International Conference – University of PretoriaThe Changing Global Landscape in Rural Development: Critical Choices for

Results-Oriented Research in Southern Africa

Towards A Relevant Rural Development Research Agenda In Southern Africa: Regional Collaborative Approaches And Strategies

Research agenda to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development in Southern Africa: Food and Agricultural

Priorities in the 21st Century

Presented by Philippe DardelTechnical Advisor, Agricultural Policy, SADC

Introductory Remarks

• Not a research agenda per se; rather a process• Not a SADC view per se; lessons from experience• Colleagues’ inputs• Paradox: UP requesting SADC, not vice versa• SADC perspective: specific (regional integration), limited;

country context more positive• Assumptions:

– Users using limited Southern African R&D products?

– Policy marginally informed by Southern African R&D?

– Current development agenda focuses on 2 main goals: farmers linkages with markets + farm (labour) productivity increase, complemented with social transfers for the most vulnerable

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OUTLINE1. Demographic perspective

2. Drawing from SADC’s agricultural development strategy

– RISDP, Dar es Salaam Declaration, RAP

3. R&D priority setting for CCARDESA and from other initiatives

4. Collaborative approaches: lessons from SADC’s recent initiatives

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1. A Demographic perspective

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2. Population Entering the Labour Market - 2010-2030 (%)

Transition ancienne: Fécondité<3 enfts/ femme.

Transitionrécente bien amorcée: Fécondité de 3-4 enfts/ femme.Transition lente et irrégulière: Fécondité proche de 5 enfts/ femme.Transition très lente voire non amorcée: Fécondité de 6-7 enfts/ femme.

Types de transition de la fécondité – Période 2005-2010

1. Fertility Transition Types

Recently started transitionFertility: 3-4 children per mother

Old demographic transition :

fertility < 3 children/mother

Slow and irregular transition : Fertility 5 children per motherVery slow or not yet started transition – Fertility : 6-7 children per mother

Fertility transition types2005-2010

Augmentation des arrivées sur le marché du travail de 2010 à 2030

Stabilisation/ augmentation modérée < à 20%

Augmentation modérée de 20 à 50%

Augmentation importante de 50 à 100%

Population entering the labour market 2010-2030

Stabilisation or moderate increase < 20%

Important increase between 50% and 100%

Moderate increase between 20% and 50%

1. A Demographic perspective

• Diverse development profiles strategic responses have to be different

• Pop. entering labour market: – majority from rural areas,

– urban areas to absorb increasing %: main market opportunity for rural areas linked to them? Larger market, basis for agric intensification/accumulation?

– rural pop to continue to : pressure on NR (land) and services (education…); could it trigger technology shift for productivity

• Reg. challenges: migratory, mixing opposite farming systems ; opportunity: economic complementarities?

• Not in the map: % marginalized rural pop (poverty traps, market failure…); if significant, social transfers enough?

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2. Drawing from SADC’s agric. devt strategy

• Regional integration >> Trade integration (Protocol on trade…); implementation mostly by MS

• RISDP: about to be reviewed

• RISDP + Dar es Salaam = SADC’s agenda for agriculture– Entry: food security (availability, accessibility, nutrition, disaster

preparedness, institutional capacity) + NRM & Environment– (Disproportionate?) focus on production :

• Technology dissemination & adoption: – Focus is less on technology dev than making research – extension

– users links more effective – Disproportionate focus? Seen as primary factor of prod/productivity :

need to better understand/address all factors of increased productivity

R&D investment wasted if other dominant constraints not addressed

– Research Innovation Technology Production

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2. Drawing from SADC’s agric. devt strategy

• Production factors (access, availability; SSF; gender)• Livestock (health)• Water management (irrigation), soil fertility• Transboundary pests and diseases• Genetic resource, biosafety• Agriculture/agro-industry finance & investment…

– Technical barriers to input/output trade (SPS, food safety…), need to broaden focus (tariff/admin barriers, export bans, market risk management…)

– Nutrition?– Food sec risk preparedness (and prevention? markets?)

• = potential R&D agenda, beyond technology only (markets, institutions…)• Including regional integration issues and global issues (standards, WTO

issues, price volatility, food assistance, climate change, migrations, land acquisition, nutrition…)

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2. Drawing from SADC’s agric. devt strategy

Current developments: the SADC RAP• Consultation process of MS: issues for consideration• Margin for progress on intra SADC trade/investment barriers• Benefits fm trade int. 0 if supply side constraints not address

(prod, market linkages, infrastructure, institutions…)• Address social/environmental risks, losses/gains… Shift from production focused agenda? Rural/agric finance,

investment, incentives, markets, trade, vulnerability• Now need to turn long list of “issues” into prioritized potential policy

interventions - with sub-regional relevance!• “Binding instrument”? Budget and subsidiarity based, linking MS’s

and SADC’s planning and budget processes… with institutional implications!

