The Organization of a Small-Country Agricultural Research System with Broad Research Demands: Institutional Diversity in Honduras

Contreras, Mario. 1992. The Organization of a Small-Country Agricultural Research System with Broad Research Demands: Institutional Diversity in Honduras. International Service for National Agricultural Research

This study discusses the Institutions that make up the national agricultural research system (NARS) of Honduras. This small developing country has an extensive research capacity comprised of a variety of government, parastatal, university, and private institutions. These include the crop and livestock research departments of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the research units of commodity institutes such as the Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE), for coffee, and the Centro Nacional de Invcstgación Forestal Aplicada (CENIFA), for forestry. The private sector plays a crucial role with the participation of the Fundación Hondureiña de Investigación Agrícola (FHIA) and the research departments of two private agro-export multinationals. The universities, including the Pan American School of Agriculture (Escuela Agrfcola Panamericana - EAP), are increasingly important contributors of research on natural resource management. The analysis of the research activities of this complex mix of institutions describes a research portfolio covering a broad research scope with limited resources. This study contributes to knowledge on the make-up and management of NARS by showing how a variety of research institutions can be mobllized into one national system. It concludes that while Honduras has a complex but workable research system given the country's size, greater policy coordination is needed to get the most out of the existing portfolio of research institutions and investments and to address emerging issues in natural resource management.