Assessment of Agricultural Research capacities in Ghana: the case of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

2014

English

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Research Policy seeks to harmonize scientific research and create research synergies in the region. One of the main constraints the community is facing is access to up-to-date and high-quality data, on the scientific research capacity in its member countries. Given the importance of agriculture in the region, ECOWAS has requested the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) to carry out an in-depth assessment of the critical issues surrounding the human, financial, and institutional capacities in West African agricultural research. Such an assessment is key to the development of national and regional policy recommendations that will ultimately feed into a regional agricultural research strategy for West Africa. To accomplish this assessment, CORAF/WECARD has solicited the support of the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) program of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). This assessment is conducted in three phases:  As part of Phase I (2012–2013) ASTI/IFPRI, CORAF/WECARD, and national partners, launched a survey in 21 West and Central African countries collecting detailed staffing and financial information from a complete set of government, higher education, nonprofit, and private-sector agencies involved in agricultural research and development (R&D). The outputs of this survey can be accessed on the ASTI website: http://www.asti.cgiar.org.  During Phase II (2013–2014) a more in-depth assessment of the critical issues surrounding West African agricultural R&D was conducted in six ECOWAS countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The assessment included a quantitative survey collecting information on human and financial resources, R&D infrastructure, and R&D outputs; a series of face-to-face interviews with selected research and managerial staff; and a staff motivation survey distributed to a selected group of researchers and managerial staff. The outcomes of this in-depth assessment have been summarized in a series of country reports, as well as a regional report synthesizing the critical challenges faced by West African agricultural R&D institutes.  During Phase III (2014) the outputs of Phase II will be translated into policy recommendations that will feed into the development of the regional agricultural research policy strategy and that will be presented at various stakeholder events. The current report is one of the outputs of Phase II. It gives an overview of the critical issues surrounding the human, financial, and institutional capacity of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and provides a set of policy options that could help address some of these most pressing challenges.

Essegbey, G. O.; Asare, R.