TRACKING AGRICULTURAL R&D INVESTMENTSExisting evidence at national and international levels

Nienke BeintemaASTI program head | International Food Policy Research Institute

L’Aquila Food Security Initiative (AFSI) meetingWashington, DC | February 2-3, 2012

Outline presentation

• Measuring national efforts in agricultural R&D: ASTI data sets and analysis

• International agricultural R&D: CGIAR investments

• Measuring donor commitments: EIARD study on analysis of donor support to CAADP Pillar IV

• Recommendations for further discussion: Outcomes of the GFAR/EIARD/GDPRD workshop on tracking agricultural research for development

Importance of agricultural R&D indicators

• Key for understanding the contribution of agricultural R&D to economic growth

• Assist R&D stakeholders in formulating policy, setting priorities, undertaking strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation

• Provide information to R&D stakeholders involved in the public debate on the state of agricultural R&D at national, regional, and international levels

• Importance of S&T indicators has increasingly been recognized by policymakers (e.g., African leaders and policymakers at the 2003 African Ministerial Conference on S&T)

Sub-Saharan Africa China

Rest of Asia-Pacific

Latin America-Caribbean

Middle East-North Africa

Eastern Europe-Former Soviet

High income

Global status of agricultural R&D

Public agricultural R&D spending, 2000

Trends for some regions/countries since 2000

China

Sub-Saharan Africa

India

Latin America-Caribbean

Low- and middle income countries = 46%

High income countries = 54%

Total public spending = ca. $25 billion (2005 PPPs)

0.0

1.1

2.2

3.3

4.4

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Tota

l pub

lic a

gric

ultu

ral R

&D

spen

ding

(in

billi

on 2

005

PPP

$)

0

10

20

30

40

50

0

50

100

150

200

250

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Tota

l G8/

EU fu

ndin

g (in

milli

on 2

0005

US

$

G8/EU

share in totalfunding (%

)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1971

1976

1981

1986

1991

1996

2001

2006

Tota

l CGI

AR sp

endi

ng(in

milli

on U

S $)

• In inflation-adjusted terms, strong increase in total CG spending/funding since 2005

• Increase in G8/EU contributions since 2001

• G8/EU share declined to below 40% in 2010 due to large injection of the Gates Foundation

International agricultural R&D: The CGIAR

Spending levels and G8/EU commitments until 2010

Inflation-adjusted $

Current $

Share

Funding

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

1971

1975

1979

1983

1987

1991

1995

1999

2003

2007

SSA

Agric

ultu

ral R

&D

spe

ndin

g(b

iilio

n 20

05 P

PP $

)

• Driven by only a few countries; however, declining spending levels since 2008 for some

• Declining spending levels for many countries (especially in francophone West Africa)

• Serious underinvestment in agricultural R&D in most African countries continues

Sub-Saharan Africa’s investment challenges (1)

Regional growth in public agricultural R&Dspending during 2000-08

0

20

40

60

80

100

Guin

eaEr

itrea

Ugan

daM

adag

asca

rBu

rkin

a Fa

soNi

ger

Mal

iBe

nin

Tanz

ania

Buru

ndi

Sene

gal

Mau

ritan

iaKe

nya

Gam

bia

Togo

Zam

bia

Côte

d'Iv

oire

Nam

ibia

Ghan

aSo

uth

Afric

aBo

tsw

ana

Mau

ritius

Shar

ein

tota

l fun

ding

, 200

1-0

8 (%

)

Sub-Saharan Africa’s investment challenges (2)

High volatility from year-to-year for many

Continuous high donor dependency for many

Average donor share

Spread of donor share

0110220330440

1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005

01234

1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006

010203040

1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005

010203040

1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005

Agr

icul

tura

l R&

D sp

endi

ng (m

iilio

n 20

05 P

PP $

)

Burkina Faso

Nigeria

Gabon

Niger

Improve the relevance of agricultural R&D data

• Need to move from ad-hoc data collection to a sustainable monitoring system with regular updates

• Enhance ownership of the data and stimulate further advocacy and analysis at the national level

• Measure not only inputs (investments/capacity), but also output indicators required to assess performance of agricultural research institutions within and across countries

• Intensify further analysis of trends to make information more relevant for policymakers and other stakeholders

• But a sustainable system needs sustainable funding

EIARD analysis of donor support to CAADP-IV

• Objective of study: Identify the knowledge and processes required to better coordinate and harmonize support to CAADP Pillar 4, within EIARD and with other donors

• Key conclusions:– Information availability is poor: Problems not technical /

financial but in system design / political commitment to reporting ARD investments

– CGIAR is default donor support mode to ARD; donors provide little direct support to national agricultural R&D

– These and other imbalances weaken country ownership and their ability to act

GFAR/EIARD/GDPRD Berlin workshop

• Topic of tracking programs and investments in agricultural research for development (AR4D) to increase aid effectiveness was recognized by the 2010 Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD-1) as an issue of high importance

• Recent drive for international donors to demonstrate increased accountability under the G8 and G20 calls for adequate monitoring of investments in food security and agricultural development

• The Berlin workshop recognized the number of ongoing activities initiated worldwide by donors in this domain

Berlin workshop – recommendations (1)

1. Measuring global ODA flows (inputs) is insufficient to improve aid effectiveness in food security; it needs be complemented by measuring private flows, assessing specific investment in AR4D, and outputs/results

2. Better inform decisionmakers in bilateral and multilateral agencies on the design and functioning of the OECD/DAC tracking system and its setup

3. Improve data quality and reporting under the OECD/DAC system by including data on agriculture, and specifically AR4D

Berlin workshop – recommendations (2)

4. AR4D investments need to be more effectively embedded in in development investments; tracking systems also need to cover how AR4D investments are addressed and linked to development objectives

5. Task a network of practitioners to carry this agenda forward and help identifying the relevant data for tracking specific investments in AR4D

These issues are expected to be reported on and discussed further at the forthcoming GCARD-2 (Punta del Este, 29 October-1 November 2012)

THANK YOU

Agricultural R&D is crucial for food security

• Extensive evidence demonstrates that agricultural R&D have greatly contributed to agricultural development, economic growth, and poverty reduction (World Development Report 2008; International Assessment for Agricultural S&T for Development 2010)

• A much needed transformation of global agricultural R&D can only be achieved if institutional, human, and financial resources are greatly increased (2010 Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development-GCARD roadmap)

• Given the central role of food in human welfare and national stability, it is shocking how little money is spent on agricultural research globally (Bill Gates 2012)

Agricultural S&T Indicators (ASTI) initiative

• Collection of national-level investment and human resource capacity data on agricultural R&D:– Focus on low– and middle–income countries– Through institutional survey rounds (primary data)– 25–year history of data collection activities (although ad-hoc)– Measure who is performing agricultural R&D

• Aim is to provide:– Trends over time at country / regional levels; within countries– Comparisons across countries / regions; within countries

• Collaborative network with large number of national, regional and international partners; facilitated by IFPRI