Recent changes in priorities and organization of Agricultural Research
in some European Countries.
Professor emeritus Mårten Carlsson.
President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
Introduction
"The environment protection in agrosystems" is the general theme of this meeting. My contribution is not specific dealing with this subject. Instead some reflections are presented about the mechanisms behind changes in priorities in agricultural research - such as increased focus on environment protection- and the possibilities for research, education and extension to handle such changes.
In my presentation I use a model of Agricultural Knowledge System (AKS), which I developed for a presentation at OECD in 1995 with the title "On Agricultural Knowledge Systems. Some reflections based on country notes and case studies" OECD: AGR/REE (95) 4.
In the following, in Part 1 an attempt is made to give a graphic description (model) of a general AKS and its relation to agriculture and society as a whole. Part 2 is divided into subsections (2a - 2d), each dealing with some special section of the AKS in which changes have occurred or are expected to occur. Part 3, finally, contains some concluding remarks.
1. Agricultural Knowledge System - AKS
A general picture of the agricultural sector of a country including its AKS is presented below (figure 1). Doing this, I am fully aware of the fact that pictures can't be sensitive to gradations of shade, as "verbal models" can. On the other hand, pictures are "language independent" which is of special relevance to an international discussion. It is also easy to change a picture during, or after, the discussion. The final outcome can then - if needed - be formulated as a "verbal model", i.e. a normal piece of text
a) The most important part of the system (figure 1, part a) is the Physical Agricultural System, (which is sometimes forgotten). The main part of this system from an AKS point of view was earlier the Agricultural Primary Production, i.e. the farmers with their farms, located in between the farm input industry (machinery, fertilizers....) and the market. To increase the productivity of this part was earlier the main object of the Agricultural Knowledge System. Over the years also processing and distribution have been bestowed increased interest as has the consumers (cheap and healthy food, food security, new products). The surplus production in agriculture has put the consumer of food in the focus, but also efforts to stimulate the interest of industrial consumers in non-edible products from agriculture (biofuel, phytochemistry) have increased over the last decades.
Figure 1: The agricultural sector of a country with special reference to its Agricultural Knowledge System (AKS)
Other changes within the Physical Agricultural System, indicated in figure 1, are the increasing importance of production systems with a low environmental impact, and the increasing interest in recycling, which has lead to a new dimension in the relationship between agriculture and urban areas. Also the role of agricultural primary production (and processing) in the development of the rural areas, together with other rural activities (e.g. tourism), has been devoted special interest lately.
It should also be kept in mind that during the years, the educational level among the farmers has increased considerably. Also the size of the farms - and their degree of specialization - has increased, as has the productivity. Machinery and chemicals have also to a great extent been substituted for labor, just to remind the reader of some of the most striking features of the development in agriculture in many countries. In the last 10-20 years also negative consequences of the input of fossil fuel (energy) and agricultural chemicals (herbicides, pesticides) in the crop production and drugs, e.g. antibiotics, in the animal production, have been devoted great interest. Examples are energy saving techniques, integrated pest management and new ways of keeping and feeding animals.
b) The Agricultural Knowledge System, (figure 1, part b) has, as mentioned before, three main parts (functions) - research, higher education and extension. In the picture, research is divided into sub-groups like general basic research, basic research in agriculture, applied (problem solving) research and development work. [The author is aware of other, and perhaps better, attempts to classify research.] Because of its great importance to the educational level of the farmers, and thus indirectly to the development of AKS, also the professional education of farmers and farm workers has been included in the AKS.
These functions (research, education and extension) of the AKS are carried out by different institutions (organizations) like universities, research institutes, agricultural academies, experimental stations, advisory service organizations, agricultural schools, and so on. As can be seen from the lines in the figure, there is no longer a clear correspondence between function and institution.
c) The different parts of the AKS were earlier often organized under the Ministry of Agriculture. Today there is a trend in some countries to concentrate research and higher education to special ministries for research (technology) or to ministries of education, together with other university and research-councils matters. In some countries also special ministries for environmental matters have been set up which might be of importance in this matter. The role of the ministry of finance has increased when the agricultural sector is getting smaller and then of less political interest and, at the same time, the economy of the different countries poorer.
The different ministries have of course their different policies (agriculture, science, environment...), which might have consequences also to the different parts of the AKS.
d) In the agricultural sector of a country also different interest groups play an important role (figure 1, part d). This has for a long time been the situation for different farmers organizations. But also organizations within the food industry, the wholesalers and retailers and the consumers are getting increasing importance, and should therefore be considered in this discussion, even if AKS is the main topic.
e) Especially in countries with a high standard of living, public opinion on agricultural production methods has, during the last 20-25 years, had a great influence on both the Physical Agricultural System and the Agricultural Knowledge System. This is indicated in figure 1, part e, with political and ethical values of different types penetrating into the other parts (a - d) of the agricultural system.
Of course it has not been possible to include all relevant parts of AKS in figure 1. The division of responsibilities between international, national, "state" and regional level for example, has not been considered. Also in the text in this part, some important changes have probably been forgotten.
