Institutions and the African Farmer
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
INSTITUTIONS AND THE AFRICAN FARMER Public Disclosure Authorized Car K.Eicer23043 Carl K. Eicher September 1999 4~~~~ Public Disclosure Authorized gr ~iE Public Disclosure Authorized CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research Public Disclosure Authorized CGL4R Centers Centro Internacionalde Agricultura Tropical(CLAT) * Cali, COLOMBIA Centerfor InternationalForestry Research (CIFOR) * Jakarta,INDONESIA CentroInternacional de Mejoramientode Maiz y Trigo(CIMMYT) * Mexico City, MEXICO CentroInternacional de la Papa(CIP) * Lima, PERU InternationalCenterfor AgriculturalResearch in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) * Aleppo, SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC InternationalCenterfor Living Aquatic ResourcesManagement (ICLARM) * Makati City, PHILIPPINES InternationalCentre for Researchin Agroforestry(ICRAF) * Nairobi,KENYA InternationalCrops Research Institutefor the Semi-Arid Tropics(ICRISAT) * Patancheru,INDIA InternationalFood Policy ResearchInstitute (IFPRI)* Washington,DC, USA InternationalInstitute of TropicalAgriculture (IITA) * Ibadan,NIGERLA InternationalLivestock Research Institute (ILRI) * Nairobi,KENYA InternationalPlant GeneticResources Institute (IPGRI) * Rome,ITALY InternationalRice ResearchInstitute (IRRI) * Los Bafos, PHILIPPINES InternationalServicefor National Agricultural Research(ISNAR) * The Hague,NETHERLANDS InternationalWater Management Institute (IWMI) * Colombo,SRI LANKA WestAfrica Rice DevelopmentAssociation (WARDA) * Bouake,COTE D'IVOIRE INSTITUTIONS AND THE AFRICAN FARMER Issues in Agriculture 14 CARL K. EICHER CGIAR September 1999 Issues in Agriculture is an evolving series on topics connected with agricultural research and development. The series is published by the Secretariat of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) as a contribution to informed discussion on issues that affect agriculture. The opinions expressed in this series are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect a consensus of views within the CGIAR System. About the Consultative Group on InternationalAgricultural Research (CGIAR) TheCGIAR is a uniqueglobal partnership with a compellingworldwide agenda.Established in the early1970s, the CGIARworks to promotefood security, povertyeradication, and the soundmanagement of naturalresources throughout the developingworld. It is the largestscientific network of its kind. CGIARpursues these objectives through the activitiesof 16international researchcenters. CGIAR Members-58 industrial and developing countries, private foundations,and regional and international organizations-provide vital financing, technicalsupport, and strategic direction. A hostof otherpublic and private organizationswork with the CGIARas donors,research associates, and advisors. The needfor a specialpartnership within the agriculturalresearch community focusedon fighting hunger and poverty through productivity-oriented research was first recognizedin the late 1960s,in responseto the specterof widespreadfamine in partsof Asia. Leadersfrom 18international organizations, foundations, and concerned governmentsformally joined together in 1971as the first Membersof the CGIAR. Throughtheir continuingsupport, hundreds of newwheat and rice varietieswere developed,released, and planted in developingcountries, adding an estimated USS50 billionto the valueof worldfood suppliesover two decades. Tobuild on these achievements, new CGIAR Centers were foundedto work with nationalresearch institutions in pioneeringimprovements in otherkey food crops, suchas legumes,roots, tubers and other cereals, and to concentrateon better managementof livestock.Centers were establishedto work onthe problemsof dry, semi-arid,and tropical regions, and to conductresearch on forestry, agroforestry, water management,fisheries and marine resources. Centers were also set upto analyzenational and international food policies, and to buildthe capacityof agriculturalresearch atthe nationallevel. Today,16 CGIAR Centers around the worldare harnessingcutting-edge knowledgeto helpmeet the world'senormous food needs-with a steadfastallegiance to scientificexcellence and the publicwelfare. The advances made through CGIAR researchare internationalpublic goods; new plantvarieties, pest control methods, and resourcemanagement technologies are availablefree to all interestedparties. CGIAR'sMission: To contribute to foodsecurity and poverty eradication in developingcountries through research, partnership, capacity building, and policy support,promoting sustainable agricultural development based on theenvironmentally soundmanagement of naturalresources. ii Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations ................. .............................. iv Institutions and the African Farmer ................................................ 