International agricultural research as a global public good: concepts, the CGIAR experience and policy issues

Abstract

AbstractGlobal Public Goods (GPGs) are becoming increasingly important in international development, but little attention has been given to their role in science and technology. Yet one clear example—also overlooked in most of the GPG literature—has existed for 35 years: the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Agricultural research in the poorer developing nations is largely conducted in the public sector and the CGIAR was formed to develop, with these nations, improved technologies and policies for their use in food production—international research spillovers. The process has worked well: the CGIAR has, perhaps unwittingly, been a leading provider of GPGs. But public funding for the CGIAR from international development agencies has become tighter and more restricted, threatening to weaken its global scientific capacity. Additional and more research‐oriented funding sources are needed. Greater understanding of the GPG concept as it applies to research, both public and private, is needed at the policy level if these efforts are to be realised and endure. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.