Publication: Designing and implementing Agricultural Innovation Funds : Lessons from Competitive Research and Matching Grant Projects
Loading...
Published
2010-05
ISSN
Date
2013-03-11
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Many countries are using innovation funds in the agricultural sector to support innovators and their links to public institutions, private entrepreneurs, and other actors, such as groups of rural producers. These funds create platforms for innovative activity by providing incentives for quality and collaboration. This report synthesizes experience with the two main innovation funds that the World Bank has used to fund agricultural innovation, competitive research grants and matching grants, and offers lessons and guidelines for designing and implementing them. Although the report draws extensively on experience with World Bank investments, the lessons are relevant in other contexts. The practical aspects of designing and implementing successful grant schemes are emphasized throughout.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2010. Designing and implementing Agricultural Innovation Funds : Lessons from Competitive Research and Matching Grant Projects. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12614 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Sustainable Management of Agricultural Research and Technology Dissemination (SMARTD) : A Strategic Framework(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-06)Revitalizing agriculture is critical for rural Indonesia's economic prosperity. Historically, Indonesia's dramatic poverty reduction was driven by progress in agriculture and agriculture continues to be a potent driver of growth and poverty alleviation. Agricultural sector growth strongly induces non-agricultural sector growth in rural areas, particularly through demand for locally produced and services. Agricultural sector productivity growth (along with price changes) has remained the most important way out of poverty. To shift agriculture along these dimensions, Indonesia needs to transition from its current and ineffective public stance, growing subsidies and selective output protection, to a more aggressive provision of public goods and services that build support systems for farmers to achieve continuous productivity gains. This will require an enabling agriculture policy environment, significant improvement in the delivery of services, agricultural research and extension in particular, and supporting enabling investments, which will encourage small farmers to move to high value agricultural activities. This will boost employment and raise incomes in rural areas while creating a bigger rural market with greater trade and investment opportunities.Publication Sustainable Management of Agricultural Research and Technology Dissemination (SMARTD) : A Strategic Framework(Washington, DC, 2008-06)Revitalizing agriculture is critical for rural Indonesia's economic prosperity. Historically, Indonesia's dramatic poverty reduction was driven by progress in agriculture and agriculture continues to be a potent driver of growth and poverty alleviation. Agricultural sector growth strongly induces non-agricultural sector growth in rural areas, particularly through demand for locally produced and services. Agricultural sector productivity growth (along with price changes) has remained the most important way out of poverty. To shift agriculture along these dimensions, Indonesia needs to transition from its current and ineffective public stance, growing subsidies and selective output protection, to a more aggressive provision of public goods and services that build support systems for farmers to achieve continuous productivity gains. This will require an enabling agriculture policy environment, significant improvement in the delivery of services, agricultural research and extension in particular, and supporting enabling investments, which will encourage small farmers to move to high value agricultural activities. This will boost employment and raise incomes in rural areas while creating a bigger rural market with greater trade and investment opportunities.Publication Can Malaysia Escape the Middle-Income Trap? A Strategy for Penang(2009-06-01)How can Penang upgrade and diversify its economy? This paper addresses this question using a number of methodologies that have been developed for assessing competitiveness and identifying the direction of future industrial evolution. The results show that although Penang was successful in attracting foreign direct investment to the electronics industry, this has not translated into a deepening of industrial capabilities or the nurturing of innovation capacity in Penang. No large Malaysian firms in Penang have taken the lead in innovation and there is little new entry by local firms, despite incentives provided by local and national governments are generous. Universiti Sains Malaysia, the principal university in Penang, is contributing through provision of skills, and it is beginning to multiply university industry linkages. However, the university s research activities are too limited and too diffuse to significantly initiate innovation by local industry. Under the current circumstances, and given its relatively small size, Penang will have to try much harder to strengthen its competitive advantage in its most important industry -electronics- through actions that build research capital. It will also have to increase its efforts to develop the potential of other value-adding activities, such as medical services and tourism. A strategy focused on localization economies is likely to be the most feasible option.Publication Reviving Sri Lanka's Agricultural Research and Extension System : Towards More Innovation and Market Orientation(Washington, DC, 2007-05)This review's objectives were to examine the structure and performance of the agricultural research and extension systems (public and private) at the central and provincial levels, identify successes as well as constraints to improving the system s effectiveness for fostering innovation, and propose options for further policy and institutional development, drawing on lessons from international experience. The review focused principally on nonplantation crops, although its main recommendations apply across the agricultural sector. This synthesis report summarizes the main findings of the review and builds upon them by adding some new elements. The conflict in Sri Lanka is explicitly recognized. Additionally, the implications of changes in the wider agricultural context for agricultural research and extension are explored, and have led to the adoption of an innovation systems perspective to organize the major findingsPublication Western Balkans Regional R&D Strategy for Innovation(Washington, DC, 2013-10)A coordinated effort to develop a regional research and development (R and D) strategy for innovation was launched by the Joint Statement of Sarajevo, signed on April 24, 2009, by the ministers from the Western Balkans (WB) responsible for science and research; the European Union (EU) commissioner for science and research; and the Czech Republic Presidency of the Council of the European Union, under the auspices of the regional cooperation council secretary general. In June 2011, the World Bank signed an agreement with the European Commission (EC) to provide technical assistance for the development of the WB regional R and D strategy for innovation technical assistance (RIS-TA). The strategy aims to strengthen the region's research capacity, enhance intraregional cooperation, promote collaboration with business sectors, explore possibilities for financing R and D from EU funding schemes and other external sources, and help integrate the region into the European research area (ERA) and innovation union. This report is organized as follows: section one gives introduction; section two gives strategic context; section three describes reform program; section four presents action plan for regional cooperation; and section five presents proposed programs.