1. TRACKING AGRICULTURAL R&D INVESTMENTS
Existing evidence at national and international levels
Nienke Beintema
ASTI program head | International Food Policy Research Institute
L’Aquila Food Security Initiative (AFSI) meeting
Washington, DC | February 2-3, 2012

2. 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

3. 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)

4. Global status of agricultural R&D
Public agricultural R&D Trends for some regions/
spending, 2000 countries since 2000
Low- and middle income
countries = 46% 4.4
Sub-Saharan
China
Africa
spending (in billion 2005 PPP $)
China
Total public agricultural R&D
3.3 Latin America-Caribbean
Rest of Asia-
Pacific
India
Latin 2.2
America-
Caribbean
Sub-Saharan Africa
High income 1.1
Middle East-
Eastern
High income North Africa
Europe-
countries = 54% Former
Soviet 0.0
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Total public spending =
ca. $25 billion (2005 PPPs)

5. International agricultural R&D: The CGIAR
Spending levels and G8/EU commitments until 2010
700
600
• In inflation-adjusted
Total CGIAR spending
terms, strong increase in
(in million US $)
500
400
Inflation-adjusted $
total CG spending/funding
300 since 2005
200
Current $
100 • Increase in G8/EU
0 contributions since 2001
1971
1976
1981
1986
2006
1991
1996
2001 • G8/EU share declined to
Share
250 50
below 40% in 2010 due to
Total G8/EU funding (in
G8/EU share in total
200 40
million 20005 US $
Funding large injection of the
150 30 funding (%)
Gates Foundation
100 20
50 10
0 0
2001
2002
2004
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2003
2005

6. Sub-Saharan Africa’s investment challenges (1)
Regional growth in public agricultural R&D
spending during 2000-08
2.0 • Driven by only a few
countries; however,
SSA Agricultural R&D spending
declining spending levels
1.5 since 2008 for some
(biilion 2005 PPP $)
• Declining spending levels
1.0 for many countries
(especially in francophone
West Africa)
0.5
• Serious underinvestment
in agricultural R&D in
0.0 most African countries
1971
1979
1983
1987
1991
1995
1999
2003
1975
2007
continues

7. Sub-Saharan Africa’s investment challenges (2)
High volatility from Continuous high donor
year-to-year for many dependency for many
100
Share in total funding, 2001-08 (%)
40
Burkina Faso
30
20
Agricultural R&D spending (miilion 2005 PPP $)
10 80
0 Spread of
1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005
donor share
440 60
330 Nigeria
220
110
0 40
1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005
4 Average donor
Gabon
3 share
20
2
1
0
1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 0
Madagascar
Togo
Mauritania
Eritrea
Benin
Tanzania
Zambia
Mauritius
Namibia
Senegal
Gambia
Mali
Kenya
Niger
Côte d'Ivoire
Burundi
Uganda
Botswana
Burkina Faso
South Africa
Ghana
Guinea
40
30
Niger
20
10
0
1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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)

13. THANK YOU

14. 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)

15. 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