Key Trends from the 2004 country brief

• Total agricultural researcher numbers in Niger rose steadily until 1996, after which they declined. Agricultural R&D expenditures showed an erratic upward trend until 1998 but fell sharply in recent years.
• The main agricultural R&D agency is the National Agricultural Research Institute of Niger (INRAN), which accounted for three-quarters of the country’s researchers and nearly 60 percent of its agricultural R&D expenditures in 2001.
• During 1990–98, INRAN was largely dependent on funding from the National Agricultural Research Project (PNRA), drawn predominantly from a World Bank loan.
• The closure of PNRA in 1998 has left INRAN with a severe financial crisis. Many research programs have been cut, and many highly qualified researchers have left the institute. The future of INRAN’s funding remains highly uncertain.

Niger