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Issue 28: November-December 2003

INTECH investigating
biotechnology partnerships

Lea Vehlo

Research and capacity building in science and technology play an important role in North-South development cooperation. Now UNU Institute for New Technologies (UNU-INTECH) has begun investigating North-South partnerships in agricultural biotechnology.

The study is an effort to understand the scope and limitations of these partnership and to find out how they strengthen local innovation capacities and contribute to sustainable development.  

"This requires a comprehensive understanding of the actors involved, of their motivations and roles as well as the different contextual and institutional conditions affecting the establishment and outcomes of such partnerships," said project director Dr. Lea Vehlo. 

"The innovative contribution of this project is that it analyses North-South partnerships in research and technological development (RTD) in an 'innovation systems' (IS) context, an approach that places both collaboration and policy institutions at the centre of the analysis. The application of the IS framework in the analysis of partnerships requires the mapping and evaluation of the channels for knowledge flows, identifying bottlenecks and suggesting appropriate remedial action."

Two pilot case studies, one in bioprospecting in Costa Rica and the other in agricultural biotechnology in Kenya, have been carried out to refine the methodology for application of the system of innovation framework in the analysis of North-South partnerships.

The in-depth case studies address the following issues:

• What were the main initial objectives of each of the partners? 

• What are the roles of each of the involved partners? 

• How were research priorities selected? 

• What are the outcomes of the partnership in terms of technological learning and development of innovative capabilities within the partners?

• Has the knowledge gained been diffused more widely to other local institutions and organisations? 

• How do the partners involved evaluate the results of the project? 

• Has the partnership effectively contributed to help the country to tackle with the challenges and opportunities faced by these sectors in terms of sustainable development? From the experience accumulated in the project, what are the needs and possibilities for future RTD partnerships involving Northern institutions and organisations?

While no firm conclusions have been drawn at this stage, many examples have been found that point to the crucial role that North-South partnerships play in providing the infrastructure for building biotechnology innovation systems. Most local researchers obtained their training – both locally and abroad – through such programmes and substantial financial resources have been invested by donors to upgrade laboratories and to fund research programmes.

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