2. Some changes in AKS - causes and consequences.
In part 1, AKS has been described rather generally. In this part an attempt is made to describe some changes in AKS and to understand their causes and consequences for AKS, especially for the relations between research, higher education and extension.
2a. Values in Society, policies and AKS
Societies have during different periods had different objectives for involvement in AKS; increasing the agricultural production in periods when people had too little to eat, and later, increasing the labor productivity in order to lower the cost of food and to get labor force out of agriculture and into other more productive sectors of society, just to mention a few. During these periods the increased productivity of the farms had the highest priority. Changes in the orientation of AKS normally originated from developments in science and from problems within agriculture, which had to be tackled.
During the last two decades AKS have changed its orientation also for other reasons. I here think of the topics like sustainable agriculture, reduced pesticide use and to some extent also rural development. Other examples, which could be mentioned, are ethical questions of relevance for animal production.
These topics often originated from initiatives from outside AKS, in some cases from scholars from other universities than the agricultural ones, or from individuals and groups outside AKS, but with an interest in agriculture. In other cases researchers and other individuals within AKS initiated general debates in media, which after some time had an influence on the political system. Political initiative then forced, or stimulated by financial means, the AKS to induce changes of the agricultural production methods in the (politically) desired direction.
Individuals within the AKS were often skeptical to the different programme. I remember from OECD-conferences in the beginning of the 1980s, that some participants were rather critical to some of the proposals, which then, at a conference five years later were widely accepted. Formulations like "emotion laden term" and "political roots" were sometimes heard in discussions about Sustainable Agricultural Systems. This indicated that the "character" of the topic is of a somewhat other type than traditional academic quarrels. It is also interesting to notice that in some countries, the attitude of the farmers organizations have changed drastically. Points of view, which earlier were considered being built more on ideality than on knowledge about the condition for agricultural production, are today stimulated by the farmer's organizations, among other thing for marketing reasons.
2 b. Less financial support from government to AKS.
The reasons for financial governmental support to the development of different sectors of society has changed over time due to shifts in political and/or economic ideology and reality. Today the trend in many countries is towards less governmental financing also of AKS. In some countries the governmental support to its AKS has decreased drastically.
This new situation has led to interesting discussions about "who should pay", but also about the possibility to find market solutions to the financing of AKS. In Australia, where such problems have been on the agenda for long time, some persons were of the opinion that the main obstacle for the introduction of market solutions in parts of agricultural extension is the resistance from the official advisors.
In countries where the extension service is organized as a farmer's instrument with governmental financial support, this process of changed financing seems to have been simpler to manage than in countries where extension is a governmental instrument to support farmers. In such countries the solution has often been that farmers and their organizations (also selling cooperatives), after some hesitation and political negotiations, have taken over the extension activities themselves. The reason behind seems to be that you want to "control", if you never the less have to pay. But also the financing of the most applied research has in many countries been discussed intensively. In Sweden for example, the government clearly indicated to the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU), which in opposite to many other agricultural universities is responsible for applied research, that it was allowed to continue the work with "the most applied research", only if it was paid by other sources than the governments direct support to SLU. This first led to a period of confusion, when the farmer's organization refused to accept this signal from the Minister of Agriculture. Now the farmers organization has developed a system with levies on agricultural production to finance among others applied research.
The Government has also stressed the importance of "the environmental content of the AKS" and has also financed these parts, being well aware that neither the farmers or their organizations, nor the food industry had an interest to do this. Also the government has given financial help to start up new fields of research about rural development and also about horses for recreation and sport
In Sweden, as in many other countries an increasing part of the financing of the universities comes in the form of "payment per student". This has had many negative consequences for the research; important research areas are not always of interest for a young student. This has also been one reason behind the chances of the name of some Agricultural Universities, e.g. the from Norwegian University of Agriculture (NLH) to Norwegian University of Life Science (UMB).
Obviously, new forms of financing also have consequences for the organization and orientation of AKS. One is that you want to control what you pay for. This can of course lead to a splitting up of functions which formerly were located into one organization into many smaller, which then might reach under critical sizes. This will be discussed more under 2 d. Another consequence might of course be, that farmers organizations give priority to research projects dealing with their actual problems. Basic research in agriculture can then be neglected, which might lead to long-term negative effects also for the farmers.
2 c. The knowledge flow - traditional and new ways of thinking and organizing.
Different ways of looking at the relationship between research, extension and higher education exist in different countries. In many countries higher education is just related to university basic research (as higher education ought to be), without much discussion about disadvantages and advantages of also using researchers and advisers from the more applied fields as teachers.
