Knowledge, Capacity, and Innovation

This paper describes how governments and philanthropic donors could drive innovation through a new kind of technology contest. We begin by reviewing the history of technology prizes, which operate alongside private intellectual property rights ...

The Knowledge, Capacity, and Innovation Division (formerly ISNAR) works to improve the functioning of food and agriculture systems by facilitating knowledge management—the creation, accumulation, sharing, and utilization of knowledge—and ...

Science and technology (S&T) are major contributors to food security, poverty reduction, and economic growth, as has been proven in Asia since the early-1970s through the Green Revolution in agriculture. Continuing to secure such gains, ...

Drawing from comprehensive datasets derived from primary surveys, this report reviews the major institutional developments and investment and human resource trends in public agricultural research and development (R&D) in the seven countries ...

By world, and even regional standards, Paraguay’s agricultural R&D investments and institutions are comparatively small and almost entirely dependent upon government and donor funding. The institutional structure has remained virtually ...

“During 2001-03, the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative, in close collaboration with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), the West and Central African ...

In 2005, agriculture accounted for 14 percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP), down from 23 percent in 1982. Despite the decreasing importance of agriculture in the country’s GDP and exports, the sector still represents a ...

“Sustained, well-targeted, and effectively used investments in R&D have reaped handsome rewards from improved agricultural productivity and cheaper, higher quality foods and fibers. As we begin a new millennium, the global patterns of ...

Although adequate country capacity is considered to be one of the critical missing factors in development outcomes, a lack of understanding of how capacity contributes to economic development and of how to account for the contribution of capacity ...

Total public agricultural R&D capacity in Argentina has rapidly increased since the country emerged from the 1999-2002 economic crisis. This increase is mainly due to strong growth in INTA’s researcher totals, which rose from 1,180 FTEs in ...

Over the past decade agricultural investments in R&D in Benin have increased as a result of the higher education sector’s enhanced role and the national government’s increased willingness to provide support. Nevertheless, Benin remains ...

“This paper discusses how impact-oriented agricultural research for development systems in Africa can be better organized and managed. Specifically, the paper puts forth the argument that achieving the development targets set by African ...

Public-private partnerships are a new way of carrying out research and development (R&D) in Latin America’s agricultural sector. These partnerships spur innovation for agricultural development and have various advantages over other ...

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the total number of agricultural researchers in Burkina Faso has doubled. Agricultural R&D expenditure, however, has been erratic, with increases in spending coinciding largely with the implementation of two ...

“Strengthening national capacity for designing public policies and program interventions is fundamental for achieving development goals. Yet results of capacity strengthening programs have shown mixed results in the last fifty years. ...

Despite a decrease in the total number of researchers at INIA in recent years, overall agricultural research capacity in Chile rose gradually during 1981–2006. In 2006, the country as a whole employed close to 700 fte scientists involved in ...

Después de una década de fuerte crecimiento en los años 1980, la expansión de la capacidad total de investigación agropecuaria de Colombia se estabilizó a mediados de los años 1990. En 2006, el país empleaba a unos 1.000 científicos ETC en ...

Rural producer organizations, such as farmers’ organizations or rural cooperatives, offer a means for smallholder farmers in developing countries to sell their crops commercially. They hold particular promise for Sub-Saharan Africa, where ...

This report reviews the major investment trends, human resource trends, and institutional developments in public agricultural research and development (R&D) in 11 countries of the Asia-Pacific region, drawing from comprehensive datasets ...

This book analyzes relevant issues regarding the constraints and challenges in achieving food security, focusing on South Asian countries where a large percentage of the world’s poor reside. It examines possible future courses of action involving ...

Agricultural R&D investments in Eritrea have declined rapidly since the turn of the millennium, largely due to the completion of the FAO–led project Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eritrea, funded by the Government of Italy, and ...

In light of an increasing focus on new demand-driven extension approaches that aim at accelerating the adoption of innovative technologies by smallholder farmers in developing countries, greater analysis is needed of the role of rural social ...

Participation by women in agricultural research and higher education in Africa has increased in recent years. For a sample of 15 Sub-Saharan African countries, the proportion of female professional staff employed in agricultural research and ...

Las alianzas público-privadas constituyen una nueva forma de realizar investigaciones y representan el desarrollo en el sector agrícola/agroindustrial de América Latina. Existen suficientes ejemplos que comprueban que éstas se han convertido en ...

“Agricultural advisory services play an important role in supporting the use of the agricultural sector as an engine of pro-poor growth and enabling small farmers to meet new challenges, such as accessing export markets, adopting ...

Ser capaz de responder y reaccionar ante las demandas de los productores no implica necesariamente que se generen las mejores soluciones técnicas. Generar innovaciones adecuadas requiere de la participación de muchos: líderes y otros productores, ...

