Private agricultural research in Asia

Agricultural research in South and South-east Asia was started by a mix of private companies, commodity groups and governments. In the 1960s and 1970s, government research increased rapidly, commodity groups declined in importance and there were signs of private research growth. Recently, the increased demand for modern inputs and changes in government policy provide greater incentives for private research, but first they have to resolve a number of issues about the role private research should play in their societies.     

Changing food patterns in West Africa: Implications for policy research

West African consumption of wheat and rice is growing rapidly despite technological barriers to production of these cereals in the region. Soaring imports are of particular concern in view of likely consumption trends. Maize imports are also growing rapidly, as is production in the more humid countries, to the detriment of sorghum. The latter is performing relatively better in the drier countries. Possible factors underlying consumption shifts are discussed, including price policies at variance with stated objectives. Possible policies to slow down these shifts are discussed, along with research requirements for effective diagnosis and implementation.     

Economic environment and agricultural development: The importance of macroeconomic policy

This article explores the ways in which the macroeconomic balance of the economy, and related policies, impinge on agriculture in developing countries, and considers implications for the design of policies. It argues that the extent of macroeconomic balance, and the quality of the policies influencing that balance, to a large extent define the scope for effective agricultural policies. The avoidance of severe balance-of-payments deficits and rapid inflation are seen as a necessary condition for the promotion of agricultural growth. They also have an important influence on the nature and range of agricultural policy options available to governments.     

The impact of agricultural research on productivity and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa

While it is widely recognized that agricultural research is a key driver of broad-based technological change in agriculture that benefits the poor in many different ways, little is known about its aggregate impacts on productivity growth and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using a polynomial distributed lag structure for agricultural research within a simultaneous system of equations framework, this paper first demonstrates that agricultural research contributes significantly to productivity growth in SSA. Productivity growth is again shown to raise per capita incomes, with income increases finally having significant poverty-reducing effects. With an aggregate rate of return of 55%, the payoffs to agricultural research are also impressive. Agricultural research currently reduces the number of poor by 2.3 million or 0.8% annually. While the actual impacts are not large enough to more than offset the poverty-increasing effects of population growth and environmental degradation, the potential impacts of agricultural research are far greater. Apart from low research investments, SSA faces several constraints outside the research system that hinder realization of potential research benefits. The results show that doubling research investments in SSA would reduce poverty by 9% annually. However, this would not be realized without more efficient extension, credit, and input supply systems.     

Economic analysis and priorities of agricultural research

This response to two previous papers in Food Policy argues that cost-benefit analyses of agricultural research have not recognized the constraints on markets for farm produce, which also affect the realization of policy objectives. Policy evaluation could be assisted by economic analysis, but this should not lead to the neglect of non-economic values.     

Analysis of agricultural research investment priorities for sustainable poverty reduction in Southeast Asia

Underinvestment in agricultural research remains rife across Southeast Asia, despite the remaining importance of the subregion’s agricultural sector and ample evidence of agricultural technology impact to date. To help identify specific areas where additional investment is most needed, this study compares the impact potential for the poor of alternative agricultural research foci, taking changes in production patterns, consumption patterns and environmental sustainability into account. New spatial data on the distribution of poverty and the expenditure patterns of households below international poverty lines are used to offer more detailed assessment of the poverty relevance of alternative foci than possible previously. Patterns of impact potential are evaluated against evidence of impact to date to discern probabilities of success in achieving potential impacts. Impact patterns discerned are contrasted with current relative funding allocations across research areas in the subregion by National Agricultural Research Systems (NARSs) and International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs) to identify key funding gaps.     

Technology development and adoption rates: Systems approach for agricultural research and extension

Adoption of new technology in peasant agriculture remains lower than expected. Failure to achieve expected returns is associated more with insufficiencies in the conduct of research than with external and economic factors such as price structure or lack of agricultural support services. This article sets out the case for national agricultural research and extension structures that emphasize on-farm research with a systems approach.     

