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History and Impact of AKST | 41

Table 2-3. NARS actors and roles in the generation, promotion, dissemination and adoption of AKST.

Stakeholder

Main Roles

Policymakers

Authorize the existence of the NARS; Provide mission and resources; Formulate public policies.

NARS

Set research, development and extension (RDE) directions, priorities, policies; Formulate RDE agenda and allocate resources among different priority areas; Plan and conduct research programs/projects; Submit project reports and inform others of research findings; Submit budget requests and undertake resource generation activities; Develop working linkages and establish RDE networks; Provide technical assistance to the public with regards to AKST applications.

Training and Extension agencies including NGOs/PVOs (change agents)

Disseminate knowledge and encourage adoption of new technologies thru training, demonstration trials, field days, distribution of info materials; Provide feedback to researchers on new research agenda and farmers' response to introduced technologies; Improve skills of recipients for adopting new technologies; Provide access and support to specific farmer groups via social mobilization efforts (farmer empowerment).

Farmers

Adopt and adapt research results on a selective basis; Collaborate with researchers and change agents in testing and evaluating the suitability and appropriateness of recommended technologies; Provide feedback on utility of technologies; Combine traditional knowledge and modern technologies based on resource access, appropriateness of technology, and skills; Contribute taxes to government to partially finance public RDE.

Private sector (Agro-industry, lending agencies buyers and distributors)

Adopt and commercialize technologies with business potentials; Provide farmers access to resources, technology and markets; Finance and conduct limited complimentary RDE activities in their area of business; Contribute taxes to government to partially finance public research.

Consumers

Demand farm produce with certain attributes; Contribute taxes to government to partially finance public RDE.

International & regional agricultural R&D organizations

Provide training and technical guidance to local RDE personnel; Provide access to global germplasm and technology; Undertake collaborative programs with the NARS on areas of common concerns; Generate international funding for common global RDE initiatives; Provide leadership and coordination in global information and knowledge exchange.

Donors

Supplement meager RDE funds of recipient NARS; Provide guidance and RDE directions.

Source: Authors' elaboration.

vars carry forward not only the genes of earlier varieties but also the crop breeding and crop selection strategies used by earlier breeders.
     Policies and practices that facilitate and encourage ac­cumulating knowledge and adopting technology are equally important. Without them, discoveries and data improperly documented or inaccessible are lost when researchers leave or institutions are unstable. This happens in fund-strapped research agencies in most developing countries; inadequate and irregular funding results in fast staff turnover and lim­its the functioning of libraries, state-of-the-art laboratories, nurseries, databanks and gene banks.
     The limited public funding for agricultural research shifted from the traditional agenda of improving productiv­ity to new concerns. For example, in 2000, NARS began promoting commercially viable technology to accelerate re­search use (APAARI, 1999).

2.3.1.4  Interactions and links among AKST organizations
Since the early 1990s, research managers have recognized the need to work with nontraditional partners and engage in more meaningful research consultations. Donors and policy makers recognized partnerships as a strategy for agricultural development. The advantages of partnerships are obvious: pooling diverse expertise, leveraging scarce resources and

 

enhancing competency. Technology innovations are seldom generated by individual research agencies; they come from transnational knowledge generation, dissemination and ap­plication (Chaparro, 1999).
     In the same vein, the relationship between public and private sectors in agricultural research and development has changed around the world (James, 1996; Byerlee and Echev-erria, 2002; Speilman and von Grebmer, 2004; Hall, 2006). This change arose from the diversity of actors outside the public sector, increasingly complex agricultural development needs, declining financial capability for research investment in developing countries and re-evaluation of the role of the state in research and extension. However, only a few cases of public and private partnerships in agricultural research and extension were successful. Problems included insufficient accounting of the actual and hidden costs of partnership, conflicting goals, lack of transparency, persistent negative perception across sectors, undue competition over financial and intellectual resources, and lack of working models from which to draw lessons and experiences (Spielmen and von Grebmer, 2004). The unresolved issues on intellectual prop­erty rights and genetically modified organisms made public and private partnerships increasingly difficult.
     In Australia and New Zealand, farmer organizations provided a framework for partnership between researchers and farmers. Farmer organizations were also equal partners
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