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Moderated conference on impact assessment of agricultural research: May 2014

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Tue, 20 May 2014 22:01:38 +0200
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This is Priscila Henríquez, specialist on innovation at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), based at Washington DC. First of all, a disclaimer: I am not an evaluation specialist, so my contributions stem from a pragmatic experience of 25 years working in agricultural research and innovation.

One of my current responsibilities is to provide technical support for the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO), sponsored by IICA and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This is a unique cooperation mechanism to promote agricultural innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), formed by 15 countries. FONTAGRO's capital - contributed by its member countries - amounts to $105.4 million and is invested 50% in TIPS and 50% in US government bonds. FONTAGRO funds proposals with the interests generated by the $105.4 million.

As international support for agricultural research in LAC has declined over the past two decades, FONTAGRO has emerged as an example of south-south cooperation to promote agricultural technology innovation in its member countries. It co-finances projects that are carried out by consortia of national and international research organizations, NGOs’, academia, farmers’ organizations and other private sector entities. Proposals are submitted and evaluated on the basis of technical merit and approved by the Board of Directors comprised by a representative of each member country. As of December 2013, FONTAGRO has supported 85 projects for a total of US$78.06 million. Of this amount, FONTAGRO has provided $12.01 million, other donors US$14.82 million and the executing partners such as national and international organizations, US$ 51.23 million. The topics range from mechanisms to link farmers to markets, climate change adaptation of family agriculture and sustainable use of natural resources, aligned with the Fund’s Strategic Plan. 

An external evaluation of FONTAGRO as a mechanism to promote research carried out in 2010 revealed that FONTAGRO has contributed decisively to strengthening research and institutions: a countless number of professionals have been formed to MSc and PhD through these projects, which is noteworthy given the lack of opportunities to carry out postgraduate programs in the region, particularly in Central America and the Caribbean. A second finding was that FONTAGRO contributed to the development of 35 new technologies, 15 of which are new to the region and 4 have global implications.

Last year, FONTAGRO conducted an evaluation of the results of 44 projects completed by 2012, and looked in detail at the impacts of seven of them. One of the most interesting findings is that while direct investment by FONTAGRO is considerable, this mechanism acts as a mobilizer of resources from other sources. So, the multiplier effect in the region is evident. During the evaluation period, co-financiers and participating countries had contributed $55.6 million dollars in the form of financial resources and benefits in kind: laboratories, equipment, materials and qualified personnel. In other words, every dollar contributed by FONTAGRO mobilized the equivalent of $ 5 additional during the first 14 years functioning. This is important, especially considering the low levels of investment in R&D and innovation in most LAC countries, with the notable exception of Brazil, Argentina and Mexico (accounting for 86% of the regions R&D spending growth from 2000 to 2008). 

FONTAGRO and its sponsoring organizations are using the results of these evaluations to create awareness among decision makers about the need to increase their investments of public monies in research and development to a recommended minimum of 1% of GDP while focusing on benefiting farmers of all sizes and scales, particularly on innovation that address the needs of small and medium holders.

Also, just recently the Global Harvest Initiative in partnership with the IDB launched the publication “The next global breadbasket: How Latin America can feed the world” that offers a set of recommendations and action items for governments, the donor community, and the private sector to maximize the potential of LAC to contribute to global food security (http://www.globalharvestinitiative.org/index.php/the-next-global-breadbasket-how-latin-america-can-feed-the-world/). The first recommendation is to increase public investment in agricultural R&D.

I just thought I will contribute with this notable example of institutional innovation to promote agricultural research in LAC. I acknowledge the important case of INIA Uruguay highlighted by Mario Pareja (message 48) as an example of how LAC countries are developing sound innovation systems and the lessons learned from that important experience.

Looking forward to continuing this important discussion.

Priscila Henriquez, Ph.D.
Specialist in the Management of Technological Innovation
IICA Office in the US
1889 F Street N.W. Suite 360 
Washington D.C. 20006
US
Tel: (202) 458-6971
e-mail: priscila.henriquez (at) iica.int

[To contribute to this conference, send your message to [log in to unmask] For further information, see http://www.fao.org/nr/research-extension-systems/res-home/news/detail/en/c/217706/ ].
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