How can the poor benefit from private investment in agricultural research? A case study from Bolivia

Abstract

This article evaluates potential mechanisms for facilitating increased private-sector engagement in agricultural research for development and technology transfer (ARDTT), with particular emphasis on Bolivia. It reviews the mixed results of efforts, in developed and developing countries alike, to decentralise ARDTT and to encourage private-sector investment. Potential mechanisms for Bolivia are considered within three broad categories: taxation schemes; co-funding arrangements; and output-based approaches. The constraints to participation in ARDTT by the private sector that arise from concerns over high transaction costs, intellectual property rights, and the legal and regulatory environment are also assessed. The article concludes that compliance, or a hybrid of compliance and a competitive co-funding scheme, is most suited to Bolivia's needs. A flexible approach to intellectual property rights systems is required, although it remains a challenge to identify appropriate taxation regimes.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank several colleagues who contributed in various ways to the study: Duncan Burnett, George Rothschild, Barry Pound, John Linton, John Orchard from the Natural Resources Institute, and Javier Franco from the Promoción e Investigación de Productos Andinos. This article is an output from a project funded by DFID for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ana Marr

Ana Marr is an economist working on financial market development credit for the poor, microfinance, and enterprise development. Much of her work has been in Latin America, but she has also carried out assignments in Bangladesh, Tanzania, Thailand, Zimbabwe, and Eastern Europe.

Tim Chancellor

Tim Chancellor is an agriculturalist specialising in pest management but with wider interests in the development and use of germplasm, intellectual property rights, and public–private partnerships. He spent ten years in SE Asia working on rice-based systems and is currently involved in research activities in Africa and Latin America. Both authors work at the Natural Resources Institute.