AGRICULTURAL-RESEARCH POLICY ISSUES IN LATIN-AMERICA - AN OVERVIEW

The paper reviews two critical challenges facing research organization s and governments in the region: obsolete institutional structures and lack of stable funding for agricultural and natural resource manageme nt research. The paper describes recent trends in research investments , financing alternatives, and the institutional evolution of research organizations in order to meet those challenges. A preliminary conclus ion is that the current low level of funding research, together with t he dramatic organizational changes taking place in several public rese arch organizations in the region, provide an opportunity to develop tr uly national agricultural innovation systems. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.