ISHS Acta Horticulturae 495: WCHR - World Conference on Horticultural Research
POLICY ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL FUNDING OF HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH |
| Author: | M. Petit |
| Abstract:
Rapid changes in science, technology and institutional arrangements are posing major challenges to agricultural research managers throughout the world. The existing mechanisms for funding international research efforts in particular are under threat. It is thus topical that the organizers of this congress have decided to devote one full session of the program to policy issues for horticultural research, and, within that session, to a discussion of the policy issues regarding international funding, the topic of this paper. But first, what do we mean exactly by the expression “international funding”? Given that other papers in this session deal with university and national research, in addition to a synthesis by the chairman, it seems appropriate to define international funding as the funding of international efforts, i.e., activities involving actors from several countries, including sometimes international institutions such as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Centers. The scope of the topic so defined thus covers funding for the CGIAR itself, funding for centers non affiliated with the CGIAR, such as the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) or the International Centre of lnsect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), but also multilateral funding such as those of DG 12 in the European Commission - which are specifically restricted to collaboration efforts between European institutions and research institutions in developing countries. Similarly, funding for the Collaborative Research Support Programs (CRSPs) in the USA or for the collaborative efforts of French institutions such as the Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Developpement (CIRAD) or the Institut Francais de Recherche Scientifique pour le Developpement en Cooperation (ORSTOM), working in developing countries are within the scope of this definition of international funding. Note that the discussion so far has dealt with agricultural research in general, and not specifically with horticultural research. Several reasons explain this approach: Since the end of the colonial period, the international agricultural research community has devoted most of its attention to subsistence crops - notably cereals - and to subsistence agriculture, where horticulture plays only a limited role. The private sector plays a greater role in horticultural research - particularly for commercial crops and for some markets - than in agricultural research generally, and the logic of these activities is different than that of publicly funding research. Finally, within the public domain, international funding of horticultural research - in the case of bananas, potatoes or even vegetables - is subjected to the same pressures as those which affect agricultural research broadly defined. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
