Key Trends Since 2000

• The completion of the World Bank–funded National Agricultural Research Project in 1999 prompted a sudden decline in Madagascar’s overall agricultural R&D expenditures. Spending levels have recovered somewhat in more recent years due to enhanced in-kind technical support from France in the form of a relatively large presence of French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (CIRAD) expatriate research staff.

• Despite important institute-level shifts, Madagascar’s national agricultural research capacity has remained relatively unchanged during 2001-08, at levels around 210 full-time equivalent (FTE) researchers.

• The National Center of Applied Research and Rural Development (FOFIFA)’s share of national agricultural R&D expenditures fell from 69 percent in 1998 to 43 percent in 2008, and its donor dependence remains high. Concurrently, the relative shares of other government agencies and the nonprofit sector in total agricultural R&D spending have risen over the past decade.

• Given the high average age of research staff, a key priority for agricultural R&D in Madagascar is training for its younger scientists.