Fertilizers to support agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa: what is needed and why

Substantial growth in inorganic fertilizer use is a prerequisite for sustained agricultural growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Increased fertilizer use can lead to modest but immediate and important increases in yields, while the profitability of other technologies will be stifled without adequate plant nutrients. Average fertilizer application rates in sub-Saharan Africa need to increase from 10 kg/ha to 50 kg/ha within 10 years to prevent mining of soil nutrients. That implies an 18% annual growth rate. This is substantially higher than trends in the region, but within a reasonable range of historically observed levels from other parts of the world. While over-use of fertilizers can create environmental problems, this is not a widespread problem in sub-Saharan Africa, and should not become one as a result of applying 50 kg/ha of inorganic fertilizers. Rather, near-term environmental concerns in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa will stem from the lack of intensification. Farmer demand for fertilizers and the physical capacity to make fertilizers available are the two key issues that determine whether a 50-kg/ha goal will be attained. However, demand-side incentives cannot be separated from fertilizer supply possibilities. Several studies document that the simple physical availability of fertilizers to farmers, in the appropriate quantity, packages and at the appropriate time of year, remains a main constraint on increased fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa.     

The green revolution in Nigeria: Prospects for agricultural development

This article considers the application of green revolution strategies in Nigeria. The authors discuss the background issues and the genesis of the green revolution before turning to the specific experiences of countries in Indo-Pakistan. The prospects for accelerated agricultural development in Nigeria brought about by green revolution technologies is considered. The authors conclude that the case of Nigeria is conceptually different to that of Asian countries but, with careful planning, green revolution technologies can contribute to sustained agricultural development in Nigeria.     

中东北非地区钢铁工业发展现状与前景

分析了近几年中东北非地区钢铁工业的发展现状,介绍了当地主要钢铁企业的情况,列举了中东北非地区钢铁工业的产能扩张项目,并指出了其发展前景。     

The state's role in financing agricultural research

Recent declines in public agricultural research funding in developing countries may not be as severe or as universal as widely perceived, although some research systems are clearly constrained. An analysis of the economic characteristics of agricultural research suggests that there may be some crowding-out of private finance, but the harnessing of additional private resources depends critically on enhancing the profitability and appropriability of research benefits, while the case for increasing levels of public funding on research with greater public good characteristics remains strong. However, the justifiable scrutiny of the state's role in financing agricultural research should not be at the expense of continued efforts to improve the efficiency of agricultural research delivery and the management of existing funds.     

Leadership research in Asia: A brief assessment and suggestions for the future

The main purpose of this essay is to discuss fundamental issues regarding future research on leadership in Asia. In order to meaningfully introduce these issues, I begin with an overview of leadership research in Asia, briefly covering some of the similarities and differences between Asian and Western leadership approaches. Throughout the essay, I rely chiefly on China as an example. I stress that instead of developing theories and measures unique to specific countries, such as China, the focus should be on the identification of moderators that explain relationships between leadership and both its antecedents and outcomes. I further argue that for such an approach to be viable, future scale development efforts should include respondents from multiple cultural contexts so that relatively universal boundary conditions/domains can be identified. I further contend that assessing differences between countries, such as China compared to Western countries, will be most beneficial if cross-level research designs and analyses are employed.     

Economic reform programmes and agricultural development: Macro policy sequencing in Ghana, 1983–1988

1983 saw the institution of an economic reform programme as a policy response to economic decline in Ghana. Results indicate achievement of some degree of stabilization and growth. Agricultural performance was mixed, a result partly attributed to poor macro policy sequencing. This article highlights the importance of orderly macro policy sequencing for the achievement of growth and development. It suggests setting structural measures within demand management measures in a mutually enhancing package. Consideration of social dimensions of reform programmes and measures to ameliorate hardships among vulnerable groups in initial stages of programmes is emphasized as important for the sustainability of economic reforms.     

Paradigm development in Chinese management research: The role of research methodology

Kuhn’s paradigm framework asserts that scholarly fields differ in their level of development, and that such differences will be reflected in research norms and practices. In particular, early stage subfields are expected to have less consensus regarding theory and methods, negatively affecting both the consistency and sophistication of research designs. We examine Kuhn’s framework in the context of a rapidly advancing subfield: Chinese management research. This paper reports a content analysis of China-based studies against a matched set of management articles, focusing on methodology. In partial support of the paradigm framework, we find many differences in several important research design characteristics. Additionally, consistent with expectations, many of these differences decline over time. Based on these findings, we discuss the applicability of Kuhn’s framework to management research, and also identify normative guidelines for the design of future Chinese management studies.     

