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Abstract
Public-private partnerships offer potentially important opportunities for pro-poor
agricultural research in developing countries. Yet in the international agricultural research
community--and with regard to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR) itself--we see few examples of successful public-private partnerships, and fewer
examples where such collaborations have contributed to food security, poverty reduction and
economic growth. This study assesses the opportunities for, and challenges to, creating and
sustaining public-private partnerships between the international agricultural research centers of
the CGIAR and leading multinational, research-based agribusiness companies.
The study hypothesizes that the willingness and ability of public agencies and private
firms to enter into partnerships are constrained by fundamentally different incentive structures;
by insufficient minimization of the costs and risks of collaboration; by an inability to overcome
mutually negative perceptions; by limited use of creative organizational mechanisms that reduce
competition over key assets and resources; and by insufficient access to information on
successful partnership models. The study methodology is based on interviews and discussions
with key stakeholders and a wide review of the literature on public-private partnership.
Tentative findings suggest that while incentives and perceptions do differ between
sectors, sufficient common space exists or can be created through incentive structuring to
facilitate greater partnership. However, both public- and private-sector partners inadequately
account for and minimize the costs and risks of partnership. Similarly, partners discount the need
for brokers and third-party actors to manage research collaborations and reduce competition
between sectors. Finally, partners are operating without sufficient information on existing
partnership experiences, lessons, and models, potentially contributing to a persistent or widening
gap between sectors.