Mission (Im)Possible: universities’ focus on the agri-food sector

The agri-food sector requires evolutions capable of addressing the ever-present climate crises. Innovations in agri-food are increasingly supported by research theories and methods. Universities may represent the local drivers of rural development, providing training and research to orient small and territorial realities to innovation. Collaboration between agri-food and university can help to improve practices and safeguard the environment. First, this study explores the Strategic Plans of Italian universities, examining their objectives via text analysis techniques and clustering words from strategic plans. Second, the research compares the distribution of keyword clusters with the growth in revenues for agri-food companies, the actions conducted to implement the three Missions of universities, and the spread of agri-food startups and spin-offs on the territory. The Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) permits obtaining a non-parametric density estimator to explain multi-modal variables by better following the pattern of the histogram. These findings may emphasise universities’ external relations on the territory to improve the innovation process and to boost partnerships with nearby agri-food firms. Besides methodological instruments and interpretations of intellectual capital for variable selection, the work may introduce novelty to the literature on the collaboration of the agrifood sector to local development.