Au cours de la période 2000–2008, l’effectif total des chercheurs agricoles en Guinée est resté relativement stable. Or le niveau d’investissement en R&D agricole a diminué de beaucoup : en 2008, le pays investissait environ 3,9 milliards de ...

Almost unaffected by the 2008 wave of soaring world food prices, Ugandan local market prices exhibit signs of high price volatility in the first quarter of 2009. At the household level, while net producers may reap some benefits from this ...

En 1996, Brasil empleó más de 5.000 investigadores equivalentes de tiempo completo e invirtió más de $1.000 millones (dólares internacionales de 1993) en I&D agropecuario, casi la mitad del gasto total de América Latina en investigación ...

Si bien en Uruguay existen escasas agencias de I&D agropecuario, la intensidad de inversión del país en este tipo de investigación es comparativamente elevada, especialmente para un país en desarrollo. En 1996, el gasto total en I&D ...

This brochure highlights some of IFPRI’s activities in South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and across the continent.

Farmer field schools (FFSs) are a popular education and extension approach worldwide. Such schools use experiential learning and a group approach to facilitate farmers in making decisions, solving problems, and learning new techniques. However, ...

Previous studies implicitly assume uniform price-effects across regions or provinces within countries. They also do not address the issue of integration between the world food market and local markets. Instead, they assume a complete transmission ...

“La innovación es la introducción exitosa de nuevos conocimientos y tecnologías en los procesos social y productivo. Las formas convencionales de fomentar la innovación en la agricultura y la industria alimentaria en los países en ...

This report presents the results of a study on local innovation in four peanut-producing regions in Bolivia. It aimed at identifying the type of organizations and mechanisms contributing the most to the adoption of innovations. The theoretical ...

“Innovation systems perspectives on agricultural research and technological change are fast becoming a popular approach to the study of how societies generate, disseminate, and utilize knowledge, and how such systems can be strengthened for ...

This paper uses a two-stage conditional maximum likelihood procedure and new data from Ghana to identify the determinants of rural-urban migration at the individual, household and community levels, with a particular focus on rural services. The ...

During 1996-2003, total agricultural research staff and expenditures in Jordan rose steadily. In 2003, the country spent close to $13 million (in 2000 prices) on agricultural R&D. Compared to many other countries in West Asia and North ...

This brief provides an overview of the major investment trends in agricultural research in Central America since the early 1980s, drawing on a new set of data developed through a comprehensive survey by the International Food Policy Research ...

L’agriculture en Afrique se caractérise par le rôle prépondérant qu’y joue la femme, vu que les agricultrices constituent entre 60 et 80 % de la main-d’oeuvre agricole. Or la direction des études supérieures et des recherches axées sur ...

Overall, agricultural researcher totals in Laos increased during 1998–2003, while the country’s agricultural R&D expenditures followed a more irregular trend. With the creation of NAFRI in 1999 through the amalgamation of the country’s nine ...

Au Burkina Faso, depuis le début des années 90, l’effectif total de chercheurs agricoles a doublé. Les dépenses consacrées à la R&D agricole ont été fluctuantes, marquées par des augmentations coïncidant largement avec la mise en oeuvre de ...

L’effectif total de chercheurs agricoles du Niger a augmenté de façon constante jusque vers le milieu des années 90, avant de légèrement baisser. Les dépenses consacrées à la R&D agricole du pays ont évolué très irrégulièrement jusqu’en 1998, ...

Du fait de la conjugaison de l’augmentation du nombre de chercheurs dans les secteurs de l’enseignement supérieur et des organisations à but non lucratif avec la diminution des effectifs au sein des organismes d’État, le nombre de chercheurs ...

Au cours des dernières décennies, la R&D agricole malgache est demeurée largement tributaire de l’aide de divers bailleurs de fonds, y compris la suite de projets financés grâce à des prêts de la Banque mondiale et l’assistance technique de ...

Although MASTIC reported that agricultural R&D accounted for only 4 percent of Malaysia’s public and private research spending in 2002 (MASTIC 2004), the sector experienced strong growth in terms of human resources and spending from 1981 ...

In contrast to many other countries in Africa the great majority of agricultural R&D in Mauritius has been funded, historically, from national sources. Sugar research, consistent with its dominant role in both agriculture and the economy, ...

Revised calculations of global agricultural research and development (R&D) spending show that the world is investing less in agricultural research than previously thought. In addition, the agricultural R&D spending of developing countries ...

La capacidad total de I&D agropecuario público en México ha aumentado paulatinamente durante las dos últimas décadas. En 2006, el volumen total de personal de investigación agropecuaria etc que empleaba el país era superior a 4.000 personas, ...

This paper applies Gini and concentration coefficient decomposition as well as the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke poverty index and a welfare function to new data from Burkina Faso to test the relationship between long-distance international migration ...

