Frequently Asked Questions about ASTI

Why is the ASTI database important? Who are the main users of ASTI data?
How does the ASTI initiative collect its data?
Does ASTI collect data for high income countries?
What is ASTI’s definition of the public sector? And why are NGOs and other nonprofit agencies considered public sector agencies according to ASTI classifications?
Why is ASTI's coverage of the private sector so limited?
Why does the ASTI initiative report most of its financial data in PPP dollars?
Why are ASTI data always a few years old?
Why are certain low and middle income countries excluded from the ASTI database?
When in the next three years does the ASTI initiative expect to update its dataset for a certain region or country?
Is the ASTI initiative going to expand its indicator set some day?

Why is the ASTI database important? Who are the main users of ASTI data?

Quantitative information is fundamental to understanding the contribution of agricultural science and technology (S&T) to agricultural growth. Indicators derived from such information allow the performance, inputs, and outcomes of agricultural S&T systems to be measured, monitored, and benchmarked. These indicators assist S&T stakeholders in formulating policy, setting priorities, and undertaking strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation. They also provide information to governments, policy research institutes, universities, and private-sector organizations involved in public debate on the state of agricultural S&T at national, regional, and international levels. How does the ASTI initiative collect its data?

How does the ASTI initiative collect its data?

ASTI datasets are collected and processed using internationally accepted definitions and statistical procedures for compiling R&D statistics developed by OECD and UNESCO. The ASTI initiative relies on national partners for the coordination of data collection at the country level. These national partners list all agencies involved in agricultural R&D and disseminate ASTI survey forms to every single one of them. In order to reflect the differences between agency categories, three different survey forms were developed: one for government agencies and nonprofit institutions, one for faculties and schools, and one for the private sector. All forms have different sets of questions, with those for government agencies and nonprofit institutions requesting the most detail. The more important indicators are collected for a number of subsequent years, while the remaining indicators cover one year only, mostly the year prior to the year in which the benchmark survey is conducted. Over the years, the list of indicators have been amended and improved based on experiences and consultations with partners during the various national survey rounds.

The ASTI initiative is currently exploring linkages with various regional organizations and other CGIAR centers to collaborate more closely in updating, maintaining, and expanding the analysis of its regional datasets. Does ASTI collect data for high income countries?

Does ASTI collect data for high income countries?

No, the primary focus of the ASTI initiative is on low and middle income countries. However, ASTI maintains access to relevant developed-country datasets (such as the OECD’s) for comparative purposes. From time to time, the ASTI initiative publicizes updates on global agricultural R&D spending in which it links its own dataset to secondary data sources.

What is ASTI’s definition of the public sector? And why are NGOs and other nonprofit agencies considered public sector agencies according to ASTI classifications?

ASTI compiles and processes agricultural R&D data following internationally accepted statistical procedures and definitions from OECD’s Frascati Manual and UNESCO’s Manual for Statistics on Scientific and Technological Activities. Agricultural R&D investments are measured on a performer basis and are grouped into four major institutional categories: government agencies, higher education agencies, nonprofit institutions, and business enterprises. Public agricultural research is defined to include government agencies, higher education agencies, and nonprofit institutions, thereby excluding private enterprises. Government agencies are directly administered by the national government and are typically departments or institutes within a certain ministry. Nongovernmental institutions, on the other hand, are not directly controlled by the national government and have no explicit profit-making objective. These agencies are often linked to producer organizations or commodity boards. Higher education agencies are academic agencies that combine university-level education with research. They include agricultural faculties, as well as specialized R&D institutes under universities. Private-sector agencies are agencies whose primary activity is the production of goods and services for profit. Some of these companies have an R&D unit dedicated to agricultural research, but R&D is generally not their main activity. Agricultural research activities undertaken by international organizations are explicitly excluded from the dataset and are reported separately.

Why is ASTI's coverage of the private sector so limited?

Agricultural R&D investment data for private sector enterprises are very hard to come by. For reasons of confidentiality, many private companies are reluctant to provide information on their resources and investments in agricultural research. In addition, private research activities in many low and middle income countries are often small-scale and ad hoc, making it difficult to capture accurate information.

