In short

• HSRC research examined whether workforce diversity influences innovation in agricultural businesses.
• Gender-diverse innovation teams showed the strongest positive links to product, process and intellectual property innovation.
• Racial diversity supported product innovation but had weaker links to other outcomes.
• Removing barriers to women’s participation could strengthen agricultural innovation.

South Africa’s innovation performance is solid by continental standards, but globally it still trails many high-income economies. As labour markets diversify through policy shifts, globalisation and migration, a big question emerges: Does employees’ race, gender or age diversity translate into better innovation? In South Africa’s agricultural sector, HSRC researchers tested this, and the results differ depending on the type of diversity and the kind of innovation being measured.

Illustrative AI-generated image (Freepik)

According to the 2024 South African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators Report, South Africa generally scores lower than many developed countries in key innovation indicators, such as research and development investment and innovation outputs. This is despite national science, technology and innovation policy direction, institutional support and tax incentives. 

Policy interventions, globalisation and migration in the late 20th and early 21st centuries have led to diversity growth in labour markets around the world. But how do diversity and innovation relate to each other in South African agricultural businesses? A recent study conducted by HSRC researchers in partnership with Rhodes University used data from the 2019–2021 South African Agricultural Business Innovation Survey to establish if and how a diverse workforce among agricultural businesses in South Africa has led to innovation.  

The authors analysed 417 innovation-active, formal/commercial agricultural businesses in South Africa to test whether employees’ race, gender or age diversity was associated with product innovation, process innovation and intellectual property (IP) outcomes. 

Innovation 

Innovation is the act of creating something new or significantly improving on something that already exists. According to the Oslo Manual, an innovation is a new or improved product or process (or combination) that differs significantly from a previous product or process and that has been made available as a product to potential users or brought into use as a process. 

The study drew on three types of innovation in the agricultural sector, including: 

• Product innovation, improving on a good or service, such as a new crop product;  

• Process innovation, improving on how a business operates, such as new farming methods; and  

• Intellectual property (IP) outcomes, the success of producing protectable knowledge or inventions, such as patents or trademarks. 

Within the subsample of firms used in the empirical analysis for this study, 51% reported product innovation, 78% reported process innovation, and 22% reported the development of intellectual property.  

On average, businesses had approximately 25 employees involved in innovation (about 7.4% of total employees). Within these groups, 67% of the employees involved in innovation were male, and 33% were female. The largest age group of employees involved in innovation was 36–60 years (51%). By population group, white (46%) and African (38%) employees were the largest shares. 

Gender diversity 

Gender diversity showed the strongest and most consistent relationship to innovation. It was positively and significantly associated with all three outcomes (product innovation, process innovation and IP). Businesses with gender-diverse teams of employees involved in innovation were 19% more likely to have product innovation, 34% more likely to have process innovation and 30% more likely to have intellectual property outcomes. 

Having both men and women in innovation teams, researchers noted, could broaden information and perspectives, supporting creativity, problem solving and a more dynamic innovation process. 

Racial diversity 

Racial diversity mainly influenced product innovation. Researchers found a positive association between product innovation and agricultural businesses with racially diverse employees working in innovation spaces. However, once the study controlled for other factors (like firm size, human capital, information sources, etc.), racial diversity did not show a similarly robust or significant link to process innovation or IP outcomes.  

Researchers argued that racial diversity may be especially helpful where innovation depends on different perspectives, customer or market knowledge, and problem framing (often central to which product to develop). On the other hand, process changes and formal IP could be more tightly constrained by access to technology, capital, R&D capability and legal or administrative capacity. 

Other drivers 

In the study, age diversity in innovation teams did not show a consistent relationship with whether firms achieved product innovation, process innovation or IP outcomes. By contrast, firms that used a wider range of information sources were generally more likely to innovate, especially when it came to product and process innovation. 

Impact 

Promoting workforce diversity in firms, the researchers argued, should go beyond overall workforce representation targets and rather deliberately prioritise inclusion within groups of employees who are directly involved in innovative activities, such as developing new products, improving processes and generating intellectual property. Considering the impact of gender diversity on innovation, policy and firm strategy should focus on removing barriers that keep women out of innovation roles and strengthening women’s innovation-related capabilities. 

At a policy level, authors called for practical interventions that increase women’s ability to participate in agricultural innovation, such as improving access to productive resources and opportunities, finance, land and secure rights, training and capacity-building, and networks or extension support. Innovation programmes and support systems could also be designed so women can realistically take part and progress. At a firm level, building gender-mixed innovation teams by widening recruitment for, and promotion into, innovation roles can ensure women have equal access to training, mentoring and decision making. 

Research contacts and acknowledgements 

This Review article was based on the peer-reviewed journal article Employee diversity and innovation performance among agricultural businesses: evidence from South Africa, summarised by HSRC science writer Jessie-Lee Smith. 

The journal article reported on data from the 2019–2021 South African Agricultural Business Innovation Survey with analysis conducted by HSRC senior research specialists, Dr Yasser Buchana (Research, Development, Science and Innovation), Dr Sikhulumile Sinyolo (Public Health, Societies and Belonging), and Dr Kgabo Ramoroka (Research, Development, Science and Innovation); and Sandile Phakathi from Rhodes University’s Department of Economics and Economic History. 

For more information about this work, please contact Dr Yasser Buchana at ybuchana@hsrc.ac.za.