Nigeria: Country Leads in Agriculture Research, Devt - Study

Abuja — The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has said that investment in agricultural research and development (R&D) in Sub-Saharan Africa increased by more than 20 per cent between 2001 and 2008, with Nigeria alone accounting for one-third of the increase.
This was contained in its survey report of 32 African nations released recently.

The study found that investment in agricultural research and development had rebounded in many of the larger countries, namely; Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda while noting that spending declined in 13 countries.

"Even where funding did increase, much of the money went to boost low salaries and rehabilitate infrastructure and equipment after years of neglect," the report said.

According to the report, the state of agricultural R&D was particularly grave in francophone West Africa, where insufficient national investment has left programmes debilitated and dangerously dependent on volatile external funding. "Many of these countries are also struggling with a rapidly aging pool of scientists, many of whom would be due for retirement within the next decade. Most countries in the study are facing human capacity challenges, such as recruitment freezes, retention problems and researchers who either lack high-level training or are old and nearing retirement," it observed.

The report further showed, that only a few countries were making necessary investments. In 2008, it said only eight countries; Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, and Uganda spent more than one per cent of their agricultural GDP on research and development, the target set by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Moreover, it added that many countries still depend on donors for funding, which was often short-term and unpredictable, leaving programmes vulnerable and hampering long-term planning.
In order to address the challenges hindering agricultural R&D in Africa, the report recommends increased, consistent, and coordinated funding among governments and donors to counteract decades of underinvestment in agricultural R&D, improve recruitment and training, and expand investments in higher education to resolve human resource capacity issues.
Increased regional and sub-regional cooperation in agricultural R&D to pool resources, information and innovations sharing were also recommended.