Obtaining private sector information requires a very different approach from the regular ASTI survey work. The ASTI initiative is currently undertaking an in-depth study of the role of the private sector in agricultural R&D in a number of key countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific in close collaboration with Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Why does the ASTI initiative report most of its financial data in PPP dollars?

Comparing economic data across countries is a highly complex process owing to important differences in price levels among countries. The ASTI initiative collects data on national agricultural R&D spending in local currency units, which must be converted into a common currency before comparisons can be made across countries and regions. Standard market exchange rates are the logical choice for conversions when measuring financial flows across countries; however, they are far from perfect currency converters for comparing economic data. Official exchange rates tend to understate the values of economies with relatively low price levels and overstate those with relatively high price levels. No fully satisfactory method has yet been devised to compare consumption or expenditure trends among countries. At present, the preferred conversion method for calculating the relative size of economies or other economic data, such as agricultural R&D spending, is the purchasing power parity (PPP) index. PPPs measure the relative purchasing power of currencies across countries. They eliminate the differences in pricing levels for a wide range of goods and services across countries and are used to convert current GDP prices of individual countries into a common currency. Many international organizations, such as World Bank, IMF, OECD, present their economic data in PPP dollars, which facilitates comparisons of ASTI datasets with these broader (macro-)economic datasets.

The largest component of a country’s agricultural R&D expenditures are staff salaries and local operating cost rather than capital investments that are traded internationally. For example, the wages of a field laborer or lab assistant at a research facility are much lower in India than in any European country; locally made office furniture in Kenya is considerably cheaper than a similar set of furniture bought in the United States. In this situation, PPP indexes offer two main advantages over market exchange rates. First, PPPs are relatively stable over time, whereas exchange rates fluctuate considerably (for example, the fluctuation in the dollar-euro rates during the past few years). Second, PPP indexes take into account nontraded goods and services; market exchange rates are influenced by traded goods and capital flows only.

Why are ASTI data always a few years old?

ASTI data collection and analysis is a very labor intensive process. Rather than relying on ready-made national government or other sources, ASTI publishes its country and regional data after a comprehensive survey process. In each ASTI country, the ASTI initiative assigns a national partner (most typically the national agricultural research institute) that is responsible for the coordination of data collection at the country level. These national partners list all agencies involved in agricultural R&D and disseminate ASTI survey forms to every single one of them. In countries with a large number of agricultural R&D agencies scattered over the country, this can be a time-consuming and logistically challenging process. Given the cost and labor intensive nature of the data collection and analysis work, the ASTI team can focus on only one region at a time. Moreover, there is a minimum one-year lag from the time data collection activities start versus the period for which financial data will be requested.

Why are certain low and middle income countries excluded from the ASTI database?

The aim of the ASTI initiative is to obtain a good coverage for each region. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to have complete country coverage in every region due to a variety of reasons, including political unrest, project funding constraints, inability to set up in-country collaborations, etc. However, the ASTI initiative always makes sure that a representative sample of countries is included in regional survey rounds so that it can accurately estimate regional and global investment and capacity trends in agricultural R&D.

When in the next three years does the ASTI initiative expect to update its dataset for a certain region or country?

2009: Sub-Saharan Africa
2010: South Asia
2010: Southeast Asia
2011: Middle East and North Africa
2011: Latin America and the Caribbean

These dates are tentative, and depend on funding availability for in-region survey rounds.

Is the ASTI initiative going to expand its indicator set some day?

The ASTI initiative is currently conducting a consultation round to identify the need for supplementary agricultural S&T indicators. Potential areas of expansion include (1) Adopting an agricultural innovation system perspective; (2) Deepening agricultural R&D input indicators (the traditional focus of the ASTI initiative); (3) Agricultural R&D output indicators; (4) Agricultural R&D process indicators; and (5) Beyond the national perspective.

As a first step in this consultation process, the ASTI team invited a number of experts from various countries to attend a workshop to discuss these potential areas in more detail. Please see the summary report of the workshop on http://www.asti.cgiar.org/pdf/ASTI-Consultation-Workshop-Sum.pdf. This summary report will be shared with a wider audience before the development of a strategy on how the ASTI initiative will expand its indicator set in the future.

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