Peru is renowned as one of the seventeen megadiverse countries in the world (Conservation International,1998). It is estimated to hold 25,000 flora species, 30% of which are endemic. This extraordinary biological diversity offers endless possibilities for its sustainable use which can be enhanced even more through the generation of added value coming from the investigation to generate knowledge. (Proambiente, 2015). The main objective of this investigation is to determine the level of innovation in selected products from the Peruvian agrobiodiversity as well as the sectoral characteristics and conditions of the PYMES crucial to succeed in sustainable bio-businesses. Therefore, structured personal interviews were executed during September 2016 in the Expoalimentaria Fair premises, the main Latin American beverage and food fair. 57 out of 65 companies whose offer included derivatives from the four products from the Peruvian biodiversity analysed: maca, yacon, camu camu and sacha inchi were interviewed. This sample ensures 95% reliability and 5% margin of error. Based on the literature (Jong and Vermeulen, 2006; Montoro-Sánchez, M. Á. et al, 2012), questions oriented to know: business characteristics, specialized investigation connection and level of innovation were selected. Regarding the first topic, the role in the value chain, crop types (organic and conventional) and international sale importance highlighted. Dealing with scientific investigation, questions about the main investigation objectives, economic sources and academiacompany cooperation level were asked. Finally, regarding the innovation level, an approximation to the number of products offered, types of presentation and target market was made. The main results show that only 40 out of the 252 products, less than 16%, could be considered innovative mainly because they come in presentations not generally offered by the competitors. Although more than 90% are exporting companies, these products are oriented to the local market in small volumes while the exported products are mainly intermediate products: powders, gelatinized and dehydrated products and extracts. On the other hand, although 100% considers that investigation is Indispensable for the product development, only 51% was involved with investigation processes at that moment. Only 35% stated to have been involved in the last two years with laboratories and/or university researchers or institutions of the like because their products are developed mainly by their quality assurance personnel. Also 74% identified limited economic resources as the main restriction for investigation, although 77% had not applied for the non-contestable funds offered by the government since 2014, due mainly to not knowing they existed. The first conclusions indicate that within the framework of the interviewed PYMES (MSEs) about products selected from biodiversity and although resources such as specialized researchers and funds for their development are available, there are no organizational strategies of collaborative work for adding value to these products through scientific investigation which hinder the link between science, technology and innovation.
Autor(es):CASTILLO GRANDA, Maricela
TOSTES VIEIRA, Marta
Año: 2017
Título de la revista: International Association for Management of Technology
Ciudad: Viena
ISSN: 978-3-200-04986-4
Url: http://bestevent.management/event/7/contribution/157.pdf