On Reconciling the Multiple Objectives of Agricultural RD&E

Abstract

<p>International agricultural research institutions are now expected to deliver on a range of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in addition to their traditional goal of developing technologies that increase the incomes of farm families and alleviate poverty. There has been concern that pursuit of these other objectives may have a high opportunity cost in terms of a slower rate of poverty alleviation. Here we argue that many of the SDGs can be thought of as capital stocks which are jointly related in production and consumption. There are opportunities for research institutions to exploit this jointness. Well-designed projects to deliver new technology lead to the alleviation of poverty (if the technology is widely adopted) but also have the potential to enhance a range of capacities in scientists and farm families and in environmental health. The risk of projects that do not have a technology focus is that the incentives for farm families to change behaviour may be weak and hence gains in SDGs may be small. One implication is that assessing the economic impact of new technologies remains important. While changes in SDGs should be at least qualitatively described, a finding of robust economic impact based on evidence of adoption, gives confidence of gains in other jointly supplied SDGs.</p>