Experience suggests that financing research through competitive funds is extremely useful (Bisang, 2003; Piñeiro et al., 2003). However, this form of financing should be complementary to institutional financing, given that each fund sets its own priorities and has its own mechanisms for resource allocation, follow-up, and monitoring. For institutions that finance part of their research projects through competitive funds, this entails increased administrative costs, since several control and monitoring systems must be applied, each following the rules of the specific fund. Similarly, the fact that special resources granted for research are subject to different criteria from those of the institution that receives them tends to alter previously established research priorities and creates asymmetries in the flow of information between researchers and those who are cognizant of the available resources.
     One complementary financing mechanism, independent from national budget allocations, is to levy rates or charges on the first-time sale of specific products. This method is used extensively in Australia, and also in Colombia through the so-called Parafiscal Funds, but it is not common in LAC. In both cases, the funds received are channeled to private corporations administered by governing councils made up of representatives of the public sector and producers’ associations linked to the specific product, and the resources can only be used to support research and the promotion of exports.
     Some AKST system institutions have succeeded in generating income through the sale of technological services not directly linked to their research activities, such as soil analysis, agrochemical tests, and other types of studies (www .inifap.gob.mx). However, these cases are only justified to the extent that there is surplus capacity and the income can help finance research activities; aside from exceptional situations, it would be advisable to use that surplus capacity for research, to avoid sidetracking institutions from their specific goals.

2.3.5 Support institutions
It is important to mention the foundations that have emerged as an initiative of NARIs themselves, created to raise funds to sponsor research and technology-transfer projects. Some of these foundations even execute their own projects, or do so through NARIs and universities.
     In Argentina, for example, INTA participated in the creation of a foundation called ArgenInta and set up a technological liaison unit for this purpose. It has also established a company to strengthen links with the private sector.
     In Mexico, in order to support specific research projects related to agrifood or agroindustrial chains, INIFAP promoted the establishment of the Mexican Foundation for Agricultural and Forestry Research (FUMIAF A.C.), comprising the leading agribusiness and agroindustrial entrepreneurs.
     At the regional level, countries are being encouraged to cooperate on AKST system projects of mutual interest. To support this strategy, FONTAGRO was created as a consortium to promote strategic agricultural research of regional interest with the direct participation of Latin American and Caribbean countries in setting priorities and financing research projects.

2.4 Responses of the AKST systems to
Changes in the Most Influential Contextual
Variables

2.4.1 Water
Since the 1950s, knowledge, science and technology efforts related to water in LAC have focused on finding ways to promote its rational and sustainable management, particularly in areas of water scarcity, as well as carrying out inventories, systematizing hydrological and hydro-biological resources, and trying to reverse unsustainable processes like the pollution caused by domestic waste water (IDEAM, 2002). However, it is essential to consolidate a science and technology system that addresses the demands of the 21st century (UNESCO, 2006).
     Historically, research on water has focused on such issues as its role as a factor in agricultural production and on irrigation systems, the introduction of drought-tolerant materials, and the adaptation of species to saline and sodic soils.
     In the case of smallholders and indigenous and Afro- American farmers, some AKST strategies have managed to achieve a positive impact in situations of limited—or in extreme cases, no—water availability (through drip irrigation, microaspersion, or gravity irrigation systems), aspects that were emphasized in integrated rural development programs until the end of the 1980s.
     In the 1990s, field capacity irrigation through remote sensing began to be implemented, making advances possible in the knowledge of water resources regarding such issues as consumptive use, soil field capacity, water sources, wetlands, and pest and disease control (Vörösmarty et al., 2005, cited in UNESCO, 2006).
     Another AKST advance for areas with permanent or seasonal water limitation is the production of biological inputs (biofertilizers, mycorrhizae) that potentiate and capitalize on soil dynamics, expanding the horizons of knowledge regarding soil biology.
     The current agenda is revaluing the small irrigation systems used in extensive areas around the world, and especially in LAC (Palerm and Martinez, 1997). This reverses the historical tendency to ignore the role played by local communities in territorial water management, leading to a central strategy to regulate consumption and promote a rational use of the resource that is essential for its sustainability (Aguilera, 2002).
     In urban and semi-urban contexts, most of the research focuses on aspects related to the efficient management of water resources and the decontamination of water sources. Semi-dry rivers, exhausted or salinized aquifers, sedimented lakes, high levels of organic material, the presence of heavy metals, and the disappearance of wetlands are only part of the current panorama (Fundación Ecología and Desarrollo, 2006).
     An important area of AKST research is the contamination of water with heavy metals produced by activities like crop-spraying to combat illegal crops and the exploitation of hydrocarbons and minerals such as gold, which creates ecological imbalances and has adverse effects on human health. Another adverse factor that threatens water resources is oil spills (Aragón, 2002).