Background and Key Trends Tanzania’s second Five Year Develop- ment Plan, 2016–2021, focuses on growth, transformation, and poverty reduction by promoting industry. Since the agricultural sector provides two-thirds of the country’s industrial inputs, investing in agricultural R&D is fundamental to achieving these goals. Tanzania’s agricultural productivity, however, has not grown significantly over recent decades. Any agricultural growth has been achieved through increases in inputs, such as land and labor, which is unsustainable and reaffirms the need for the application of technological innovation. Tanzania only invested 0.17 percent of its AgGDP in agricultural R&D in 2016, well below the 1 percent target recom- mended by the African Union and the United Nations. Based on an assess- ment of countries with similar economic conditions, a more conservative invest- ment target of 0.37 percent of AgGDP should be attainable for Tanzania. Institutional Challenges Spending by TARI and by TALIRI exhibited an alarmingly volatile and declining trend during 2000–2016, mainly due to declining government funding and the withdrawal of donor funding based on the prevailing political climate. Longterm underinvestment in the country’s agricultural research system has resulted in outdated and poorly maintained infrastructure at both TARI and TALIRI. Moreover, the volatility in yearly funding levels has hindered activities at both institutes and led to unprecedented delays in the release of new technologies. With appropriate irrigation infrastructure, for example, TARI could have conducted two trials per year, significantly reducing delays. TARI and TALIRI have struggled to attract and retain well-qualified researchers. New recruits—even those with PhD degrees— often have inadequate experience, and, as of 2016, most senior researchers were approaching retirement age. Policy Options The creation of TARI and TALIRI as semiautonomous bodies was an important milestone in paving the way for competi- tive recruitment mechanisms, efficient operating procedures, diversified funding mechanisms, and innovative partnerships with the private sector to develop and commercialize technologies. Nevertheless, sustainable government funding is needed for the institutes to maintain a founda- tion from which to achieve these goals. Both institutes require solid training and mentorship plans, supported by the government to address the human resource challenges. Tanzania needs to increase its invest- ment in agricultural research and take advantage of knowledge spillovers from neighboring countries in order to accelerate agricultural produc- tivity to reach the goals defined in its current Five-Year Development Plan. AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SPENDING TANZANIA ETHIOPIA KENYA UGANDA Million Tanzanian shillings (2011 constant prices) 35,814.4 Million PPP dollars (2011 constant prices) 68.5 162.1 222.7 99.4 SPENDING INTENSITY Agricultural research spending as a share of AgGDP 0.17% 0.29% 0.48% 0.62% AGRICULTURAL RESEARCHERS Full-time equivalents 785.0 3,024.6 1,157.6 558.7 Share of researchers with MSc and PhD degrees 77% 47% 85% 81% Notes: Data in the table above are for 2016. Research conducted by the private for-profit sector is excluded from this factsheet due to lack of available data. Information on access to further resources, data procedures and methodologies, and acronyms and definitions are provided on Page 4. See www.asti.cgiar.org/tanzania/directory for an overview of Tanzania’s agricultural R&D agencies. Agricultural R&D Indicators Factsheet Update | August 2018 Nienke Beintema, Deogratias Lwezaura, and Bernadetha Munishi TANZANIA 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 0 15,000 30,000 45,000 60,000 75,000 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 DRAFT - NOT FOR CITATION/CIRCULATION facilitated by IFPRI http://www.asti.cgiar.org/tanzania/directory Institutional composition of agricultural research The overall institutional composition of the country’s research has changed little since 2000, but the shares by institutional category have changed somewhat. TARI and TALIRI’s combined share of agricultural researchers fell from 63 to 56 percent during 2000– 2016, whereas shares for SUA and the other higher education agencies combined have increased. 344 388 436 85 115 112104 138 200 16 23 37 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 2000 2008 2016 No. of FTEs TARI and TALIRI Other government Higher education Nonpro�t 15 AGENCIES, 2016 Government 6 Higher education 6 Nonprofit 3 Agricultural researchers by gender Overall, the share of female researchers rose from 21 percent in 2008 to 29 percent in 2016. In general, female researchers were comparatively younger and less well-qualified than their male colleagues. 2008 79% MALE 21% FEMALE 2016 71% MALE 29% FEMALE Share of women within each qualification level, 2016 BSc 31% MSc 33% PhD 22% Share of women by age bracket, 2016 < 41 35% 41–50 24% > 50 27% Agricultural researchers by qualification level Tanzania’s total number of researchers rose by more than 40 percent during 2000–2016. Growth was initially stronger among BSc-qualified researchers than among those with MSc and PhD degrees, but this trend reversed during 2012–2016. While the total number of researchers changed little in recent years, average degree levels have improved markedly. BSc MSc PhD 132 197 303 180 275 320 307 395 142 168 164 211 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 2000 2006 2011 2016 No. of FTEs Agricultural researchers by age bracket As of 2016, more than half the country’s PhD-qualified researchers were in their 50s or 60s. Overall, researchers at the other government agencies were significantly younger than those at the government institutes TARI and TALIRI or in the higher education sector. <31 31–40 41–50 51–60 >60 3 15 9 13 44 43 35 32 27 23 27 39 25 19 28 17 5 0 20 40 60 80 100 PhD MSc BSc Total Share within each quali�cation level (%) 211 FTEs in 2016 395 FTEs in 2016 785 FTEs in 2016 180 FTEs in 2016 Investment needed to close the intensity gap Analyses show that no country with economic conditions similar to Tanzania has reached the 1 percent agricultural research investment target set by the United Nations and African Union, but that a significantly lower target of 0.37 percent would be attainable. In order to have met this lower target in 2016, Tanzania would need to have invested 111 billion, or an additional 60 billion (both in current prices). 