2.1 Policy Research in the CGIAR System
2.2 Institution Strengthening Research and Service in the System
The two Panels, together with the TAC Secretariat, inventoried and assessed the current work in policy research and institution strengthening research and service in the CGIAR System, including public management research as appropriate. Following is a very brief summary. Details are provided in the two Panel reports.
The CGIAR has become increasingly involved in policy research. In 1995, the social sciences absorbed about 15% of the System's budget and 18% of its scientific personnel.1 Policy research (including relevant parts of public management research) absorbed about 8% of the budget and 9% of the scientific personnel.
1 The percentage of budget is lower than the percentage of scientific personnel probably because of the lower cost of equipment and facilities for social scientists than for biophysical scientists.
However, the magnitude of the contributions made by the CGIAR in this field of research, measured in number of full-time research workers, is minute compared to the worldwide effort. The Policy Panel estimated the CGIAR's contribution to the worldwide effort, measured in percentage of the total number of scientists engaged, to be between one and two percent in policy; and less than one half of one percent in management research.
TAC recognizes the importance of policy research and its critical role in the CGIAR System; and it agrees with the Panel, that, while very small in a relative sense, the CGIAR's effort is critically important (1) for the operation of the System itself and for servicing the needs of its immediate national clients and partners, (2) to maximize the impact of technological innovations in agriculture, forestry and fisheries on the welfare of humanity, and (3) to provide solutions to some of the broader problems addressed by the System, such as the reduction of rural poverty, improvement in human nutrition, and sustainable development.
Policy research (as defined above) is being undertaken in a majority of the centres, varying in importance from IFPRI, where it is the main activity, through such centres as CIFOR, ISNAR, IIMI and ILRI, where it is an important and central component (6 to 15% of total number of scientists), on to such centres as IRRI, CIMMYT, ICRISAT and IITA, where it is a minor component (1.3 to 1.9%).
Institution strengthening has been and continues to be an important component of the centres' activities. The combination of financial shortfalls with a growing capacity of NARS to do their own training and manage their networks has led to a gradual decline in the allocation of budgetary resources by centres. Allocations for the category "Strengthening NARS" represents 17% of the 1996 funding allocations (down from 24% in 1991). However, of this 17%, some is for CGIAR documentation and publication activities that TAC recognizes should be considered as a general overhead across all activities. Furthermore, centres generally included their activities on giving advice to NARS under category 4.4 (improving policies) of "organization and management counselling". TAC is currently reviewing the CGIAR activity classification.
The principal strengthening services of the centres, excluding ISNAR, have been in the areas of training, information, consultancies, and network development. The impact of these activities has largely been on those components of the NARS related to the specific mandates of the respective centres, not to the NARS as a whole.
The fact that these NARS components frequently operated in a relatively weak institutional environment tended to lessen the impact of the strengthening activities. This realization was an important consideration in the rationale for the creation of ISNAR. ISNAR began chiefly as a service organization devoting most of its efforts to diagnostic studies. It has progressively moved towards greater attention to research and development activities, broadening its disciplinary coverage to include staff with experience in the socioeconomic and management sciences
As the respective components of the NARS became stronger, and the centres moved "upstream" in their research, there has been a gradual shift away from more general production courses to specialized, individual training. Much of the initial type of training is now conducted in and by the NARS, or in regional collaborative networks. To help in this endeavour, many centres are now engaged in "training of trainers" and courseware development activities.
It is against this background that a gradual decline in allocations to strengthening activities took place, based on the increasing scientific capabilities and institutional capacities developed by NARS throughout the 1980s. It should be noted, however, that the application of structural adjustment policies in the 1990s is leading to a progressive decline in the capacities of public sector institutions, without the concomitant increase in those of the private sector. In this context strengthening activities by centres are increasingly expanding from an initial focus on NARIs (the public research institutes) to cover also research organizations operating in the private non-profit (NGOs) and universities and profit sectors.
