Public-private partnerships are a new way of carrying out research and development (R&D) in Latin America’s agricultural sector. These partnerships spur innovation for agricultural development and have various advantages over other institutional arrangements fostering R&D. This report summarizes the experiences of a research project that analyzed 125 public-private research partnerships (PPPs) in 12 Latin American countries. The analysis indicates that several types of partnerships have emerged in response to the various needs of the different partners. Nevertheless, public-private partnerships are not always the most appropriate mechanism by which to carry out R&D and foster innovation in agriculture. Sometimes, it is more efficient to organize research via participatory projects or through research contracts.

Food insecurity is an important global problem severely affecting developing countries, particularly those in Asia and Africa. Agricultural research in developing countries is characterised by the following tension: the private sector has plenty of applied research skills and experience but these are primarily used for commercial gain; the public sector has excellent research but the research is often not applied. Agricultural public private partnerships are currently acclaimed as a means of redressing this tension through optimising the complementary synergies between the two sectors in order to address food security. Private sector involvement in agriculture, including public private partnerships (PPPs) has increased in the past two decades as has the use of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in agriculture research. The two sectors have differing and sometimes conflicting perspectives on IP as a concept and in the strategies used to manage intellectual property. IPRs have the potential to enhance or hinder the achievement of a partnership's objectives. This thesis investigates whether, to what extent and in what ways IP is relevant to food security oriented PPPs. It uses two case studies in India and Kenya involving two centres in the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) to locate the role that IP plays in the formation and execution of food security oriented PPPs in the context of development. It argues for a bespoke analysis of PPPs as the preferred means through which the impact and effect of factors such as IPRs can be meaningfully examined. It finds that the relevance of IP to food security oriented PPPs in developing countries is determined by two factors: the nature of the technology used in the partnership and the stage of the partnership.

World Bank Discussion Paper 236. Agricultural support services play an important role in increasing agricultural productivity. Given the importance of agriculture to developing countries, governments have taken the lead in providing such services.

Pesticide resistance has had a substantial impact on crop production and has been an important driver of change in modern agriculture, animal production and human health. Due to increased selection pressure, this resistance can be linked to export/import health and phytosanitary standards, invasive species eradication projects and global pandemics. However, the development of new biological and chemical products and the use of integrated pest management strategies have been successful in reducing pesticide resistance. Focusing specifically on arthropods, this book provides a comprehensive review of relevant issues in pesticide resistance. Detailed listings and references to all documented reports of resistance from around the world are included as well as discussions on the mechanisms and evolution of resistance and management techniques.

Investment in infrastructure can be a driving force of the economic recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of shrinking fiscal space. Public-private partnerships (PPP) bring a promise of efficiency when carefully designed and managed, to avoid creating unnecessary fiscal risks. But fiscal illusions prevent an understanding the sources of fiscal risks, which arise in all infrastructure projects, and that in PPPs present specific characteristics that need to be addressed. PPP contracts are also affected by implicit fiscal risks when they are poorly designed, particularly when a government signs a PPP contract for a project with no financial sustainability. This paper reviews the advantages and inconveniences of PPPs, discusses the fiscal illusions affecting them, identifies a diversity of fiscal risks, and presents the essentials of PPP fiscal risk management.