There is evidence of underinvestment in research in agriculture.

Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology: Investment and Economic Returns | 503 which data exists have higher research intensity ratios in 2000 than they did in 1981 and the majority of them spent in excess of 2.50 on public agricultural RD for every 100 of AgGDP. Most countries in our Asian and Latin American sample 9 out 11 Asian countries and 8 out of 11 Latin American countries increased their intensity ratios over the 1981-2000. Only six of the 26 countries in SSA had higher intensity in 2000 compared to two decades earlier. The large and growing gap between developing and in- dustrialized countries as groups is even larger in terms of total, i.e., public and private, agricultural research spending Figure 8-5. In 2000, the intensity of total spending was nine times higher in rich countries than in poor ones; and four times higher than when only public research spending is used as the basis of the intensity calculation. Other research intensity ratios can be calculated as well. The industrialized countries as a group spent 692 on public Table 8-4 Total ST spending by region and shares agriculture in total, 2000. ST spending Shares in global total ST spending Agricultural RD as a share of total ST spending millions 2000 international dollars percent Asia Pacific 26 94,950 13.4 8.6 Latin America Caribbean 32 21,244 3.0 12.1 sub-Saharan Africa 44 3,992 0.6 37.2 West Asia North Africa 18 14,893 2.1 9.6 Developing countries, subtotal 120 135,079 19.1 10.1 Higher-income countries 23 573,964 80.9 3.9 Total 143 709,043 100 5.1 Note: These estimates exclude East Europe and former Soviet Union countries. The number of countries included in regional totals is shown in parentheses. Regional sample sizes are slightly different from those in Table 8-1. Source: Pardey et al., 2006b. Figure 8-4. Intensity of public agricultural RD investments over agricultural output. Source: Pardey et al., 2006b based on ASTI data. Note: The intensity ratios measure total public agricultural RD spending as a percentage of agricultural GDP. agricultural research per agricultural worker in 2000, more than double the corresponding 1981 ratio Table 8-5. The developing countries as a group spent just 10 per agricul- tural worker in 2000, substantially less than double the 1981 igure. These differences are not too surprising considering that a much smaller share of the workforce in industrialized countries is employed in agriculture, and the absolute num- ber of agricultural workers declined more rapidly in these countries than it did in the developing countries. Expressing agricultural RD spending per capita gives a different trend than the other two intensity calculations. Spending per capita for the industrialized countries as a group increased substantially from 1981 to 1991, but has declined since then. About half of the rich countries expe- rienced declining levels of spending per capita; Japan most severely due to the sharp decline in agricultural RD spend- ing in that country during the 1990s. Spending per capita 504 | IAASTD Global Report during the 1960s. In 1971 these centers formed the basis for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CGIAR or CG. Currently there exist 15 centers see Chapter 2.2.4, with a total budget of US415 million in 2004—US384 million in 2000 prices. Although the CG system has played an important role in the Green Revolu- tion, it only spends a small part of total of the global agricul- tural RD investment. In 2000, the CG represented 1.6 of the US23 billion global public sector investment in ag- ricultural RD from 0.8 in 1981; 2.9 when spending by the rich countries is excluded Pardey et al., 2006a. After an initial expenditure of US7 million in 1960, total spending rose to US13 million per year in 1965, in inlation-adjusted terms. By 1970, the four founding centers IRRI, CIMMYT, IITA, and CIAT were allocated a total of US15 million annually. During the next decade, the total levels are much lower for the developing countries. Most countries, especially those in Africa, spent less than 3 per capita in 2000; while 59 of the industrialized countries invested more than 10 per capita in 2000. In contrast to the group of rich countries, agricultural RD spending per capita for the developing countries as a group continued to increase from 2.12 per capita in 1981 to 2.72 in 2000. The exception is SSA where spending per capita has declined during the 1981-2000 period.

8.1.1.4 International agricultural RD

International agricultural research efforts began in the mid- dle of the 20 th century when the Ford and Rockefeller Foun- dations placed agricultural staff in developing countries to collaborate with national scientists. These efforts evolved into the establishment of four international organizations Figure 8-5. Public, private and total agricultural research intensities, 2000. Source: Pardey et al., 2006b based on ASTI data. Note: The intensity ratios measure total public and private agricultural RD spending as a percentage of agricultural GDP. Table 8-5. Other intensity ratios, 1981, 1991 and 2000. Public agricultural RD spending Per capita Per capita of economically active agricultural population 1981 1991 2000 1981 1991 2000 2000 international dollars Asia Pacific 1.31 1.73 2.35 3.84 5.23 7.57 Latin America Caribbean 5.43 4.94 4.96 45.10 50.54 60.11 sub-Saharan Africa 3.14 2.69 2.28 9.79 9.04 8.22 West Asia North Africa 3.24 3.63 3.66 19.15 27.30 30.24 Developing countries, subtotal 2.09 2.34 2.72 6.91 8.14 10.19 Higher-income countries, subtotal 10.91 13.04 11.92 316.52 528.30 691.63 Total 3.75 4.12 4.13 14.83 16.92 18.08 Source: Pardey et al., 2006b based on ASTI data.