Presentation of "Benchmarking Agricultural R&D Capabilities Across Countries", specially in Sub-Sahara Africa countries to the Meeting in Support of Scientific & Technical Partnerships in Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, DC on September 29-30, 2014. Presented by Nienke Beintema, Program Head of the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative, which is led by IFPRI.

1. Benchmarking agricultural R&D
capabilities across countries
Nienke Beintema
ASTI Program Head
Meeting in Support of Scientific & Technical Partnerships in Africa
IFPRI, Washington, DC | September 29-30, 2014

2. www.asti.cgiar.org
OUTLINE
• Available information through ASTI
– ASTI outputs
– Investment indicators
– Human resource indicators
• Partnerships and ASTI Phase III

3. 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 theme
• Student population (phase III)
• Output indicators (phase III)
www.asti.cgiar.org
AVAILABLE INFORMATION THROUGH ASTI
Outputs (www.asti.cigar.org)
• Country factsheets
• Regional and global reports
• Downloadable datasets
• Interactive country pages
• Online benchmarking tool

4. ASTI.CGIAR.ORG: INTERACTIVE COUNTRY PAGES
www.asti.cgiar.org

5. www.asti.cgiar.org
ASTI.CGIAR.ORG: BENCHMARKING TOOL

6. www.asti.cgiar.org
OUTLINE
• Available information through ASTI
– ASTI outputs
– Investment indicators
– Human resource indicators
• Partnerships and ASTI Phase III

7. www.asti.cgiar.org
TRENDS FOR SSA AS A WHOLE
18,000
15,000
12,000
9,000
6,000
3,000
2000 2011 Increase
1,800
1,500
1,200
900
600
300
Spending (million PPP$) 1,208 1,692 +40%
Researchers (FTEs) 9,470 14,230 +50%
Note: Excludes
private sector
0
0
1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011
Total number of FTE researchers
Million 2005 PPP dollars
Spending
Researchers

8. www.asti.cgiar.org
SMALL-COUNTRY PROBLEM
2
9
21
27
41
43
45
63
66
82
89
98
104
112
115
117
123
124
131
132
134
151
156
162
177
180
193
218
233
274
307
314
354
424
607
746
815
939
1151
1877
2688
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
Seychelles
Guinea-Bissau
Cape Verde
Swaziland
Lesotho
Gabon
Liberia
Mauritania
Gambia, The
Sierra Leone
Namibia
Niger
Congo, Rep.
Senegal
Togo
Eritrea
Chad
Botswana
Cote d'Ivoire
Burundi
Central African…
Mauritius
Benin
Malawi
Zimbabwe
Rwanda
Madagascar
Burkina Faso
Zambia
Guinea
Mali
Mozambique
Uganda
Congo, Dem. Rep.
Ghana
South Africa
Tanzania
Sudan
Kenya
Ethiopia
Nigeria
Total FTE researchers
< 100 FTEs: 12 countries > 500 FTEs: 7 countries

9. www.asti.cgiar.org
1% OF AGGDP – TARGET BY UN/NEPAD
0
1
2
3
4
5
Guinea-Bissau
Gabon
CAR
Congo, DR
Niger
Madagascar
Guinea
Sierra Leone
Ethiopia
Sudan
Zambia
Eritrea
Nigeria
Mozambique
Burkina Faso
Togo
Liberia
Côte d'Ivoire
Tanzania
Burundi
Mali
Benin
Lesotho
Rwanda
Ghana
Mauritania
Senegal
Chad
Congo, Rep.
Gambia, The
Malawi
Cape Verde
Kenya
Uganda
Swaziland
South Africa
Botswana
Namibia
Mauritius
Average
Share (%)
Target (UN/NEPAD): Allocation of at least 1% of GDP to S&T (overall)

10. COUNTRY EXAMPLES OF UNDERINVESTMENT
• DR Congo spent $16 million or
0.17% of AgGDP on
agricultural R&D in 2011
• Ethiopia spent $78 million or
0.22% of AgGDP on
agricultural R&D in 2011
www.asti.cgiar.org
• Extremely low levels
considering population (SSA’s
2nd and 3rd largest countries)
• Spending needs to increase
sixfold in DR Congo and
fivefold in Ethiopia to reach the
1% target
100
80
60
40
20
0
2009 2010 2011
million 2005 PPP dollars
400
300
200
100
0
2009 2010 2011
million 2005 PPP dollars
DR Congo
Ethiopia
Actual public agricultural R&D spending
Required spending to reach 1% target

11. www.asti.cgiar.org
GROWTH: NOT EVERYWHERE
Target (UN expert group): 5% annual spending growth
over the next decade
• 2000–2011 marked by spending decline or stagnation
in about half of the 30 countries with time series data
• Since 2008, however, more and more countries have
experienced positive growth
15
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
Eritrea
Guinea
Gabon
Togo
Zambia
Gambia, The
South Africa
Burkina Faso
Côte d'Ivoire
Madagascar
Ethiopia
Mauritius
Mali
Senegal
Botswana
Mauritania
Malawi
Namibia
Kenya
Sudan
Ghana
Nigeria
Burundi
Benin
Congo, Rep.
Uganda
Tanzania
Average
Annual growth rate (%)
Main drivers of region-wide
growth in spending, 2000–2011
+2.7%

12. DONORS MAJOR SOURCE OF FUNDING VOLATILITY
Burkina Faso
www.asti.cgiar.org
40
30
20
10
0
1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011
100
80
60
40
20
0
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
• Annual agricultural R&D spending
in SSA has been considerably more
volatile than in other developing
regions
• Donor/development bank funding is
generally short-term and ad-hoc
(and 3 times more volatile than
government funding)
• Therefore, volatility is more
pronounced in donor-dependent
low-income countries
Tanzania

