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Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators
Open-access data and analysis on agricultural research investment and capacity in low- and middle-income countries

Open-access data and analysis on agricultural research investment and capacity in low- and middle-income countries

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Agricultural R&D Capacity in the Arab world: Positive Progress, but Challenges Remain

May 20, 2015

By Gert-Jan Stads, Senior Program Manager, Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI), led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Over the past five decades, investments in agricultural R&D have had a tremendous impact on agricultural productivity and food security around the world. There is, however, a substantial time lag between investing in research and reaping its rewards: typically decades, not just years. Mobilizing adequate levels of long-term R&D funding is challenging, as agricultural R&D competes with other critical public domains, including health and education. Throughout the Arab world, agricultural R&D was not a political priority for decades, but when food prices rose to record highs in 2008, governments realized they could no longer neglect agricultural investment, and started looking at ways to enhance agricultural productivity.

To accelerate this agricultural growth, Arab countries need sustainable funding for strategic agricultural research programs, combined with well-trained researchers and well-equipped research centers. A recent report released by ASTI assesses trends in investments and human resource capacity in agricultural R&D in 11 countries in West Asia and North Africa during 2009–2012. It demonstrates that despite recent increases in agricultural R&D expenditures, spending in most countries still remains below the levels required to sustain their agricultural sectors’ needs. In most Arab countries, total agricultural R&D spending as a percentage of agricultural GDP continues to fall short of the United Nations guideline level of at least 1 percent.

R&D Spending

On a positive note, considerable progress was made in building human capacity in agricultural R&D in West Asia and North Africa in recent years. Ten out of eleven countries for which detailed data were available reported increases in the number of PhD-qualified researchers. Egypt currently employs more agricultural researchers with PhDs than the rest of Africa combined. Another reason for the growth in capacity in recent years has been the higher education sector’s increased involvement in agricultural R&D, both due to the creation of new universities and of new departments and faculties within existing universities.Compared with other developing regions around the world, funding for agricultural R&D in Arab countries is very undiversified and relies largely on government sources. In many countries, government funding covers little more than salary-related expenses, leaving insufficient resources to facilitate day-to-day research operations, let alone the maintenance of infrastructure and equipment. Private funding remains a largely untapped resource. Cultivating private funding requires that Arab governments provide a more enabling policy environment through tax incentives, protection of intellectual property rights, and regulatory reforms to encourage the spill-in of international technologies.

Despite these advancements, retaining a critical mass of PhD-qualified researchers proves challenging. Official status differences between government and university-based scientists prevent government agencies in many countries from offering the competitive salaries and benefits. Many well-qualified, young researchers have left government R&D agencies in favor of better conditions at universities. Cross-country differences are also driving staff turnover. In recent years, there has been a considerable exodus of highly qualified professors and researchers from Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon toward the Gulf and other high-income countries. Besides, more than half the PhD-qualified researchers at national agricultural research institutes in Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia, Sudan, and Yemen are over 50 and due to retire in the short- to medium-term. Adequate recruitment, succession, and training strategies are urgently called for to ensure future continuity of research in these countries.

Another critical area needing attention is the development of strong, national agricultural research policy agendas. In many Arab countries, agriculture-related priorities are not always satisfactorily embedded within national S&T policies, with the result that decisionmaking is fragmented and coordination among the relevant actors lacking. Policymakers must also ensure that improved varieties and technologies released by research institutes are more effectively disseminated to farmers. This involves strengthening agricultural extension agencies.

The impact of agricultural R&D does not stop at national borders. Given the numerous common challenges faced by Arab countries—including climate change, water scarcity, and rapid population growth—a more integrated approach to agricultural R&D that reduces wasteful duplication could benefit the region as a whole.

Filed Under: Data use by others, Impact, Overview publications, Subregional publications, West Asia & North Africa Tagged With: Agricultural policy, Agricultural R&D, ASTI, Food Security

Changing the Role of Donors in Agricultural R&D: How do we build capacity for the future?

July 17, 2013

In a recent event which focused on capacity development for agricultural research, Rob Bertram of USAID stated that, “…without capacity being developed in our partner countries, the likelihood that our investments are going to last over time and perpetuate themselves is going to be reduced or compromised.”

National agricultural research systems (NARS), according to USAID,  are the backbone of an agricultural innovation system and include all public, semi-public, and private agricultural R&D in a country, including universities, government laboratories, private sector research, and NGO or producer-led research enterprises.

In the early 90’s agriculture and food dropped off the radars of many governments and donors and as a result, funding for agricultural R&D and human resource development stagnated and became highly volatile – resulting in a roller coaster effect for many countries dependent on donors for funding.  Underinvestment can be seen in many of the low-income countries of Africa, as detailed by Nienke Beintema’s presentation at the event. Although overall investment and capacity have increased in Africa south of the Sahara, researchers struggle with low salaries, lack of training, and few resources to support the operating and capital costs of research in most countries.

The Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative led by IFPRI, provides up-to-date quantitative and qualitative data and analyses on investment, capacity, and institutional trends in agricultural research and development (R&D) in low- and middle-income countries that will assist R&D managers and policymakers in improved policy formulation and decision making at national, regional, and international levels.

Coincidentally, the theme for the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Africa Science Week Conference in Accra is: Africa feeding Africa through Agricultural Science and Innovation.  In the blog post “I am young, agriculture is not for me,” author Margaret Bulambu explains the need to attract the next generation to agriculture as a career.  Building capacity in the next generation of young Africans, and creating opportunities that take into account the needs and interests of the current round of students will be a necessary investment to keep agricultural R&D and food security sustainable for the future.

Filed Under: Events, Global, Sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia & North Africa Tagged With: AAWS16, Agricultural R&D, ASTI, FARA, NARS, USAID

Agricultural R&D Investment and Capacity in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) Region

October 15, 2012

© Photo credit: Clemens Breisinger, IFPRI

ASTI is pleased to announce the launch of a new survey round in the WANA region, thanks to a grant from the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The WANA region faces critical limitations on land and water resources for agriculture while experiencing rapid growth in population and food demand. The extent to which countries in this region will be able to meet their own food security needs will depend on how well they manage their food and agricultural policies, especially their investments in agricultural R&D and related S&T policies.

Information on recent agricultural R&D trends are currently unavailable or out of date for nearly all of the countries in the WANA region. This new ASTI project will work in close collaboration with the Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (AARINENA) and main national agricultural R&D agencies to:

1. Survey R&D institutions in the region, analyzing:

-R&D investment and capacity levels;

-The changing institutional structure of R&D; and

-How science and technology policies influence R&D incentives and performance.

2. Give particular attention to how R&D is being used to address critical resource constraints, especially water supply and irrigation efficiency.

The project will focus on Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Turkey. These countries comprise a representative sample of the different economic, social, political, and agro-climatic conditions in the region.

Filed Under: West Asia & North Africa

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