Agricultural R&D in Ghana- An assessment of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

2014

English

Twelve government agencies conduct agricultural research in Ghana, of which 10 fall under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). CSIR operates largely autonomously under the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation and collectively employed 62 percent of the country’s full-time equivalent (FTE) agricultural researchers in 2011, or 379 FTEs.1 CSIR institutes conduct agriculture-related research focusing on crops, livestock, forestry, savannah, soil, water, food, oil palm, plant genetic resources, and science and technology policy. The other government institutes involved in agricultural research are the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) under the Ministry of Finance (51 FTEs in 2011), which conducts research on tree crops of economic importance to Ghana (cocoa, coffee, kola, and cashews), and the Marine Fisheries Research Division (MFRD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (12 FTEs in 2011). Agricultural R&D is also a core activity of numerous agricultural faculties of Ghana’s public universities, notably the University of Ghana (66 FTEs), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (41 FTEs), University of Cape Coast (27 FTEs), and University for Development Studies (28 FTEs). Nonprofit and for-profit private companies, although involved in some collaboration with CSIR and the higher education sector, have minimal involvement in agricultural R&D in Ghana. Overall, the national number of agricultural researchers steadily increased from 470 FTEs in 2000 to 607 FTEs in 2011 (Figure 1). Agricultural research spending also increased considerably during this period, from 15.8 million cedis in 2000 to 25.1 million cedis in 2011 (Figure 2). The spending trend did, however, follow an erratic pattern, in part due to the country’s high dependence on donor funding for agricultural research, combined with declining government support.

Essegbey, G. O.; Asare, R.; Beintema, N.