Taken with the caution suggested by the possible differences in the interpretation of the information by us and the Centres, by the variations among the number of institutions involved in supplying the information, and by the assumptions that had to be made in analyzing it, the results of the desk study would indicate that:
1. The CGIAR System is allocating a substantive proportion of its total resources to soils and water research (17 percent, or 49 million USD), which is equivalent to funding two large Centres the size of IITA.2. The average proportion of funds allocated by Centres to S&W research is around 14 percent of their budgets, but differences among them range from 5 to 40 percent.
3. Thirty five to forty percent (35-40 %) of the total CGIAR investments in S&W research are directed towards irrigated lands and rainfed lowlands, which could be seen as proxies for well-endowed lands. Among the so-called "fragile" or "marginal" lands, the warm semi-arid, savannas and forest margins each account for around 15 percent of the resources, while the cool semi-arid, highlands and hillsides each account for 5 percent.
4. On average Centres focus about 75 percent of their S&W efforts to research on-site, ranging from 30 to 90 percent. This may be seen as an expression of weak attention to the spatial or landscape linkages, an important component of the framework for integrated natural resource management research advocated by TAC.
5. Judging from the share of resources allocated to activities at the field and farm scales, there appear to be good linkages between productivity-enhancing and resource-conserving perspectives, a major set of linkages mentioned in TAC's framework for integrated research.
6. On average Centres allocate some two-thirds of their S&W budget to research of an applied nature, ranging from 50 to 90 percent. This allocation, taken together with that of three-quarters to on-site research, suggests a strong concentration of research efforts On location-specific activities, rather than on the strategic research required to focus on issues of an international public good nature.