13. GOVERNMENTS FUND SALARIES, DONORS THE REST
Cost categories, 2011 Funding sources, 2011
www.asti.cgiar.org
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Burkina Faso
Mali
Uganda
Tanzania
Ethiopia
Ghana
Salaries
Operating and program costs
Capital investments
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Burkina Faso
Mali
Uganda
Tanzania
Ethiopia
Ghana
Government
Donors and development banks
Commodity levies
Own resources
Other
2011

14. www.asti.cgiar.org
OUTLINE
• Available information through ASTI
– ASTI outputs
– Investment indicators
– Human resource indicators
• Partnerships and ASTI Phase III

15. www.asti.cgiar.org
RESEARCHER GROWTH BY DEGREE

16. www.asti.cgiar.org
INVOLVEMENT OF FEMALE RESEARCHERS
Growth in female share, 2008 and 2011

17. 2011 (36-country sample)
www.asti.cgiar.org
AGING OF RESEARCHERS IN MANY COUNTRIES
• In 17 of 36 countries, more than half the PhD holders are
older than 50 years
• Problem is most pronounced in West Africa
• Urgent need to recruit and train next generation of scientists
in these countries
Share of PhD holders over
0
20
40
60
80
100
Cape Verde (19)
GuineaBissau (0)
Burundi (24)
Mauritania (16)
Mozambique (26)
Rwanda (22)
Zimbabwe (22)
Burkina (105)
Malawi (32)
Gabon (9)
Senegal (79)
Ethiopia (170)
Uganda (110)
Mauritius (21)
Botswana (24)
Gambia(6)
Sudan (330)
Tanzania (164)
CAF (2)
Nigeria-NARIs…
Kenya (368)
Chad (21)
Benin (84)
Ghana (228)
Namibia (12)
CongoDR (56)
Madagascar (78)
Togo (36)
Liberia (5)
CongoRep (33)
SierraLeone (14)
Eritrea (13)
Swaziland (12)
Lesotho (4)
Mali (100)
Guinea (42)
50 years old (%)

18. INCREASE IN YOUNG SCIENTISTS ELSEWHERE
• Ethiopia: close to half the FTE researchers were under
31 years old
• Eritrea, Rwanda, Zimbabwe have young researcher
pools as well
www.asti.cgiar.org
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
BSc
MSc
PhD
BSc
MSc
PhD
BSc
MSc
PhD
Higher
education
EIAR RARIs
< 31 31–40 41–50 51–60 > 60 Ethiopia 2011

19. WHAT TYPE OF RESEARCH IS BEING DONE?
2011
www.asti.cgiar.org
Uganda Crops
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Tanzania
NARIs-Nigeria
Mali
Ghana
Ethiopia
Livestock
Forestry
Fisheries
Natural resources
Off-farm postharvest
Socioeconomics
Other
Most researched crops (% of all crop researchers)
Ethiopia Wheat (10%) Maize (10%) Beans (8%)
Ghana Cocoa (11%) Maize (8%) Rice (7%)
Mali Rice (27%) Sorghum (20%) Vegetables (8%)
NARIs-Nigeria Oil palm (13%) Cassava (10%) Rubber (8%)
Tanzania Maize (9%) Cassava (9%) Rice (8%)
Uganda Cassava (16%) Maize (9%) Soybeans (8%)

20. www.asti.cgiar.org
OUTLINE
• Available information through ASTI
– ASTI outputs
– Investment indicators
– Human resource indicators
• Partnerships and ASTI Phase III

21. www.asti.cgiar.org
REGIONAL COLLABORATIONS
• First (and for years only) ASTI workshop was organized
by ASARECA in September 2002
• ASARECA and CORAF have been key in establishing
national partnerships for each survey rounds CORAF
funded and collaborated on an in-depth assessment of
agricultural R&D capacities in 6 West African countries
• FARA and ASTI/IFPRI organized the conference
Agricultural R&D: Investing in Africa’s Future in
December 2011
• ASTI–RUFORUM approved during board meeting in
Maputo
• Discussions on areas of collaboration with CCARDESA

22. www.asti.cgiar.org
ASTI PHASE III – 2015-2018 (1)
• Update and expand the current information on
agricultural R&D investments and capacities
– Output indicators
– Qualitative information on policy and institutional
environment
– New database system allows to publish components
of tools (e.g., ASARECA knowledge and information
hub; RUFORUM/AWARD collaborations, FAOSTAT)
– Also provide opportunity to deepen analysis
– Next data collection round will start later this year –
can provide baseline for S3A progress

23. www.asti.cgiar.org
ASTI PHASE III – 2015-2018 (2)
• Conduct additional policy-relevant analysis in order to
disseminate greater knowledge and understanding of the
impact of agricultural R&D investments on agricultural
development
– Impact of agricultural R&D investments in recent
years
– Factors that determine the efficiency of R&D
investment and agricultural innovation systems
including size and composition of investment,
capacity of the system to absorb and diffuse
technology, and demand for innovation
– Future investment needs to meet growth targets and
development goals

24. www.asti.cgiar.org
ASTI PHASE III – 2015-2018 (3)
• Further enhance dissemination and advocacy activities,
particularly at the national level, in order to ensure
uptake of key ASTI messages and maximize impact and
sustainability
– Piloted in BMGF focus countries first
– linked closely to IFPRI’s S&T partnership program
– More intensive partnerships with FARA and SROs
Capacity strengthening activities at country level

25. THANK YOU