Selected policy issues in international agricultural research: On striving for international public goods in an era of donor fatigue

Abstract

International agricultural research is a small but critically important part of the global research system. Its importance derives from the extent of international spillovers, the efficiencies of working across national boundaries for many research products, and the productivity-boosting collegiality and cost-reducing benefits thereof of sharing information and materials, while fostering the advance of agricultural science generally. Financial difficulties pervade the international as well as national elements of the global system, so it is an appropriate time to examine some of the threats to effective functioning of an international System that is needed for its key contributions to productivity growth. Suggestions are made for boosting efficiency of the international agricultural research centers and strengthening their support of national research efforts in the developing world.