Agricultural research and development trends and challenges in Mozambique

The Agriculture Research Institute of Mozambique (IIAM) with its national research networking has been working in a collaborative manner with the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative. ASTI is an initiative of IFPRI with a mandate to compile, process, analyze, and publish data on institutional developments, investments, and capacity in agricultural R&D at national, regional and international levels. The IIAM as the major national research organization signed an agreement with ASTI/IFPRI to coordinate the ASTI surveys within the country. The first joint survey jointly conducted between IIAM and ASTI in 2009 provided data from 2004-2008 which was used to used as part of information presented in the Country Note published in 2010. The second survey conducted in 2012 provided data from 2009-2011 and the country factsheet was published in 2014. These documents are valuable to many stakeholders especially since they present science and technology (S & T) indicators. These S&T indicators are of paramount importance in formulating policy, setting priorities and providing information for governments, policy research institutes, universities and private sector organizations involved in agricultural S&T. The data collected from the two highlighted above consisted of human and financial resources as well as research focus captured from IIAM, Fishery Research Institute (IIP), and Higher Education Agencies ( Faculdade de Agronomia e Engenharia Florestal , Faculdade de Veterinaria , Escola Superor de Ciências Marinhas e Costeiras, Instituto Superior Politécnico de Gaza e de Manica) . The calculations of human resources and financial data were based on full - time equivalent (FTE) researchers, which take into account the proportion of time staff actually spend on research compared with other activities. The financial data is presented in 2005 local currency and 2005 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars. Some of the key issues that were observed from the data collected include: Public spending on agricultural research and development (R&D) increased by 14% from 2008 to 2011 primarily driven by rising salary costs and capital investments. Despite the overall growth the research intensity ratio decreased meaning that a low share of AgGDP was dedicated to agriculture research; (b)Agricultural R&D is highly dependent on donor funding the share of which fluctuated from 62 to 40 percent over 2004-2011 period from government agencies. Donor funding is declining due to domestic policy shifts combined with economic pressures in donor countries; and, (c)The total number of agricultural researchers grew steadily from 2004 to 2011. However these researchers are relatively younger and less qualified compared with other countries within the region.The key challenges and recommendations derived from these analyses are related to improvement on financing and human resources. Agricultural research depends crucially on quite volatile and short-lived external funds. There is a need to reduce the financial gap for research. Although, the last three years has seen a slight increase from the government, the share could be improved and disbursements should be more regular and not dependent on agricultural campaigns as is customary in the country. Long term results can only be achieved with sustained investment by the government. On the other hand there can be no research without improvements in human capital. There is a need to invest more in education, training and retention of researchers. The number of researchers with PhDs should grow, especially younger researchers. This can only be achieved with a robust national plan for human resource development and establishment of strategic alliances with national, regional and international high educational institutions to take advantage of training opportunities offered as well as the creation of strategies and mechanisms of motivation and retention of researchers in public organizations.