Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)
The Ethiopian Agricultural Research is one of the oldest and largest agricultural research system in Africa. Ethiopian Agricultural Research System (EARS) has evolved through several stages since its first initiation during the late 1940s, following the establishment of agricultural and technical schools at Ambo and Jimma. In 1955, a full-fledged agricultural experiment station was established at Debre Zeit (now named Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center) under the then Imperial College of Agricultural and mechanical Arts (now called Haramaya University) and had been continued as the major research entity until the mid-1960s. In 1966, Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) was established as the first nationally coordinated agricultural research system in Ethiopia. Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) was established with a mission to formulate national agricultural research guidelines, coordinate National Agricultural Research System, and undertake research in its centers and sub-centers located in various agroecological zones of Ethiopia.
EIAR is responsible for coordination of agricultural research in federal research centers and Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (RARIs) which are administered by the regional state governments. In addition to coordinating research countrywide it also conducts research/study in various fields using federal research centers and advising government on agricultural research direction and policy formulation. The institute conducting several research projects every year and for that the government and donors invest huge amount of money to conduct the research projects. Large volume of data is produced from these projects as experimental, survey and weather related. However, most of the data collected all these years mostly remain in researcher’s possession and has never been centrally stored in a way to be useable for extended purposes. Since research data generated from research projects of the institute are valuable institutional asset, it should properly be stored, managed, secured and reused within the research community and others. Unless with the recent initiatives with MERCI (Modernizing Ethiopian Research on Crop Improvement) projects for certain crops, we can say that there is no organized and structured data within the computer system rather they are still archived in hard cover bulletins and log books.
EIAR is responsible for coordination of agricultural research in federal research centers and Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (RARIs) which are administered by the regional state governments. In addition to coordinating research countrywide it also conducts research/study in various fields using federal research centers and advising government on agricultural research direction and policy formulation. The institute conducting several research projects every year and for that the government and donors invest huge amount of money to conduct the research projects. Large volume of data is produced from these projects as experimental, survey and weather related. However, most of the data collected all these years mostly remain in researcher’s possession and has never been centrally stored in a way to be useable for extended purposes. Since research data generated from research projects of the institute are valuable institutional asset, it should properly be stored, managed, secured and reused within the research community and others. Unless with the recent initiatives with MERCI (Modernizing Ethiopian Research on Crop Improvement) projects for certain crops, we can say that there is no organized and structured data within the computer system rather they are still archived in hard cover bulletins and log books.
