ful traits. Diversity of species can provide alternative crops for agricultural diversification.

Crop diversity provides the raw material for breeding new crop varieties that can adapt to climate change. It can also provide more flexible production, better adapted to stresses like drought or salinity and can reduce soil erosion. Crop improvement can meet the challenges posed by pests and diseases and can also help reduce chemical use. A more environmentally friendly agriculture requires both crop varieties and species that can grow with fewer fertilizers, pesticides and other agrochemicals. This is a shift in breeding programs away from yield alone and may require a rethinking of crop breeding. Among many things, it will require that farmers and breeders have access to a wider range of crop diversity-including traditional varieties-as sources of useful genes and genotypes.

Organic farming is often more environmentally friendly than conventional agriculture, but may require organic farming information, standards, certification and labeling, purchase of fertilizers, pesticides and animal health care products. Organic farming has developed in Egypt, Lebanon (http://www.earthfuture.com/economy/sekemegypt.asp), Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Turkey (Aksoy, 1999; Kenanogˇlu and Karahan, 2002).

2.3 History of Public and Private Sector Investment in AKST

2.3.1 Investments in agricultural research and development

The investments and institutions of agricultural research and development (R&D) are undergoing rapid changes. Growth in public spending on agricultural research and development has not been consistent in CWANA. In some countries it has slowed, in others it has stalled and for some it has declined. In addition to the changes in public research, private sector investment in agricultural research has grown only in Jordan, Pakistan and Sudan.

In Jordan, only 6% of agricultural research and development is private and mainly involves high-value crops and fruit trees. In Sudan, private investment accounts for 8%, mainly in sugar cane. The most private research (>15%) is in Pakistan (Ahmad and Nagy, 2001).

Despite these rapid changes, information and policy analysis to inform and guide the changes under way in many CWANA countries is scant. Research is particularly lacking concerning public policies that can improve agricultural science and technology institutions, including their productivity, environmental and poverty consequences.

Among public agencies, most agricultural research is conducted by research institutions. The remaining public investment is done by higher education institutions (Table 2-12). In Syria nearly 83% of public investment is done by research institutions, the remaining 17% by agencies of higher education. In Morocco the contribution of higher education is as high as 36%, while major research, 64%, is done by research institutions.

In poorer countries, such as Mauritania and Somalia, public agricultural research is mostly done by research institutions. Higher education contributes little to public research in these countries. Similar patterns of research staff allocation are evident between public agencies and private enterprises and between research institutions and higher education. Most researchers are in public research institutions.

2.3.2 History of public agricultural research

Detailed historical information on agricultural R&D for all CWANA countries is not readily available. The agricultural research in Tunisia, for example, began over a century ago (Aubry et al., 1986) (Table 2-13). Formal research began later in other countries.

2.3.3 Human resources in public agricultural research and development

During the last three decades the number of agricultural research staff in many CWANA countries grew steadily. Also,