1 Afro-Pessimism: Lessons from Asia and Latin America ...................... 5 Africa's Empty Harvest in Historical Perspective ................................ 8 Institutional Expansion, Downsizing, and Restructuring ........... ........26 Crafting Demand-Driven Agricultural Knowledge Triangles: Bread-and-Butter Issues ............. .................................. 32 Challenges ............................................... 42 References ................................................ 54 The ThirdDistinguished Econiomist Lecture was presentedby ProfessorCarl Eicher at the InternationalMaize and Wheat ImprovementCenter (CIMMYT), in Mexico City, on January15, 1999,and a revisedversion was publishedby CIMMYT The CGIAR Secretariatis republishingthe lectureas part of the Issues in Agriculture series and extends thanks to ProfessorEicher and CIMMYT. Abstract: Getting African agriculture moving is the most complex and demanding task facing policy makers, agricultural scientists, and donors over the coming 25 years. This publication, based on the text of a presentation given at the CIMMYT Economics Program's third Distinguished Economist lecture, examines Africa's empty harvest in historical perspective and analyzes the failure of agricultural institutions imported from other continents (e.g., T&V extension and the land grant university model). The author argues that there is an urgent need for African agriculturalists to experiment with different agricultural institutions and to craft national "agricultural knowledge triangles" that include research, extension, and agricultural higher education. Africa's universities are the weak link in the agricultural knowledge triangle. The lecture then analyzes the reasons underlying the erosion in the capacity of Africa's faculties of agriculture to offer high quality graduate training in agriculture. Taking the long view of building sustainable agricultural institutions, the author outlines eight challenging puzzles that require debate and further study: creating a good institutional environment; crafting agricultural knowledge triangles; the case for long-term scientific assistance; the expanded aid agenda; changing roles of public and private institutions and NGOs; institution building versus marginalist approaches; strategic issues in improving the quality of graduate education; and "whither the CGIAR." iii Acronyms and Abbreviations ACBI African Capacity Building Initiative AERC African Economic Research Consortium (Nairobi) AIDS Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome AKIS Agricultural Knowledge Information System ASARECA Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CIMMYT Centro Intemacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) CORAF Conference des responsables de recherche agronornique en Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GDP Gross Domestic Product GNP Gross National Product lCW International Centers Week IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute IRD Integrated Rural Development ISNAR Intemational Service for National Agricultural Research KARI Kenya Agricultural Research Institute NARI National Agricultural Research Institute NARS National Agricultural Research System NGO Non-governmental Organization OAU Organization of African Unity R&D Research and Development SACCAR Southern African Centre for Cooperation in Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Training SADC Southern Africa Development Community SPAAR Special Program for African Agricultural Research T&V Training and Visit (extension model) UDP University Development Program USAID US Agency for International Development USDA US Department of Agriculture WARDA West Africa Rice Development Association iv Institutions and the African Farmer CARLK. EICHER We hiave to zworkZwith some lhope that thereis a newtgeneration, a groupof survivorszwho have learnedsomethingfrom the disaster. - C7hinitaAchebe, 1979 A frican hunger and famine have lost their shock value, but ,,A,not their impact. People are hungry. AIDS has joined famine as a silent killer. And after 40 years of independence, African leaders and Africa's institutions have failed their people. Donors and academics share this onus. Indeed, prospects appear bleak in a land of promise. Africa is muddling through, ill-prepared to cope with the awesome task of dealing simultaneously with short-term food emergencies and the long-term challenge of feeding an extra half billion people over the next 20 to 25 years. Afro-pessimism has spread like a plague across the continent, invading the spirit of Africans