AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SPENDING IMPROVES IN ASIA-PACIFIC

The total agricultural research and development (R&D) spending in Asia-Pacific region increased by 50 percent from 1996 to 2008, opening the doors for strong agricultural development in the future, according to a new report.

The regional synthesis report “Benchmarking Agricultural Research Indicators across Asia–Pacific” published by ASTI and APAARI analyzes and benchmarks indicators of public agricultural R&D for Asia-Pacific.

With investment shares mainly coming from developing countries, especially China and India, Asia accounted for 39 percent of global public agricultural R&D in 2008, up from a quarter in the mid-1990s. The rapid growth was a result of the strong commitments by developing countries’ governments to agricultural research and technological innovation.

However, it is important to note that the share of agricultural R&D spending in total agricultural GDP in low- and middle-income countries, at an average of 0.21 percent and 0.43 percent respectively in 2008, was still much lower than the share in high-income countries, which averaged 4.13% in the same year. This shows that even with rapid growth, there is still an underinvestment in agricultural R&D in low- and middle-income countries.

The agricultural research capacities in most low- and middle-income countries in the region were also improved in terms of numbers of agricultural researchers as well as their education levels. The report also points out that the employment of female agricultural researchers is still very low across the region with only a few exceptions. Nepal and Pakistan were the two countries with lowest female employment rates, at only 10 percent in 2009.

The Asia-Pacific region is a diverse region with strong economic growth potential, but there are still challenges, including climate change, population growth, and food and nutrition security.  The report concludes that good governance is key to promoting the effectiveness and efficiency of research and ultimately to realizing the potential of agricultural innovation.

>> Read ASTI’s blog

>> See key indicators from the interactive dashboard below