Innovation strategies for agricultural resilience: a dynamic capabilities approach to innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

Abstract

This study integrates the concepts of innovation strategies and dynamic capabilities as an analytical framework to investigate the innovation strategies agricultural businesses employed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study assesses how these strategies influenced their resilience and innovation performance. Using data from the South African Agricultural Business Innovation Survey (AgriBIS 2019-2021), the study combined explorative data analysis techniques with an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model, to assess the relationship between different innovation strategies and key outcomes such as revenue growth, cost reduction, market expansion, and the development of new intellectual property. The findings revealed the complex ways in which innovation strategies are shaped by dynamic capabilities in the face of disruptions. Specifically, this study found, contrary to conventional beliefs, that proactive innovation strategies are not always the best suited or volatile environments. Instead, the study found that innovation strategies that promote simplicity and adaptability proved more effective in shielding firms from external shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic. Firms with active innovation strategies, supported by strong dynamic capabilities of internal R&D and collaboration, showed the greatest resilience, while those relying on passive or reactive strategies were more vulnerable to disruption. These findings suggest that policymakers should encourage flexible and adaptable innovation strategies, particularly in sectors like agriculture that are prone to high volatility and external shocks of climate change. The findings of this study call for the importance of aligning innovation strategies and dynamic capabilities with the specific challenges of the sector to ensure long-term innovation success.