing its cooperation with other universities and institutes.

For instance the Top Technological Institute Green Genetics, where Leiden, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groningen, Nijmegen and the Wageningen UR work on new plant species.
Or Wetsus, where Wageningen, Delft, Eindhoven, Twente and Groningen develop technologies for water purification.

Or, last but not least, the Top Institute Food & Nutrition, which combines Wageningen’s food knowledge with the medical expertise of Maastricht and Groningen. That institute, by the way, partners with all major Dutch food companies and also attracts major foreign companies. In the past year, Nestlé (CH), Danone (F), Kellogg (USA), Bel Group (F) and Christian Hansen (DK) have all joined up.

Business climate

Ladies and gentlemen,

This brings me to my final point: successful innovations require successful entrepreneurs.

I am not that entrepreneur. But you can be!

There are many examples of successful spin-off companies founded by former students of Wageningen UR.

Take Noldus Information Technology, which designs systems to monitor human and animal behaviour, and is used by computer and car makers as well as Manchester United Football Club.

Or take Van Markoviec, which designs luxury fashion with respect for people and planet.

I hope many of you will be inspired by their example and follow in their footsteps!

I will do my utmost to help you seize opportunities and turn knowledge into new products and services. My focus will be on creating the right ecosystem for entrepreneurs large and small, from Holland and abroad.
This is exactly what this government has already started to do.

First, we want to get rid of unnecessary rules and regulations and red tape. Improve the tax climate. And make it easier to start your own company. To that end, Wageningen and several partners (including the Food Valley consortium) were recently awarded a 3.3 million euro subsidy to promote entrepreneurship and help start-ups. (Programme StartLife.)

For each of the top sectors of the Dutch economy, my ministry is setting up a mixed team of businesses, knowledge institutions and government. They will make concrete proposals for improving the business climate in these top sectors, including ways of making life easier for entrepreneurs!

Second, we are continuously on the look-out for new foreign investors. We have set up a Strategic Acquisition Unit within the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, which is focusing on companies that could add significant value to our top sectors, and particularly the agrofood sector.

Companies such as Danone, which has chosen to set up its European R&D offices in Utrecht, while staying in close touch with Wageningen.

Or the New Zealand dairy company Fonterra, the world’s largest exporter of dairy products. Fonterra chose Holland because of its outstanding infrastructure for agrofood innovation. The proximity of the Wageningen UR was a significant factor in that choice.

And I could go on. This morning I visited the R&D centre of FrieslandCampina, together with two mid-sized companies that work with them. I am impressed by Campina’s new strategy, which should further strengthen its position as one of the world’s leading dairy companies. The decision to establish its R&D centre near here is clearly part of that strategy.

It is no accident either that so many smaller and medium-sized agrofood companies have also chosen to establish themselves in the Food Valley, on or around the Wageningen UR campus. Holland is the place to be for agrofood companies, and Wageningen is at the heart of that ecosystem.
Let’s keep it that way!

Ladies and gentlemen

You are studying or doing research at one of the Netherlands’ most prestigious institutions, the Dutch Harvard for agriculture, horticulture and food. You have every reason to be proud.

I hope that we will hear more from you in the future. Either as researchers and scientists or as entrepreneurs and business leaders.

You can help us solve the social and environmental challenges we are facing. You can help us stay ahead of the competition. You can help feed the world and get Holland to the top of the international rankings for innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and quality of life.

I look forward to hearing your questions, suggestions and ideas!

Thank you.