111 51 0 25 50 75 100 125 Spending Attainable investment target 0.37 0.17 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 Intensity ratio Attainable intensity target Billion Tanzanian shillings (current prices) Ratio (%) Actual and attainable spending, 2016 Notes: Traditionally, agricultural research intensity ratios compare investment and AgGDP levels to determine whether countries may be underinvest- ing. ASTI's Intensity Index incorporates additional factors that account for the size and nature of a nation's economy; hence, facilitating more accurate cross-country comparisons. For more information, see https://astinews.ifpri.info/2017/07/01/a-new-look-at-research-investment-goals-for-ssa/. Agricultural researchers by area of focus In 2016, 54 percent of the country’s FTE researchers conducted crop research, whereas only 8 percent undertook livestock research. Major crops under investigation were fruit, maize, vegetables, cassava, sweet potatoes, coffee, sorghum, and beans. Crops Livestock Forestry Fisheries Natural resources Socioeconomics Other Crop categories Cereals 14% Roots and tubers 9 % Pulses 4 % Oil-bearing crops 4 % Horticultural crops 12 % Other crops 10 % Share of researchers, 2016 54% 8% 2% 9% 8% 4% 15% Sources of TARI and TALIRI’s funding During 2009–2016, government support for TARI and TALIRI fluctuated, in inflation adjusted terms, and donor contributions fell. The vast majority of government funding is allocated to staff salaries and basic operational costs. The costs associated with research programs are primarily funded through donor contributions, from sales of goods and services, or through commodity taxes. 9 17 14 11 9 13 8 9 11 11 6 4 4 4 <1 1 3 4 4 3 3 5 4 4 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 2 1 1 0 7 14 21 28 35 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Government Donors World Bank loans Commodity levies Sales of goods and services Billion Tanzanian shillings (in�ation-adjusted; base year = 2011) TARI’s recently released crop varieties Tanzania’s main agricultural research agency involved in crop breeding, TARI, released 6 new varieties of maize and 29 new varieties of other crops during 2012–2016. Crop Number of varieties, 2012–2016 Maize 6 Groundnuts 3 Sugar 3 Sweet potatoes 3 Vegetables 3 Beans 2 Cassava 2 Rice 2 Wheat 2 Cotton 1 Potatoes 1 Soybeans 1 Other 6 Total 35 ASTI Data Procedures and Methodologies The data underlying this factsheet were predominantly derived through primary surveys, although some data were drawn from secondary sources or were estimated. Agricultural research includes research conducted by the government, higher education, and nonprofit sectors; research conducted by the private for-profit sector is excluded due to lack of available data. ASTI bases its calculations of human resource and financial data on full-time equivalent (FTE) researchers, which take into account the proportion of time staff actually spend on research compared with other activities. ASTI presents its financial data in 2011 local currencies and 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars. PPPs reflect the relative purchasing power of currencies more effectively than do standard exchange rates because they compare prices of a broader range of local—as opposed to internationally traded— goods and services. ASTI estimates the higher education sector’s research expenditures because it is not possible to isolate them from the sector’s other expenditures. Note that decimal rounding can cause totals to be one point higher or lower than the sum of their parts.  For more information on ASTI’s data procedures and methodology, visit www.asti.cgiar.org/methodology. Acronyms AgGDP agricultural gross domestic product FTE(s) full-time equivalent(s) NARIs national agricultural research institute(s) PPP(s) purchasing power parity (exchange rates) R&D research and experimental development SUA Sokoine University of Agriculture TALIRI Tanzania Livestock Research Institute TARI Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute About ASTI, IFPRI, and TARI Working through collaborative alliances with numerous national and regional R&D agencies and international institutions, Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) is a comprehensive and trusted source of information on agricultural R&D systems across the developing world. ASTI is facilitated by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), which—as a CGIAR member—provides evidence-based policy solutions to sustainably end hunger and malnutrition and reduce poverty. The Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) is Tanzania’s principal agricultural research agency; the institute falls under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and focuses on crop and natural resource research. ASTI/IFPRI and TARI gratefully acknowledge participating agricultural R&D agencies for their contributions to the data collection and preparation of this factsheet. ASTI also acknowledges the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets for their generous support of ASTI’s work in Africa south of the Sahara. This factsheet has been prepared as an ASTI output and has not been peer reviewed; any opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of IFPRI or TARI. Copyright © 2018 International Food Policy Research Institute and Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute. Sections of this document may be reproduced without the express permission of, but with acknowledgment to, IFPRI and TARI. For permission to republish, contact ifpri-copyright@cgiar.org. Resources for Tanzania This factsheet presents recent data on the performance of agricultural research in Tanzania, primarily focusing on key financial, human resource, institutional, and output indicators, while also highlighting relevant trends, challenges, and institutional changes. Additional resources are available at www.asti.cgiar.org and include: ASTI’s interactive country page for Tanzania features national agricultural research investment and capacity data, a data exploration and download tool, as well as access to a variety of country publications. ASTI’s benchmarking tool allows key agricultural research indicators to be ranked and compared across African countries. ASTI’s data download tool provides access to more in-depth ASTI datasets and graphs for Tanzania and many other countries. ASTI’s agency directory provides a view of agencies that conduct agricultural research in Tanzania, along with their locations and key agency-level indicators. http://www.asti.cgiar.org/methodology ifpri-copyright@cgiar.org http://www.asti.cgiar.org http://www.asti.cgiar.org/tanzania http://www.asti.cgiar.org/benchmarking/ssa http://www.asti.cgiar.org/data http://www.asti.cgiar.org/tanzania/directory http://www.asti.cgiar.org/tanzania