African Agro Research & Development Understaffed & Underfunded – Report

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UNITED NATIONS, Nov 25 2014 (IPS) - (GIN) – Much-needed research and development for agriculture is under-funded and understaffed throughout the continent, threatening food security for African people, according to a new study by researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

“Addressing these R&D challenges will be critical to enhancing future agricultural productivity,” said Gert-Jan Stads, one of the authors of the report entitled: “Taking Stock of National Agricultural R&D Capacity in Africa South of the Sahara.”

The report was produced by the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) program me led by IFPRI and will be presented at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in Johannesburg during a three-day conference currently underway.

The conference marks the launch of the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa, which identifies a suite of issues and options for increasing and deepening the contributions of science to agriculture in Africa.

“It is critical that African countries invest more in agricultural research to ensure that they can feed their populations,” said Nienke Beintema, head of ASTI and one of the authors of the report.

“Underinvestment, inadequate human resource capacity, poor research infrastructure, and a lack of coherent policies continue to constrain the quantity and quality of research outputs in many countries.”

Other findings in the report include the problem of high researcher turnover across Africa due to low salary levels and poor conditions of service; the approaching retirements of a very large share of senior researchers, the gross underrepresentation of female scientists in agriculture R&D, donor dependence and funding volatility.

From 2000-2011, the researchers found, the region’s public agricultural research capacity showed an increase of 50 percent to an estimated 14,500 full-time researchers (FTEs).

Put in context, however, just three countries—Nigeria (2,688 FTEs), Ethiopia (1,877 FTEs), and Kenya (1,151 FTEs)—employed more than one-third of those researchers in 2011. Moreover, just two countries—Nigeria and Ethiopia—were responsible for most of sub-Saharan Africa’s capacity growth during this period.

Thirty eight countries included in ASTI’s analysis employed far fewer researchers – 10 employed fewer than 100 FTEs each, and growth across countries was primarily driven by the recruitment of less qualified staff. In addition, a number of Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal) recorded rapid decreases in researcher numbers between 2008 and 2011.

On the subject of funding, the report pointed out that in most countries, the bulk of government funding is allocated to salaries, so the costs of operating actual research programs and of developing and maintaining R&D infrastructure and equipment are highly dependent on donor contributions.

This being the case, donors and development banks can have a disproportionate influence on critical decision-making processes, potentially skewing the research agenda toward short-term goals that may not necessarily be aligned with national and (sub)regional priorities.

The report cited recent policy responses from specific countries to their human resource challenges.

In Burundi, a 2009 law improving faculty salary levels prompted most of the Burundian nationals who had sought better paying positions in Rwanda to return to the National University of Burundi.

Eritrea had one of the youngest and least-qualified pools of agricultural researchers in Africa, so the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and Hamelmalo Agricultural College collaborated to develop a PhD program at HAC, and the government has increased its support to make this possible.

In Uganda, collaboration between the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and Makerere University has been even more extensive; the two organizations are working together to strengthen human resource capacity, develop and implement research projects, and share and build on their knowledge bases.

Governments in Guinea, Madagascar, and Sudan have raised the official retirement age for public agricultural researchers, which gives the institutes extra time for senior staff to train and mentor their junior colleagues.

Finally, in Rwanda, the government of President Paul Kagame is supporting the development of a number of MSc and PhD programs in agricultural sciences at the University of Rwanda, which was recently established through the merger of the countries public universities.