European Innovation Partnership Wales: final report

Main findings

• The core aim of EIP was to provide a mechanism which farmers and foresters can use to pilot their ideas, and for this to be demonstrated to the wider sector, resulting in a broader uptake and a more transformative change.
• The scheme successfully delivered the number of projects intended and exceeded the target for the number of organisations engaged in Operational Groups 
• The impact for Operational Group members was considerable, with most farmers/foresters reporting that they had made changes to their practices because of the research.
• The evaluation found benefits associated with those changes, notably improvements to animal health and reduction in health-related costs; improvements to businesses’ produce; and environmental outcomes. 
• The expertise offered by the scheme was more of a motivation for businesses’ engagement than the financial support given to deliver the projects. This is an important point to consider when thinking about what future schemes should look like and whether there should be a facilitation component.
• It is important to note that the scheme did manage to engage some farming businesses that have not been involved in previous interventions to the same extent (e.g. 30% reported they had not received any financial support in the last five years).