By Nienke Beintema and Michael Rahija. 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. Human Resource Allocations in Sub-Saharan
African Agricultural Research:
Behind the Regional Trends
Nienke Beintema and Michael Rahija
Presentation at 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. Pool of public agricultural R&D staff
in absolute FTE numbers, 2008
■ Large variation in researcher capacity by country as well as
growth over time
Researcher levels (in full-time equivalents)
> 500 200 to 500 100 to 200 < 100
Nigeria (2,062) Mali (313) Mauritius (158) Botswana (97)
Ethiopia (1,318) Uganda (299) Senegal (141) Niger (93)
Sudan (1,020) Mozambique (263) Zimbabwe (139) Mauritania (74)
Kenya (1,011) Burkina Faso (240) Malawi (127) Congo, Rep. (71)
South Africa (796) Guinea (229) Côte d’Ivoire (123) Namibia (70)
Tanzania (674) Madagascar (212) Eritrea (122) Sierra Leone (67)
Ghana (537) Zambia (209) Benin (115) Togo (63)
Burundi (107) Gabon (61)
Rwanda (104) The Gambia (38)
www.asti.cgiar.org

3. Size of researcher capacity for 31
countries, 1971-2008
■ Many African countries remain to have small capacity pools,
but total size has grown
31
Number of countries
21
10
0
1971 1981 1991 2008
Number of FTE researchers
< 25 25-99 100-499 500-999 > 1000
www.asti.cgiar.org

4. Changing R&D composition:
Enhanced university involvement
■ The role of the higher education sector in agricultural research
continues to increase
100
Share of FTE resaerchers (%)
15% 20% Higher education
24%
80 Nonprofit
Government
60
40 82% 77% 73%
20
0
1991 2001 2008
preliminary data-not for citation
www.asti.cgiar.org

5. Growth in female scientist shares by
country, 2001 to 2008
■ In 2008 average female participation was 22%, compared to
18% in 2000
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6. Shift in gender gap with career
advancement (10 countries), 2007/8
■ But women remain highly underrepresented in management
positions
100
Male Female 85%
80 72%
71%
Female share (percentage)
65% 65%
60
40
34% 35% 35%
27%
20
17%
0
Students (10) Graduates (10) PS/ST (10) SPL (10) M (10)
PS/TS indicates professional and technical support staff; SPL includes scientists, (assistant) professors, and (senior) lecturers not in
management positions; and M indicates management and includes directors, deans, and department heads. When including all 15
countries, the female share in management positions is lower at 14 percent
www.asti.cgiar.org

7. Research allocation by degree and
country, 2008
Average ■ Researchers in francophone
Senegal
Côte d'Ivoire
Burkina Faso
Africa more highly qualified
Mali
Rep. of Congo
Madagascar
Togo
■ During 1970s and 1980s,
Niger
Mauritania
South Africa
many countries received
Uganda
Benin
considerable donor support
Kenya
Ghana
Sierra Leone
for staff training abroad but
Gabon
Sudan
by the late 1990s, many
Burundi
Nigeria
Tanzania
donors had cut/eliminated
Mauritius
The Gambia funding for training.
Malawi
Namibia
Botswana
Zimbabwe
Rwanda
■ Some smaller countries lack
Zambia
Ethiopia
Mozambique
critical mass of PhDs
Eritrea
Guinea
0 20 40 60 80 100
Shares of full–time equivalent researchers (%)
BSc MSc PhD
www.asti.cgiar.org