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Evaluation Insight Note(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-11-12)This Evaluation Insight Note (EIN) aims to contribute to the World Bank’s goal of encouraging the use of data, digital technology, and innovation towards transforming agri-food systems in client countries. The EIN was guided by the overall question: “How are World Bank agriculture and irrigation projects using technologies and what insights can be drawn from them” In answering this question, the EIN draws from a portfolio identification and review of 158 active and 113 closed projects (FY16-23) World Bank agriculture and irrigation projects to describe the extent and utilization of agricultural technologies. It supplemented the findings from the review with insights drawn from four project evaluations (Project Performance Assessment Reports) prepared by IEG in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cote d’Ivoire, and Vietnam, which were selected because of their likely lessons on agriculture technology. The portfolio and systematic review provided the basis for seven main insights on coverage and nature of technologies used in World Bank agriculture projects, demand-based technological solutions, technology diffusion, collaboration, and investment in enabling environment factors, among others. (1) The World Bank Agriculture and Irrigation portfolio shows limited coverage of advanced technologies. (2) The technologies that are prevalent in projects are mainly focused on increasing agricultural productivity with limited focus on technologies for facilitating market linkages. (3) Among the technologies promoted in Bank agriculture and irrigation projects, some technologies, and applications such GIS, early warning systems and MIS are more concentrated than others. (4) Combining demand-based technological solutions with training and technical assistance supported uptake of those solutions. (5) Technology diffusion worked well when there was strong collaboration between key research and extension agencies, each with well-defined roles and responsibilities in the projects. (6) When technology dissemination efforts are combined with investments in enabling environment factors such as infrastructure (i.e., roads, markets), they facilitated technology adoption. (7) Building sustainable institutional models – key for technology uptake and use – continue to be challenging in Bank supported projects.Publication Brazil Rural Finance Policy Note(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-07-01)This policy note (PN) provides an analysis of the rural finance system in Brazil. The PN aims to inform policymaking on agriculture finance policies at a relevant time for the reform agenda. Its main objective is to provide recommendations on potential reform areas for agriculture finance, in order to: (a) enhance the targeting of public resources; (b) reduce the distortions caused by agricultural finance policies to the financial sector; and (c) crowd- in private sector financing for agriculture. A separate analytical piece is being conducted on decoupling agricultural production and deforestation, analyzing how credit impacts the rural economy, land use, and deforestation, complementing the current scope of this PN. The note is structured as follows: section one gives introduction. Section two gives a description of the structure of agriculture sector in Brazil highlighting the geographic and farm-size heterogeneities, as well as the challenges stemming from climate change. Section three discusses the sector’s access to finance and focuses on how regional and farm heterogeneities affect differences in access to credit. Section four, focuses on public policies aimed at supporting rural finance. Section five outlines, based on the previous analyses, policy recommendations for reforming agricultural finance.Publication Africa’s Pulse, No. 32, October 2025: Pathways to Job Creation in Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-10-07)Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to increase from 3.5 percent in 2024 to 3.8 percent in 2025 and accelerate further to an annual average rate of 4.4 percent in 2026–27. Improved terms of trade are helping to stabilize local currencies, but real income per capita is only set to rise slightly, leaving extreme poverty largely unchallenged. By 2050, the region is projected to have over 620 million more working-age individuals. This demographic shift calls for innovative and transformative approaches to job creation, as current growth doesn't significantly lead to wage employment. To tackle these issues, foundational infrastructure and skills, a favorable business environment, and good governance are essential. Addressing the constraints to the private sector development opens the door for productive sectors of the economy to grow and generate quality employment, including but not limited to agribusiness, tourism, and healthcare, among others. With the right approach, Sub-Saharan Africa can establish a vibrant job market. This would help meet the needs of its growing labor force.Publication Africa's Pulse, No. 30, October 2024: Transforming Education for Inclusive Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-14)Sub-Saharan Africa's growth recovery has resumed. Economic activity in the region is projected to grow by 3.0 percent in 2024, after bottoming out at 2.4 percent in 2023. Private consumption and investment contributions have supported the growth recovery in 2024. Growth is expected to accelerate further to 4 percent in 2025-26. However, the outlook remains uncertain despite falling global inflation and resilient global activity supporting growth in the region. Sub-Saharan Africa needs to further accelerate growth to reduce extreme poverty and enhance prosperity. GDP per capita is projected to grow by 0.5 percent in 2024 and 1.4 percent in 2025, but this expected increase would still leave the region's living standards below their level in 2014. Macroeconomic stability and human capital investments needed to achieve inclusive growth and transform the education system are vital for the region. Efforts should focus on equipping children with basic skills and providing the youth and workforce with higher-order skills. Increasing investment in education, efficient spending, and collaboration with local partners are needed to achieve universal education by 2030. Addressing these challenges will require a strong policy response to bridge the spending gap and meet education goals.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.