Priority setting in agricultural research involves determining research priorities that are consistent with scientific potential, client needs, national priorities, and broader policy contexts. Various priority setting methods are used at different levels from national to project levels. These include precedence, congruence, scoring, benefit-cost, economic surplus, and participatory approaches. The CGIAR centers apply different methods including scoring, economic surplus, benefit-cost analysis, and congruency at levels from institute to project. An effective framework combines bottom-up, demand-driven approaches with top-down, supply-driven approaches and links global, regional, and project-level priorities through a research planning, priority setting, and budgeting cycle.

1. Priority setting in agricultural
research
Guidelines for defining a problem-based,
impact driven research agenda

2. Outline
Introduction
Overview of priority setting methods
Application of priority setting methods in the CGIAR
Towards a framework for priority setting
Structure of regional priority setting – some basic
steps
Supporting the agenda to make the process work
Linking regional priorities to global priorities
Research planning, priority setting, budgeting cycle
Conclusions
References

3. Introduction
♦ Changing demands on agricultural
research and growing scarcity of
research resources
♦ Research priorities – consistent with
♣ scientific potential
♣ clients needs
♣ national priorities
♣ broader policy context
Simple, transparent procedures lacking

4. Overview of priority setting methods
♦ Formal or informal priority setting
exercises
♣ set research agenda
♣ guide allocation of research resources
♣ improve quality and efficiency of research
♦ Research priorities set across
♣ commodities, regions, disciplines,
technology types, research problems
♣ different levels – national, institute,
research program, project
Supply driven and demand driven approaches

5. Supply driven and demand driven approaches
♦ Precedence
♦ Congruence
♦ Scoring
♦ Benefit-cost
♦ Economic surplus
♦ Participatory

6. Approaches
♦ Precedence
♣ level of funding in the previous year as a
basis for the following years allocation of
resources
♦ Congruence
♣ rank alternative research themes or areas
on the basis of a single measure
♦ Scoring
♣ rank alternative research programs,
themes, or project according to multiple
criteria
(Contd…)

7. Approaches
♦ Benefit-cost
♣ This model uses efficiency as the main
criteria for ranking alternative research
themes (generation and adoption of
technologies, annual benefits and costs, NPV,
IRR)
♦ Economic surplus
♣ enhancement of benefit-cost; price
responses to increased productivity
induced by investment in research and
technical change

8. Application of priority setting methods
in the CGIAR
Center: ILRI
Level Purpose/
Objective
PS Method
Used
Criteria Outcome
Program Strategy
Review
Integration of
scoring,
economic
surplus, and
benefit cost
Economic impact, poverty
alleviation, environmental impact,
international public good, and
capacity building
A
Ranking
of 26
research
themes

9. Application of priority setting methods
in the CGIAR
Center: ICRAF
Institute
Resource allocation to
regions
Level Purpose/
Objective
PS Method
Used
Criteria Outcome
Medium
Term
Plans
Congruency Population, extent of poverty,
severity of environmental
problem
Regions Medium
Term
Plans
Consultative
for a;
modified
delphi, and
scoring
Regional dimensions, food
security, conservation,
adoption and income
generation
Resource allocation to
research themes within
three research
programmes

10. Application of priority setting methods
in the CGIAR
Center: IRRI
Level Purpose/
Objective
PS Method
Used
Criteria Outcome
Institute
MTP Congrue
ncy
Benefits of research, usefulness in increasing
basic knowledge, institutional viability and
capacity, probability of success
Resource
allocation by
rice
ecosystems
Eco-
system
MTP Expert
judgeme
nt
Current and anticipated knowledge and
capacity; strengthening NARS; building on
past achievements
Resource
allocation by
programs
Program
MTP Benefit
cost
analysis
Efficiency, probability of success, international
public good, alternative suppliers of research,
maintaining IRRI’s niche, IRRI’s capacity
Resource
allocation by
projects

11. Application of priority setting methods
in the CGIAR
Center: IITA
Level
Program
Purpose/
Objective
PS Method
Used
Criteria Outcome
Annual
Plan
Scoring Six research demand
criteria and seven research
supply criteria
Ranking of
research themes
within projects

12. Application of priority setting methods
in the CGIAR
Center: CIMMYT
Level
Program Ranking of
research themes
by ecological and
geographical
regions
Purpose/
Objective
PS Method
Used
Criteria Outcome
Congruency
(a combined
index of
three
criteria)
Efficiency, share of global
poor, extent of subsistence
cultivation

13. Application of priority setting methods
in the CGIAR
Center: CIFOR
Listing of 9 centre
projects and
associated
resource
allocations
Level
Program
Purpose/
Objective
PS Method
Used
Criteria Outcome
Strategic
review of
mission
and
objectives
Consultation
and peer
review
Policy focus, partnership
research, inter-disciplinarity

14. Application of priority setting methods
in the CGIAR
Center: ICRISAT
Ranking of 32
Centre Projects (all
falling in 10 Centre
Outputs)
Level
Program
Purpose/
Objective
PS Method
Used
Criteria Outcome
Aligning
centre
objectives
(MTP) with
the new
CGIAR
paradigm
Scoring Researchability, alternative
suppliers, comparative
advantage, impact potential
and practicality

15. Towards a framework for
priority setting
1. GLOBAL - As the most urgent problem that must be
resolved or the most promising opportunities that may
be pursued to support the development of the agricultural
sector.
2. REGIONAL - As the agenda of most important research
strategies which will contribute to regional development.
3. As a series of prioritized research projects that contain
clear estimates of resource requirements, identification of
partners, and translation of the research strategy into
concrete projects with outputs, purpose etc.

16. Structure of regional priority
setting – some basic steps
1. Initiate regional planning
2. Develop bottom-up regional priority setting
3. Development of an information database – idea generation
4. Based on understanding of poverty, the vision for agricultural
research in the regions and ideas for research, regional
research teams need to identify opportunities for regional
research
5. Set regional priorities
6. Elaborate research ideas into research strategy, define key
pillars of the strategy
7. Translate research priorities into planning and resource
allocation decisions
8. Reflect critically to improve action

17. Supporting the agenda to make
the process work
Sources of funding
Support regional representatives and
regional/global teams to implement the
regional /global agenda

18. Linking regional priorities to
global priorities
Logframe

19. Research planning, priority
setting and budgeting cycle
1. Develop a regional/global information database
2. Generate ideas for regional/global research
3. Present regional /global research issues
4. Review regional/global research issues based
on outcome of mid-year review
5. Set regional/global research priorities
6. Translate research priorities into budgets
7. Develop consolidated regional/global research
budget
8. Regional/Global review
9. Present regional priorities/regional projects for
global consolidation

20. Conclusions
Combining bottom-up demand driven
approaches with top down supply driven
approaches for priority setting
Framework for integrating global, regional
priority setting and budget process
Clarify linkages between research planning,
priority setting and resource allocation
Problem-based, impact driven research agenda

21. References
Alston, J., G. Norton and P. Pardey, (1995), Science
under Scarcity: Principles and Practices for
Agricultural Research Evaluation and Priority
Setting. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press
Janssen, W., A. Kassam and A. de Janvry (2001), “A
Regional Approach to Setting Research Priorities
and Implementation: Towards Satisfying National,
Regional and International Concerns?” TAC
Secretariat.