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Abstract
Universities in sub-Saharan Africa, given their considerable resources both in terms of human resources and scientific infrastructure, are often criticized for not contributing enough to national agricultural research and development (R&D) and for having an "ivory tower" mentality. However, documented evidence is rare. This report presents analytical results of data collected from over 980 scientists and over 2300 research projects in eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa, namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, C6te d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. It shows that university scientists often performed equally to scientists with an official mandate for conducting agricultural research, i.e. those in the national agricultural research organizations. It also shows that scientists in Anglophone universities often have a better research performance than scientists in Francophone universities, and there is a high research potential in the latter that remains untapped. This study identifies several factors that can explain a scientist's research performance. These are related to the university research mandate, objectives, and policies; the organization and structure of research and research linkages; the human, financial, and physical resources available; and the research program and how it is planned and managed. Based on these findings, several recommendations are made to policymakers and university managers to improve current research performance at universities. They are urged to define the specific constraints facing their country and find the appropriate mix of strategies to address them. While some remedial actions can be implemented at low cost, some will require long-term and costly interventions. Long-term and coordinated support from the international donor community to strengthen the higher education capacity in sub-Saharan Africa remains a necessary, and potentially high pay-off, investment.