Lessons from the Competitive Allocation of Research Funding in the Agricultural Sector

摘要: BackgroundSince 2004, Colombia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural–MADR) has implemented a strategy of Competitive Funding or public call for proposals for the allocation of public funds for Research, Technological Development and Innovation (RTDI) programs and projects targeting the agricultural sector. This strategy capitalizes on the experience of other Colombian institutions, such as the Colombian Institute for Science and Technology Development “Francisco José de Caldas”(Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología–COLCIENCIAS)(1990), the National Learning Service (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje–SENA)(2000), and the Ministry itself, through the Program for the Transfer of Agricultural Technology (Programa Nacional de Transferencia de Tecnología Agropecuaria–PRONATTA)(1997–2001).The call for proposals was designed within the framework of a World Bank loan agreement, which led to the implementation of the Agricultural Transition Project (PTA, in Spanish, see Box). This strategy considers science and technology as core elements of agricultural sector policy, and the allocation of funds is governed by principles of cost-effectiveness and transparency.