Browsing by Author "Beintema, Nienke"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Agricultural R&D Expenditure in Africa: An Analysis of Growth and Volatility
    (The European Journal of Development Research, 2015) Stads, Gert-Jan; Beintema, Nienke
    Agricultural research and development (R&D) investment is positively associated with high returns, but these returns take time – often decades – to develop. Consequently, the inherent lag from the inception of research to the adoption of new technologies calls for sustained and stable R&D funding. This article introduces a quantitative measure to assess volatility in agricultural R&D spending. It reveals that agricultural R&D spending in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been substantially more volatile than in other developing regions, which is the consequence of low levels of government funding, coupled with a high dependence on short-term and ad hoc donor and development bank funding. Rather than relying too much on external funding, SSA governments need to clearly identify long-term priorities, design focused and coherent agricultural R&D programmes accordingly, and commit sufficient funding for their implementation, while donor funding needs to be better aligned with national priorities. Moreover, diversification of funding sources is needed to better absorb funding shocks.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Setting Meaningful Investment Targets in Agricultural Research and Development: Challenges, Opportunities and Fiscal Realities
    (Economic and Social Development Department, 2009) Beintema, Nienke; Elliott, Howard
    The rate of growth in agricultural research and development (R&D) investment has been declining globally while a large number of developing countries have experienced negative growth rates over the past decade. Stagnating investment in sub-Saharan African agricultural research is particularly worrisome. General underinvestment is evidenced by: 1) the continuing high rates of return to research demonstrated in studies at the commodity level; and 2) by macroeconomic studies showing that the relevant Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) cannot be reached without a doubling or even tripling of research investment given estimated growth-poverty-reduction elasticities, Also of concern is new evidence that a change in the composition of research away from productivity-enhancement at the farm level is statistically related to a decline in the growth of agricultural productivity in advanced economies below historical levels. This trend may be considered another form of underinvestment that reduces potential spillovers in the future. Policy makers are reminded that growth in agricultural productivity provides the consumption, savings and taxes needed for development and attainment of social goals.