By Muhammad Sharif Member (Social Sciences), Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and by Gert-Jan Stads, ASTI Program Coordinator, IFPRI.

1. Trends in Public Agricultural R&D
Investment and Staffing in Pakistan
Muhammad Sharif
Member (Social Sciences), PARC
Gert-Jan Stads
ASTI Program Coordinator, IFPRI
Islamabad | 27 November 2012
Pakistan Agricultural
Research Council

2. Outline
1. Why Monitor the Allocation of Agricultural R&D
Resources?
2. Recent Investment and Capacity Trends in
Agricultural R&D in Pakistan
3. Pakistan’s R&D Indicators in a Regional and Global
Context
4. Conclusion, Policy Implications, and Way Forward

3. PART 1:
Why Monitor the Allocation of
Agricultural R&D Resources?

4. Why Invest in Agricultural R&D?
• Pakistan’s population is expected to grow from 187
million in 2011 to 335 million in 2050 (unless fertility rates drop
faster than currently projected — Source: United Nations)
• In order to feed these 148 million extra people and to
address other pressing challenges (including climate
change and rising and food price volatility), it is crucial
that agricultural productivity is increased
• Substantial empirical evidence that agricultural R&D has
been a major contributor to agricultural productivity
increases and poverty reduction around the globe over
the past 50 years

5. Agricultural R&D Should Remain a Priority
• Despite the well-documented evidence that the payoffs
to agricultural R&D are considerable, many countries
continue to underinvest in agricultural research.
• The time lag between research investment and the
moment when the research rewards can be reaped is
substantial: typically decades, not years.

6. Why Monitor the Allocation of R&D Resources?
• Quantitative data are essential for agricultural R&D
stakeholders to be able to analyze trends in agricultural
R&D investments; identify gaps; set future investment
priorities; and better coordinate agricultural R&D across
institutes, regions, and commodities.
• R&D indicators are also an indispensable tool when
assessing the contribution of agricultural R&D to
agricultural growth and to economic growth more
generally.

7. The Agricultural Science and Technology
Indicators (ASTI) initiative
• Collects 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)
• Includes a large collaborative network of
national, regional and international
partners; facilitated by the International
Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) of
the CGIAR Consortium
• Provides:
– Trends over time at country / regional levels;
within countries
– Comparisons across countries / regions; within
countries

8. ASTI’s Outputs
ASTI outputs:
• Country notes
• Regional and subregional reports
• Downloadable datasets
• Analytical assessments
• Seminars and presentations
• Press releases/media outreach
• ASTI website (www.asti.cgiar.org)
ASTI indicators:
• Institutional arrangements
• R&D spending by cost category
• Funding sources
• R&D staff by degree, gender, and age
• R&D focus by commodity and thematic area

9. ASTI’s Country Coverage

10. PART 2:
Recent Investment and Capacity Trends in
Agricultural R&D in Pakistan

11. PARC/ASTI survey in Pakistan
• Surveyed 123 public agencies involved
in agricultural R&D:
• 21 agencies under PARC
• 13 agencies under NARC
• 18 other federal government agencies
• 41 provincial government agencies
• 30 higher education agencies
• Private sector was surveyed separately
• Some data for missing years have been
estimated/interpolated
• PARC/IFPRI team consisted of Nouman
Baddar, Hina Fatima, Kathleen Flaherty,
Shazia Firdous, Muhammad Sharif,
David Spielman, and Sultan Ali Tariq

12. Institutional Changes and Challenges
• The passage of the 18th Amendment in 2010, which
devolved agriculture to the provinces, has given the
provincial research systems a clearer mandate in R&D
• A key challenge will be to ensure that resources and
capacities are more evenly distributed, both from the
central government to the provinces and among the
provinces themselves
• Punjab is the only province that currently hosts an
agricultural research board, mandated to prioritize R&D,
allocate funds, monitor impact, and coordinate
stakeholder support
• A similar devolution of public universities to the
provinces is currently being pursued

13. Total public agricultural R&D spending
• Includes salaries, operating costs, and capital
costs
• Includes research on crops, livestock, fisheries,
forestry, postharvest, socio-economics, etc.
• Includes all federal, provincial, and higher
education agencies
5.5 billion rupees
(current prices)
2009
172 million dollars
(in 2005 PPP prices)

14. Long-term R&D spending, 1991-2009
0
52
105
157
209
262
0
1
2
3
4
5
1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
Million2005PPPdollars
Billion2005Pakistanirupees
PARC (21) NARC (13)
Other federal (18) Punjab (18)
Other provinces(24) Higher education (30)
• Erratic long-term R&D spending pattern
• Provincial government agencies accounted for half the
country’s agricultural R&D expenditures

15. What is the money spent on?
0 20 40 60 80 100
Sindh (11)
Punjab (12)
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (4)
Balochistan (2)
Other federal (15)
NARC (12)
PARC (15)
Share (%)
Salaries Operatingcosts Capital expenditures
2009
• High salary share across
agencies indicates limited
funding for other costs
associated with research
• Given the dependence by
many federal agencies on
research funding from
donors directed toward
output- and outcome-
oriented activities, longer
term research
maintenance issues tend
to be overlooked

16. Negative cycle of underinvestment
• Agricultural R&D
spending as a % of
AgGDP halved during
1991-2009
• Pakistan invested 0.21%
of AgGDP on agricultural
R&D in 2009
• Excluding salary costs,
this share would amount
to just 0.05%
• Clear sign that Pakistan
is underinvesting in
agricultural R&D
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
AgR&Dspendingas%ofAgGDP
1991
0.43%
2009
0.21%

17. How is public agricultural R&D funded?
• Recurrent government budgets generally fund the cost of
salaries
• Donor contributions are directed towards operating costs
and capital investments.
• PARC and the other federal agencies receive a variety of
donor funding, but much less is directed to the provincial
institutes.
• Proceeds from the sale of goods and services accounted for
a moderate amount of funding for federal agencies other
than PARC.
• Overall, funding levels were higher in the 1980s and 1990s
due to substantial financial support by the World Bank and
USAID.

