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Country Profile - Spain
Agricultural Research for Development
Spanish Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) is funded by the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development (AECID) belonging to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Initiatives are carried out by the National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation and its counterparts in the regional governments.
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Key ARD objectives

Spainish funding of ARD supports surveillance of livestock diseases in Africa
Credit: © ILRI/Steve Mann
  • Transfer of information aimed at poverty alleviation, gender equality and economic development.
  • Education, capacity development and research, primarily in Latin American and Mediterranean countries.
  • Social mobility through the promotion of citizen participation.
Summary
Most of Spain's ARD activities are developed by INIA of the Ministry of Science and Innovation. Contributions are also provided by several regional public research institutions located in Spain's seventeen regional governments (Comunidades Auntónomas), primarily those of Andalusia (IFAPA), Catalonia (IRTA), and Valencia (IVIA).
Most funding comes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation through AECID. INIA itself also provides funding, and has the mandate to channel budget support to CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) initiatives. Major supported initiatives also include extensive forestry research in Latin American, Caribbean and Arab countries, and the Azahar Programme, a cooperation programme for sustainable development and conservation in the Mediterranean.
Main ARD budget and beneficiaries for 2010
In recent years, Spanish funding has been in the magnitude of €10 million per year, fluctuating around €7 million in 2010 to almost €13 million in 2007. Such ARD funding is channeled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (50%), the Ministry of Economy and Finances (20%), the Ministry of Science and Innovation (20%), the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (3%), institutions of the Autonomic Communities (6%) and Universities (1%).

In 2010, a large percentage of the funding was devoted to the Latin and Caribbean region (65%), followed by the Mediterranean region (20%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (15%). The main recipients of ARD funds are Cuba, Niger, Ecuador, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Guatemala.

Note: This information is indicative only, and may not be representative of the ARD funding in 2011, and in the future.
ARD landscape
With the help of funding from AECID, INIA implements ARD activities alongside its public research counterparts in some of Spain's Autonomic Communities.

A large part of INIA's ARD budget goes to CGIAR initiatives. The Institute has represented Spain within the CGIAR since 1980. Other activities are conducted under ERA-ARD (European collaboration on ARD) with an emphasis on networking. Within ERA-ARD phase II, which began in 2010, INIA is participating as co-leader of the work package on "Capacity Strengthening on Agricultural Research for Development."

Spain has made a financial contribution of €10 million to FONTAGRO, the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology, created by Latin American countries to drive development projects in their region. Other research consortia with Spanish involvement through INIA are ARIMNet, coordinating agricultural research in the Mediterranean; the OECD Cooperative Research Programme (CRP); and the European Consortium for Agricultural Research in the Tropics (ECART).
Main ARD programmes
  1. Current activities funded through bilateral agreements with CGIAR institutes involve sustainable wheat production in Spain and North Africa, with CIMMYT; an innovation network for improvement and dissemination of potato resources, with CIP; development of new diagnostic tools and epidemiological surveillance of virus diseases of livestock in Africa, with ILRI; and a European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources with Bioversity International.
  2. Training and capacity building are provided by courses at AECID centres maintained in Colombia, Guatemala, Uruguay and Bolivia, on issues ranging from rural development and water to food economy, forest industries, and livestock health.
  3. Spain organises and supports an annual meeting with agricultural research organisations from Latin American countries, known as the Encuentros del Sistema de los INIA de Iberoamérica. These address the priorities and ongoing activities of the participating countries regarding issues such as climate change, food security, genetic resources and agroenergy.
  4. AECID has carried out several programmes of forestry research in cooperation with Latin American, Caribbean and Arab countries. In 2001, AECID also created the Azahar Programme, a framework for coordinating public and private institutions to further sustainable development in countries of the Mediterranean Basin.

Spain supports sustainable wheat production
Credit: © Petr Kosina/CIMMYT
Perspective
For greater future coherence, a database of ARD activities is currently being created to provide information regarding activities and funding. A first Congress will take place in October 2011.
Further information
EIARD National Contact Point: Nuria Duran-Vila, National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA)
Contact: email nuria.duran@inia.es or phone +34 913 478 789
This country profile has been commissioned by EIARD (the permanent ARD coordination platform between the European Commission, Member States of the European Union, Norway and Switzerland) as part of a series providing an overview of policies and support for agricultural research for development by EIARD member countries. EIARD is not responsible for any omissions and inaccuracies contained within this document and the information is only correct up to the date of publishing (August 2011).