Managing Agricultural Research for Prosperity and Food Security in 2050: Comparison of Performance, Innovation Models and Prospects

Agriculture faces unprecedented developmental challenges globally. At the same time, rapid advances in agricultural research and innovation at the global, regional and national levels, offer unprecedented opportunities, improving performance across the entire agriculture product value chain.

This paper highlights a multi-case study on six emerging economies in Asia and Africa and representative institutions, where opportunities for agricultural-led development are being explored to address pressing global challenges and transform agriculture into a vibrant and competitive sector.

Drawing from secondary data and using a case study approach, this paper provides an overview and benchmarking of agricultural R&D indicators and policies at the country and institutional levels.

Findings reveal varying levels of agricultural development and successes of the six countries: Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, in terms of agricultural performance, R&D investments and implementation of policies in managing modern agricultural innovations, intellectual property, technology transfer and public-private sector partnership in research and economic development. The paper presents some best practices and suggested measures that may be useful references for emerging economies and institutions with similar interests and initiatives to integrate agricultural research and technology transfer.

Current successes and learning reveal changing and improving capacities in research and technology transfer in selected countries. However, sustaining success will require active policies to govern and promote investment in agricultural research and innovation, strategic partnerships for translating research to practice, and continuous capacity building and human resource development remain to be key ingredients for sustaining such success in addressing local and global problems in agriculture.