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2. Drawing from SADC’s agric. devt strategy

Current developments: the SADC RAPKey messages:• Also sets potential agenda for R&D (e.g., rural finance)• For some sub-sectors, premises of R&D agenda (livestock, envir t)• Limited understanding of how to turn an issue into a policy intervention

(capacity to design policies in SSA?)• Accessible documentation fm think tanks, R&D, others… of limited

assistance up to now - questions relevance of their production for (regional) policy

• Farming community is getting organized at regional and contributes (but limited research capacity), not the agri-business one nor the agri/rural civil society one

• Identified issues often deal with global issues• The regional integration concept is far from fully stabilized

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3. R&D priority setting (CCARDESA and other initiatives)

Establishing a semi-autonomous Sub-regional Research Organization, CCARDESA : Centre Coordin. Agric R&D in Sthn Afr

Objectives•To improve agricultural technology generation, dissemination and adoption by all farmers in the region through collective efforts;

•To promote coordination and collaboration among regional and national agricultural R&D systems through regional cooperation;

•To facilitate the exchange of information and technology among the SADC regional R&D institutions;

•To promote partnerships between public, private, civil society and international organizations in R&D, training and capacity building in the SADC region; and

•To mobilize human, financial and technological resources to implement demand-driven R&D regional activities, which will also contribute to the strengthening of national level R&D initiatives.

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3. R&D priority setting (CCARDESA and other initiatives)

CCARDESA – Proposed core functions:

• Farmer empowerment and market access• Research and technology generation• Farmer-led advisory services and innovation systems• Education, training and learning systems• Knowledge, information and communication• Institutional development and capacity building

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3. R&D priority setting (CCARDESA and other initiatives)

• To be established once Charter is signed

• On going priority setting exercise (IFPRI-ReSAKSS) to “inform SADC’s decision-making process with key analytical evidence for setting future strategic priorities for R&D in the region”.

Key questions :• What investment and policy options, and in which key commodity area,

offer best potential for accelerating agric growth and national incomes in order to reduce poverty and food insec in SADC region?

• Among the key commodity areas, which ones would be most suitable for a regional R&D program to focus on based on the degree to which they have greater potential for adaptation and direct transfer across countries?

• What kinds of constraints and other complementary or crosscutting issues are important to consider in the context of enhancing productivity growth in the SADC countries?

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3. R&D priority setting (CCARDESA and other initiatives)

• Expert surveys conducted in MS: status of agricultural R&D and farming systems constraints and opportunities

• Using spatial and econ. analytical tools, comes with econ. and quantifiable criteria for ranking R&D priorities:– Contribution to agricultural sector and overall income growth;

– Welfare considerations (food security & poverty reduction);

– Extent of spillover potential across countries

• Findings still expected: reviewed list of priority commodities for public investment (criteria staple food, meat…?)

• Then, need to further specify the agenda – for each commodity

– for non commodity based issues

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3. R&D priority setting (CCARDESA and other initiatives)

R&D priorities specified by different groups, stakeholders and networks

Private sector/Farmers organisation- SACAU

Multi-stakeholders groupings- Livestock Technical Committee, TC Sugar

R&D networks

- Zero tillage, migratory pests, animal traction, medicinal plants…

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4. Collaborative approaches• Competitive R&D grant facilities:

– promote collaboration between R&D teams from different areas/countries and, possibly, user driven R&D initiatives involving different categories of stakeholders

• Complex to implement:– Timeframe short (not any R&D area)– Projects submitted: weakly developed, questionable relevance, biased

(international inst.), piece meal themes because lack of priorities– Complex admin: between centralized fund (from donor) and decentralized

projects with limited admin capacity– Formation of consortium: complex (balanced capacity, balanced benefits,

each member must be champion…)– Cannot address structural capacity weaknesses of many research units

(admin, scientific)– Impact on development, difficult to evaluate

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4. Collaborative approaches

Other SADC initiatives:• Admin capacity strengthening of NARS, including

capacity to network with stakeholders (SCARDA)– Key requirement

• Network Platforms under Agric Info Management System (AIMS)– See electronic thematic “Wiki”-platform: – S ADC stakeholders to take ownership– Issue of sustainability (voluntary basis)– Question of priority (considering no reliable statistics/data, no

regional synthesis, no M&E of policies and development in sub-region)

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