By Kathleen Flaherty. Presented at the ASTI-FARA conference Agricultural R&D: Investing in Africa's Future: Analyzing Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities - Accra, Ghana on December 5-7, 2011. http://www.asti.cgiar.org/2011conf

1. THE AGRICULTURAL R&D CHALLENGES
OF SMALL COUNTRIES
IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Kathleen Flaherty
Prepared for the ASTI/IFPRI–FARA Conference
Agricultural R&D: Investing in Africa’s Future
Analyzing Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
Accra, Ghana, December 5–7, 2011

2. Agricultural R&D in Sub-Saharan Africa
■ Characterized by low research capacity and vulnerability to
funding volatility in most countries.
■ 8 of the larger countries have driven recent growth in the
performance of agricultural research, accounting for two-
thirds of investment and capacity during the 2001–08 period.
■ For the remaining countries—most invest less than $25 million
PPP dollars per year and employ fewer than 300 FTE
researchers each.
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3. Comparison of agricultural research systems
Sub-
Saharan United
Africa Brazil China India States
Indicators (2008) (2006) (2007) (2003) (2008)
Arable and permanent crop area 205 69 122 170 166
(million hectares)
Agricultural labor force (million) 186 12 505 249 3
Agricultural GDP (billion 2005 PPP dollars) 285 73 744 397 152
Annual public spending on agricultural R&D 1.7 1.3 3.6 1.4 4.8
(billion 2005 PPP dollars)
Public agricultural research agencies 353 130 1,105 131 51
(number)
Public agricultural researchers (FTEs) 12,120 5,376 70,000 13,089 9,965
Researchers with a PhD degree (percent) 30 75 <30 55 100
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4. Small Country Challenges
■ Economies of scale and scope
■ Critical capacity issues
■ Lack of in-country degree
programs
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5. Small Country Challenges
■ Vulnerability to funding fluctuations
■ Institutional and policy environment
■ Regional approaches
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6. Lessons from a small-country study:
Findings from the study
■ Small countries have diverse institutional actors
■ Consolidation into one organization is often not advisable
■ Narrowing the scope of national research is difficult given policy
demands and changes in the agricultural and natural resource
sectors
■ Intelligent use of external knowledge requires a sophisticated
scientific research capacity that can relate local needs to available
technology
■ The smaller the system, the more complex the functions it will
perform
■ All research is increasingly done in networked and interdependent
modes; small countries can take a more active role in managing
partnerships with donors and other external agencies
Source: Eyzaguirre 1996: 191.
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7. The Smallest of the Small
■ Population: Under 10 million
■ Capacity: Under 100 full-time equivalent (FTE)
agricultural researchers
■ Investment: Under 10 million PPP dollars in
agricultural research
Burundi, Gabon, Mauritania, Republic of
Congo, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Togo
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8. Research agency sizes
9
8
Number of agencies
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Burundi Congo, Gabon The Mauritania Sierra Togo
Rep of Gambia Leone
<5 FTEs 5–10 FTEs 11–20 FTEs 21–50 FTEs 51–75 FTEs
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9. Sectoral distribution of research
100
Shares of FTE researchers (%)
80
60
40
20
0
Burundi Congo, Gabon The Mauritania Sierra Togo
Rep of Gambia Leone
Crops Livestock Forestry Fisheries Natural resources Other
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10. Institutional distribution
100
Shares of fFTE researchers (%)
80
60
40
20
na na
0
1991
1991
2008
2008
1991
2008
1991
2008
1991
2008
1991
2008
1991
2008
1991
2008
Burundi Congo, Gabon The Mauritania Sierra Togo SSA average
Rep of Gambia Leone
Government Higher education Nonprofit
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11. Degree qualification distribution
100
Shares of fFTE researchers (%)
80
60
40
20
0
2008
2001
2008
2001
2008
2001
2008
2001
2008
2001
2001
2008
2001
2008
2001
2008
Burundi Congo, Gabon The Mauritania Sierra Togo SSA
Rep of Gambia Leone average
BSc MSc PhD
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12. Donor funding distribution
100
Shares of funding (%)
80
60
40
20
0
Burundi The Gambia Mauritania Sierra Leone Togo
ISABU NARI CNERV&CNRADA SLARI ITRA
Government Donors, development banks, and SROs
Producer organizations Sales of goods and services
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13. Conclusions
■ The experiences of the “smallest of the small”
countries in SSA illustrate the diversity of
agricultural research systems
■ Investment and capacity levels are low but other
constraints must also be addressed
■ Despite challenges, small-country research
systems in SSA should not be considered
unviable.
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14. Conclusions
■ Small research systems must find ways to adapt
to the constraints they face through innovative
institutional arrangements.
■ Areas in need of further research:
■ determinants of the effectiveness of
agricultural research agencies in small
countries and linkages with performance
outcomes
■ strategies for managing
institutions, capacity, and funding in small
countries
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