8. Researchers by major subsector, 2008
Mauritius
■ Crops remain the most
Sierra Leone
Ghana
important subsector for
Togo
Rwanda
Zambia
many countries
Gambia, The
■ Increased focus, however,
Ethiopia
Eritrea
Tanzania
Côte d'Ivoire
Guinea
Senegal
beyond crop and livestock
Zimbabwe
Burundi
Mali
Benin
Uganda
Gabon
South Africa
Botswana
Niger
Sudan
Kenya
Nigeria
Madagascar
Namibia
Congo, Republic of
Mozambique
Mauritania
Burkina Faso
SSA average
0 20 40 60 80 100
Shares of full–time equivalent researchers (%)
Crops Livestock Forestry Fisheries Natural resources Other
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9. Major crop items for specific
countries, 2008
■ Focus of crop research is highly diverse, even for the smallest
of the small
Country Major crop items
Nigeria Cassava (10%), maize (6%), oil palm (6%)
Kenya Maize (18%), coffee (10%), vegetables (8%), potatoes (8%), wheat (8%), other fruit (7%),
bananas (6%), sorghum (5%)
Tanzania Maize (12%), rice (6%), cassava (6%)
Ghana Cocoa (11%), cassava (11%), maize (10%), rice (9%), vegetables (7%), oil palm (5%), potatoes
(5%), yam (5%)
Sierra Leone Rice (30%), cassava (29%), sorghum (8%)
Togo Maize (18%), cotton (14%), rice (14%), sorghum (12%), yam (9%), cassava (9%), cocoa (7%),
coffee (6%)
Gabon Bananas (36%), sugarcane (5%), oil palm (5%)
Gambia, The Groundnuts (24%), millet (17%), rice (14%), maize (8%), fruits (8%), cassava (7%)
SSA (30) Maize (9%), fruits (9%), rice (7%), vegetables (7%), wheat (7%), sorghum (6%), cassava (5%)
www.asti.cgiar.org

10. Number of FTE researchers per
million agricultural labor force
0
100
300
400
600
700
200
500
Niger
Malawi
Rwanda
slightly
Burundi
Uganda
Mozambique
Madagascar
www.asti.cgiar.org
Senegal
Burkina Faso
Côte d'Ivoire
Tanzania
Ethiopia
Togo
Zimbabwe
Sierra Leone
Guinea
Gambia, The
Zambia
Benin
Kenya
Eritrea
Ghana
Mauritania
Mali
Sudan
Nigeria
Congo, Rep. of
Namibia
Relative researcher capacity:
Botswana
Gabon
South Africa
■ Despite absolute growth, the number of researchers per
Mauritius
3,103
Average
million economically active agricultural population increased
intensity ratios, 2008 compared with 1981

11. Allocation of researchers and production
value across crops and livestock, 2008
■ Overall, crops/livestock research allocation is fairly similar to
their share in production value
Ethiopia Researchers
Prod value
Ghana Researchers
Prod value
Kenya Researchers
Prod value
Nigeria Researchers
Prod value
South Africa Researchers
Prod value
Sudan Researchers
Prod value
Tanzania Researchers
Prod value
Uganda Researchers
Prod value
30-country sample Researchers
Prod value
0 20 40 60 80 100
Shares (%)
Crops Livestock
www.asti.cgiar.org

12. Number of FTE researchers per
million agricultural labor force
0
10
20
30
40
Nigeria
Ghana
Cassava
Tanzania
Mozambique
Sierra Leone
Number of FTE researchers per
million agricultural labor force SSA average
0
100
200
300
400
www.asti.cgiar.org
Ethiopia
Sudan
Number of FTE researchers per
Sorghum
Eritrea million agricultural labor force
Kenya
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Zambia
Ethiopia
Botswana
1,426 560
Kenya
Maize
Burkina Faso
Tanzania South Africa
SSA average Nigeria
Tanzania
Ghana
Zambia
SSA average
Number of FTE researchers per
million agricultural labor force Number of FTE researchers per
million agricultural labor force
0
120
30
60
90
0
100
150
200
50
Ethiopia
Mali
Rice
country, 2008
Wheat
South Africa Guinea
Ghana
Sudan
Ethiopia
1,066
Nigeria
Kenya
Madagascar
SSA average Tanzania
SSA average
Researcher intensity by major crop and

13. Pressing human capacity challenges in
African agricultural R&D
■ Many countries face rapidly aging pools of scientists
due to public sector recruitment restrictions
■ Large influx of young BSc-qualified scientists after
years of recruitment restrictions in some countries
■ High staff turnover / brain drain: Many researchers
have left agencies due to low salaries / conditions of
service
■ Limited in-country postgraduate training
opportunities
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