Digital divide and financial development in Africa

This paper analyses the influence of the digital divide on the new IMF financial development index on a panel of 34 African countries over the period 2005–2017. Using the instrumental variables technique, we arrive at the main result that ICT divide is a severe handicap for the financial systems development in Africa. The use of financial development sub-indices relating to financial institutions and financial markets, as well as their dimensions confirms the negative effect of the digital divide. Our result remains stable when we use alternative measures of financial development and ICT indicators. Furthermore, we found that the digital divide between countries is also a severe handicap for the financial development of countries lagging behind. On the other hand, countries with a technological lead or a digital dividend have relatively developed financial systems. Some recommendations have been suggested to promote digital penetration in Africa, as well as to improve the receptivity and flexibility of African financial systems.     

Population,food and agricultural development: A medium-term view

Trends identified in 86 developing countries over the last 15–20 years indicate that the increase in food production was less than that in domestic demand for food in as many as 53, and 34 failed even to keep up with population growth. The author presents the likely perspective for the next 10 years. His analysis focuses on accelerating the increase in food production; an equitable and efficient distribution particularly among the poorer sections of the population; increasing employment in agriculture and related sectors; and increasing the share of developing countries in expanded trade in agriculture products.     

Rural development and agricultural policy in the EEC

Decision making on integrated rural development projects is a complex affair. Dr van den Noort isolates some important elements in the process, puts them into an economic policy framework and examines them in relation to some experiences in the Netherlands and the EEC. A wide gap emerges between the philosophy and practice of agricultural and rural policy which bodes ill for the future of the EEC. If agricultural policies and rural development are to lead to greater intergration in the EEC then they must be used to increase a still to be defined general welfare function for the EEC and not to further narrow-minded regional policies.     

Towards regional food security in southern Africa: a (new) policy framework for the agricultural sector

In the southern African Region (SAR) large populations, mainly concentrated in rural areas, face food insecurity and poverty. Food insecurity is intensified by adverse weather conditions and droughts which impact negatively on farm level food production throughout the region. Agriculture constitutes an important economic sector in the majority of countries in the region. This is measured as share of agricultural value added to the GDP and as agriculture's share in employment. Based on these facts alone, it must be obvious that sustained agricultural performance will play a significant role in the improvement of food security and livelihoods in the region. However, food security is not only attained in rural areas and by the consumption of home produced food stuffs. Urbanisation is expected to increase dramatically over the next few decades and feeding the urban masses, at affordable prices, must be considered to be a high future priority for governments in the region. Food security must not be viewed as an agricultural issue per se. The drive to food self sufficiency through domestic agriculture production in many countries in the region did not enable these countries to feed their own population. Food security should rather be defined as the acquirement of sufficient and nutritious quantities of food (Sen, 1981, Poverty and Famines: An essay on Entitlement and Deprivation). An approach, whereby attention is given to the macro level availability of food, access to income streams as well as improved production capacity to acquire food at a household level and the utilisation of nutritious food, should therefore be guiding food security policies (SADC: FSTAU, 1997, A Strategic Framework for Food Security in the Region). This broader view emphasises household level poverty reduction, economic development and growth as important components of a food security strategy (World Food Summit, Rome, 1996). An important issue which therefore needs to be explored is whether agriculture does have the potential to contribute to economic processes, which will support broad based development and food security. This paper is intended to argue the importance of agricultural development for food security in the region and to develop a diverse policy framework to strengthen this new, more comprehensive role of agriculture in the region.     

从东西部经济差距看西部开发中的几个经济问题

西部大开发中需要解决一些关键性问题,包括放弃紧缩政策,启动需求;调整经济结构,发展新兴产业;利用新的政策机遇,解决国有企业历史负担等。     

中东北非大格局与中国石油企业的应对

2011年以来,受政治体制、经济危机、地缘政治、现代信息技术普及等各种内外部因素的综合影响,中东北非地区政局出现了近30年来少有的动荡。基于相近的价值体系以及长期建立的合作协调机制,美欧在该地区实施的地缘战略一直左右着局势的发展。鉴于中东北非在地缘上的重要性以及丰富油气资源的巨大吸引,美欧不会停止实施其既定地缘战略的步伐,将继续在亲美或中立的国家中通过多种方式推行渐进式变革,并将打击重点转向伊朗、叙利亚和苏丹这三个仍被美国列为支持恐怖主义的中东国家。在此形势下,将中东北非地区作为海外石油战略投资区的中国石油企业,应在积极参与该地区油气投资的同时,明确在不同国家的业务发展定位,加强与美欧石油公司的合作,提升风险管理能力,做好局势情景规划,积极打造参与国际竞争的核心能力。