18. Public agricultural R&D staff, 2009
3,352
FTE
research
staff
6% PARC
8% NARC
16% Other federal
27% Punjab
11% KP
11% Sindh
6% Balochistan
14% Universities

19. Long-term trends in public agricultural R&D
capacity, 1991—2009
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
NumberofFTEresearchers
PARC (21) NARC (13)
Other federal(18) Punjab (18)
Other provinces(24) Higher education (30)
• R&D staff levels have remained relatively stable over time
• Share of universities in agricultural R&D has increased, but
remains relatively low
• In 2009, Pakistan employed 144 FTE agricultural researchers for
every million farmers

20. Degree qualifications of R&D staff
• In 2009, 18% of
researchers held
PhD degrees, 71%
MSc, and 11% BSc
• Shares have
remained relatively
unchanged during
2003-2009
• Universities employ
a higher share of
PhDs0 20 40 60 80 100
Higher education
(16)
Sindh (11)
Punjab (13)
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (4)
Balochistan (2)
Other federal (15)
NARC (13)
PARC (15)
Share of FTE researchers (%)
BSc MSc PhD

21. Women underrepresented in AgR&D
• Most Pakistani farmers are
women, but women are
severely underrepresented in
agricultural R&D
• Share of female scientists rose
from 6% to 10% during 2003-
2009
• 20% of male scientists hold PhD
degrees, compared to just 14%
of female scientists
• PARC employs the highest share
of female researchers with PhD
degrees among government
agencies
2009
90% male
10% female

22. Aging pool of PhD-qualified scientists
• Many PhD-qualified scientists will retire in the coming years, making their
replacement a high priority
• Situation particularly acute at PARC and NARC
• Capacity improvements have been supported through scholarships by the
Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), the Higher Education Commission of
Pakistan (HEC), and the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF)
3%
15%
18%
65%
3%
8%
28%
61%
1%
11%
49%
40%
1%
17%
44%
32%
PARC NARC Other
government
Higher
education
PhD-qualified scientists by age group:

23. Research focus by major commodity, 2009
Wheat (23%)*
Rice (12%)
Cotton (10%
Sugarcane (7%)
Fruits (6%)
Vegetables (6%)
Maize (5%)
* % of total crop
researchers
0
20
40
60
80
100
PARC (21) NARC
(13)
Other
federal
(18)
KP (5) Punjab
(18)
Sindh
(16)
Higher
education
(30)
Total
(121)
ShareofFTEresearchers(%)
Crops Livestock
Naturalresources Forestry
Fisheries Postharvest
Other
Most researched crops:

24. Research focus by major theme, 2009

25. PART 3:
Pakistan’s R&D Indicators in a Regional and
Global Context

26. R&D spending in South Asia

27. R&D intensity ratios compared

28. R&D intensity compared globally
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Pakistan
India
China
Africa(32)
Iran
Brazil
OECD (31)
Agricultural R&D spending as a % of AgGDP

29. Share of PhD-qualified research staff, 2009

30. Share of female research staff, 2009

31. Global Public Agricultural R&D Spending, 2009

32. Global Public Agricultural R&D Spending, 2008

33. Global Private Agricultural R&D Spending
Inbillion2005PPPdollars
Private
Public
2008 total: $40.1 billion (2005 PPP dollars)
• Most private-sector R&D was undertaken by companies in
OECD countries;
• Evidence suggests significant growth in large middle-income
countries such as China and India

34. CGIAR Spending, 1981-2011
After more than a decade of stagnation, R&D spending
by the CGIAR has accelerated since 2006
Inbilliondollars

35. PART 4:
Conclusion, Policy Implications, and
Way Forward

36. Pakistan’s Agricultural R&D Challenges
Based on a number of key indicators, Pakistan
appears to be falling behind other South Asian
countries:
• R&D spending has not matched AgGDP growth, resulting in a
rapid weakening of the country’s intensity ratio (0.21% of AgGDP
in 2009)
• The share of researchers with PhDs remains low, at just 18
percent; the majority of PhD holders are older than 50
• Overall employment of female researchers continues to be very
low (despite recent improvements)
• Private research has grown, but remains limited

37. Pakistan’s Agricultural R&D Challenges
• These financial and capacity challenges have occurred at
time of great institutional uncertainty
• Spending and capacity patterns have fluctuated as agencies
adjust to the devolution and reorganization of
responsibilities across national, provincial, and local levels
of government
• Provincial institutes have taken on a larger role in
agricultural R&D, but questions remain as to whether they
are resourced and structured to do so effectively
• This period of change has, however, offered opportunities
to review existing structures and re-assess research
priorities.

38. Role of indicators in fostering and
supporting agricultural R&D policy change
• Important to continuously monitor R&D investment and capacity
trends in Pakistan.
• Up-to-date indicators are an important tool to raise awareness of
underinvestment and capacity challenges among policymakers
and stakeholders, and to incite action toward improvement

39. Way Forward
In 2013, PARC and ASTI will launch a new data collection
round, which will cover:
• Standard set of core indicators
• Expansion of dataset with a number of key agricultural R&D output and
performance indicators
• More in-depth analysis of trends in private-sector R&D
• Expansion of analysis on issues underlying agricultural R&D and
institutional developments in Pakistan through close collaborations with
Pakistan-based economists and other agricultural R&D experts
Enhanced policy
relevance and impact!

40. THANK YOU
Pakistan Agricultural
Research Council