The number of fte researchers employed in agriculture in Myanmar increased gradually during 1996–2003, but real spending on agricultural R&D declined. In 2003, Myanmar invested just 8 million dollars in 2000 international prices on ...

Total agricultural researcher numbers in Niger rose steadily until the mid-1990s, after which they contracted slightly. The country’s agricultural R&D expenditures showed an erratic upward trend until 1998, but fell drastically with the ...

Agricultural development policies and programs, including extension and support for innovation, implicitly assume that the whole target population has the ability to innovate. Recent research in neuroscience, education, social sciences and ...

Total fte agricultural researcher numbers in PNG rose steadily until 2001 and thereafter contracted as a result of restructuring and retrenchment of less productive staff. The country’s agricultural R&D expenditures followed a more erratic ...

In 2006, Paraguay employed just 128 fte researchers and spent $13 million (in 2005 PPP prices) on agricultural research. The country compares very unfavorably to its MERCOSUR neighbors when it comes to agricultural research capacity and ...

The Central Asian republics – Kazakhstan, the Krygyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – are transitioning from centrally planned economies to market-oriented systems. This volume addresses the process and policy reforms these ...

In 2006, LAC as a whole employed more than 19,000 FTE researchers in agriculture and invested $3.0 billion in agricultural R&D (in 2005 constant prices), which corresponds to 1.14 percent of the region’s total agricultural output. ...

Public-private partnerships have become increasingly important as an arrangement that serves to encourage innovation in agricultural production chains in Latin America. However, some observers have expressed concern that this institutional ...

The civil war in Sierra Leone, caused by a mix of political, social, and economic factors, had a huge impact on the overall economy in general and on the performance of the agricultural sector in particular. The agricultural research system of ...

Agriculture in Ethiopia is changing. New players, relationships, and policies are influencing how smallholders access and use information and knowledge. Although this growing complexity suggests opportunities for Ethiopian smallholders, too ...

“In southern Africa, as in other parts of the world, agricultural biotechnology-particularly the production, consumption, trade, and transport of genetically modified (GM) foods-has been steeped in controversy. The divergent and sometimes ...

Over the past few decades, agricultural R&D in Senegal has relied heavily on donor funding, including consecutive projects led by the World Bank. Reduced support by donors and the Senegalese government has led to a gradual drop in the ...

“This study, which examines the role of public-private partnerships in international agricultural research, is intended to provide policymakers, research managers, and business decisionmakers with an understanding of how such partnerships ...

Agricultural research and development (R&D) in Sierra Leone virtually ceased in the 1990s due to the ravages of civil war. Several researchers were killed by rebels, research facilities and equipment were destroyed or severely damaged, and ...

Social entrepreneurs can provide the new approaches needed to hasten the process of reducing poverty and hunger. By combining innovative ideas from individuals and investments from public, private, and civil society organizations, such ...

During 1981-2003, the number of agricultural researchers in Sri Lanka increased steadily. Agricultural R&D spending also rose throughout this period, albeit more erratically. In 2003, total expenditures amounted to $60 million (in 2000 ...

To be an effective poverty alleviation instrument, agricultural policies (including research, extension, and innovation) must be based on an evolutionary approach that emphasizes experimentation, learning, and active interactions among diverse ...

Strengthening Sudan’s agricultural research system is a key component in addressing the country’s increasing food insecurity and poverty. Nevertheless, public agricultural R&D spending has decreased over the past 30 years because of declining ...

Public agricultural R&D investments in The Gambia have followed an erratic pattern since the turn of the millennium, largely due to significant yearly fluctuations in government and donor support. In 2008, the country invested close to 20 ...

“New technologies are critical to enhancing agricultural productivity and reducing poverty in many developing countries. While public-sector investment in research has historically driven technological change in agriculture, recent trends ...

“Local farming communities throughout the world face productivity constraints, environmental concerns, and diverse nutritional needs. Developing countries address these challenges in a number of ways. One way is public research that ...

Tunisia’s agricultural research system underwent important reforms over the past decade, facilitated by the national government’s commitment to the agricultural sector and important World Bank-support agricultural research and extension ...

Following the PMA framework NARO will need to narrow its mandate on noncommercial crops with the private sector becoming responsible for research on commercial crops. Until now, however, the producer organizations have not been very willing to ...

En 2006, Uruguay empleaba en torno a 400 investigadores ETC e invertía 848 millones de pesos uruguayos (en precios actuales) en investigación agropecuaria. La estructura de financiamiento del INIA es peculiar para América Latina pues el instituto ...

Agricultural researcher totals in Vietnam increased steadily during 1991–2003, reaching nearly 3,000 fte’s in 2003. The country’s agricultural R&D expenditures almost tripled throughout 1996–2002 as a result of an increased commitment by the ...

Female farmers play a vital role in African agriculture, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of the agricultural workforce. However, agricultural research and higher education are disproportionately led by men. There is an urgent need for a greater ...