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Authors:

Gert-Jan Stads, Allarangaye Moundibaye, and Léa Vicky Magne Domgho

Year:

2017

Publisher

International Food Policy Research Institute and Chadian Institute of Agricultural Research for Development

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Funding fluctuations

Government funding to public institutes, including agricultural research agencies, is heavily dependent on the country’s oil revenues, which fell sharply between 2012 and 2014. During that time, Chad’s agricultural research expenditures contracted by about 25 percent. In order to mitigate future funding shocks, it is important that research agencies continue to diversify their funding base, in particular by generating income internally through the sale of goods and services.

Serious underinvestment

In 2014, Chad invested just 0.09 percent of its AgGDP in agricultural research—a fraction of the 1 percent minimum level recommended by the African Union and the United Nations. If agricultural research in Chad is to become more productive and efficient, higher levels of funding must be secured. The government needs to clearly identify its long-term agricultural research priorities and secure stable and sustainable funding for R&D programs. Creative mechanisms to stimulate private-sector research funding should also be explored.

Training the next generation

The number of agricultural researchers employed in Chad doubled during 2009–2014, but this growth almost entirely occurred among researchers qualified to the MSc-degree level. As of 2014, ITRAD employed just 7 PhD-qualified researchers, all of whom are approaching retirement age. The institute particularly lacks breeders and soil scientists. France and the European Union have funded PhD training for five researchers at ITRAD and MSc training for two researchers at universities in West and Central Africa and France.

Enhanced livestock research

Chad’s main livestock research agency, IRED, was established from a former laboratory in 2012. This reform effected important administrative changes, including higher salary levels for researchers, and led to substantial staff recruitment, causing researcher numbers at IRED to double between 2011 and 2014.