It is also striking to notice, that in some countries the knowledge flow still is very much locked upon in the traditional way, i.e. in figure 1 as a flow from basic research in the bottom of the agricultural knowledge system, through applied research, development and extension over to the practical farmers. Sometimes the flow back through the same system of problems to be solved in also explicitly discussed. But in some countries different types of knowledge networking as new alternatives or complements are in use. In such cases, different activities within the AKS are organized around a problem or groups of problems. Often both farmers or their organizations, advisers and researchers are involved in the work and/or in different planning and steering groups and in financing. Two Swedish examples are "Greppa Näringen" - www.greppa.nu - dealing with methods to reduce the losses of plant nutrition to the environment, and "Odling i Balans". The later is a member of "The European Initiative for Sustainable development in Agriculture" - www.sustainable-agriculture.org.
It is, by the way, also interesting to notice that Problem Based Learning (PBL), which has become of increased importance also at some agricultural universities, can be an interesting complement on the educational side to knowledge networking in AKS at large.
2 d. New forms of cooperation within and between AKS
Many changes in AKS, which have been described in earlier parts of this paper, have lead to a splitting up of responsibilities within AKS (e.g. between basic and applied research and higher education, or between responsibility for production research and environmental research) and often also to reduction of size of some of the units within AKS. Examples of such changes are decreased financial support from the government, sometimes also split up on different ministries, increased interest from interest organizations to start their own extension activities, which they can control themselves, interest from private or cooperative enterprises to build up research units themselves and so on. Also the development within science and the increased magnitude of the problems to be tackled have led to, or can in the future lead to, situations where research units and also university departments reach sizes, which are undercritical in relation to the tasks which have to be fulfilled. At the same time there seem to be an increasing interest for regional solutions to AKS-problems, which also might lead to a splitting up of the resources, but which are supposed to have other advantages.
This situation has been met, and can be met, in different ways.
The knowledge networking mentioned under 2 c. can be one way, relevant both nationally and internationally, especially if it is combined with the possibility of using e-mail and other modern forms of communication.
Another interesting way of linking together scattered research resources both nationally and internationally has been practiced by large multinational enterprises within the agri-business complex for a rather long time. They often connect groups of university researchers and researchers at research institutes with researchers at their own research units. Indirectly this leads to a better contact, also in other questions, between researchers and can thus, to a certain extent, counteract the size problem.
Examples of international cooperation for functions within AKS are of course also the different programs for research, education and to some extent also extension among members of the European Union.
An example of how some of the changes mentioned above can be met is the creation of NOVA University Network.- http://www.nova-university.org - and its sister BOVA University - http://www.bova-university.org.- , (where NOVA stands for The Nordic Forestry, Veterinary and Agricultural and BOVA the Baltic and so on). A study of their homepages indicates both success stories and difficult problems in organizing cooperation between agricultural universities within a region - in this case the Nordic, the Baltic and the cooperation between the two regions. Both NOVA and BOVA has recently celebrated their 10 year anniversary and both has published interesting bocks in the English language about their first 10 years of activities.
In connection with the topic of today's meeting - the environment protection in agrosystem - it should also be mentioned that such problems often cross national borders. On such example in the efforts to clean the Baltic See, which has stimulated cooperation between agricultural researchers around the Baltic, so also between BOVA and NOVA.
Finally it is very interesting to notice how different countries today look at the needs of national coordination within their AKS. In some countries different coordinating bodies are created, e.g. Cooperative Research Centers (CRE) in Australia (1990), (each covering different AKS-aspect of Viticulture, Meat quality, Waste Management and so on), the new role (1994) of the Canadian Agri-Food Research Council (CARC), and the Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES) in US, just to mention some of many examples given in the country notes.
But cooperation is not always recommended. Some years ago representatives from the Netherlands expresses thoughts which seem to consider coordination, at least on the initiative of the government, as out-of-date; "In the past the corporate model, in which shared views and cooperation were the general rule, was dominate. This has changed into a coalition model: sometimes the institutions co-operate, sometimes they compete." "A strong central co-ordination of efforts in agricultural knowledge development is not appropriate any more. "Nowadays we rather speak of interactive knowledge development".
Last year, Danish agricultural research and higher education took a step in direction "organizational splitting up in stead of coordination" when the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen was integrated as Faculty into The Copenhagen University and the Danish Agricultural Research was integrated into a new Faculty of Agricultural at the University of Århus.
3. Concluding remarks and recommendations
In my presentation I have tried to describe some of the factors behind changes of priorities in agricultural research especially the increasing interest for environmental protection in agriculture. In this connection I have also in more general terms discussed organization and financing of research as well as education and extension - the two later important links between research and agricultural praxis. In doing so I have used a simple model - a picture - of Agricultural Knowledge System (AKS)
AKS are large systems, which have played and will play a great role in the transformation processes in agriculture and areas close to agriculture. But of course AKS are also rather costly. Therefore it is of great importance that the resources are used as optimal as possible.
I am rather convinced, that this "my picture" has to be adjusted in different ways, to give a more correct description of the situation in the countries participating in this meeting. I hope that the discussion can be helpful in this respect. But I also think that it would be of interest to discuss deeper and more systematically the problems of AKS in our countries.
Personally, I am quite convinced that a more deep-reaching study of the problems discussed in this paper, could be of great value to decision makers on international, national, "state" and regional level, also in their attempts to handle "the environment protection in agriculture".
