Background

The importance of technological innovation for agricultural development has long been recognized by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Through investment in national agricultural research systems, regional networks, and regional and international centers, the LAC countries, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and other bilateral and multilateral development agencies have been consolidating a true regional system to support agricultural innovation. As part of this process, several countries of the region have created a Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology. The founding members, through their subscriptions and participation in determining the mission, philosophy, and basic operating style of the Fund have brought into existence a necessary complement to existing regional mechanisms for planning and carrying out research and development activities. The Fund exists as an autonomous regional program. During its three years (1997-1999) initial phases, the IDB will administer the capital subscribed by members, provide legal capacity, and support the Technical-Administrative Secretariat.

Mission and Objectives

The Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO) is a consortium that fosters strategic agricultural research with a regional focus and direct participation by the Latin American and Caribbean countries in identifying priorities and financing research projects.

The mission of the Fund is to increase the competitiveness of the agricultural sector through research, thus ensuring sustainable management of natural resources and reduction of poverty in the region.

• The objectives of the Fund are to create a sustainable financing facility and a forum in which the LAC countries can discuss priority topics related to technological innovation, thereby strengthening the role these countries play in defining the regional research agenda. In addition, the Fund:

• helps expand the research base so as to ensure success in meeting the regional challenges of technological development that call for multidisciplinary approaches, which implies efforts that many countries are not in a position to carry out individually;
  
  

• ensures increased availability and continuity of resources for research activities aimed at producing public goods that are useful for more than one country, thus complementing the applied research conducted at the national level;
  
  

• strengthens the participation and decision-making power of LAC countries in regional agricultural research activities; and
  
  

• encourages cooperation among diverse research organizations to conduct research projects.

Recommendations Based on the 1998 Call for Proposals

• Proposals should be improved in terms of the information necessary for their evaluation according to the four criteria set forth in FONTAGRO's Manual of Operations. In particular, information related to economic and environmental impacts, as several of the proposals received a very low score in those two areas. The following table shows some indicators from the 28 proposals submitted to external evaluation that illustrate this point:

 

	TECHNICAL CRITERIA
INDICATORS	Econ., Finan. & Social Impact	Technical quality	Institutional capacity	Environmental impact	TOTAL SCORE
Maximum total score	40	30	20	10	100
Average score	19.38	20.76	16.19	5.05	61.35
Highest score	34.25	28.25	20.00	9.00	84.00
Lowest score	0.75	12.75	11.25	0.00	32.50
Standard deviation	8.76	4.25	2.38	2.54	13.31
Average loss in score	52%	31%	19%	49%	39%

• The proposals must be submitted by a research consortia in which public as well as private institutions, from TWO OR MORE member countries, have prepared the project jointly and have made decisions regarding the responsibilities and contributions of each member. Several of the proposals submitted to FONTAGRO were prepared by single parties that later requested support from their partners through notes attached to the proposal. This does not necessarily ensure a real commitment from all the participating institutions.
  
  

• Many proposals had serious flaws as to the consistency of their budgets. They requested the maximum amount of resources from the Regional Fund (US$500,000) and showed a poor relationship between the size of the budget requested and the activities proposed to achieve the goals of the project.
  
  

• The Technical-Administrative Secretariat recommends a careful consideration of the new version of the Manual of Operations (MOP), particularly of the sections dealing with the preparation and evaluation of the proposals by the submitting institutions.

Dates for Submission of Proposals

The proposals will be received between November 1, 1998 and May 31, 1999. Project profiles may be sent to FONTAGRO's Technical Secretariat for consultation until February 28, 1999.

Available Resources

The maximum amount of resources available for 1999 is estimated at US$3 million, which come from both the Fund's income and other contributions for the financing of approximately 10 regional interest projects. Because the majority of the resources expected for 1999-those traditionally allocated to the CGIAR's International Centers-would come from the IDB's technical cooperation, it is estimated that up to 75% of the resources will be assigned to research projects involving these Centers, in accordance with the priorities of the Medium Term Plan and the procedures set forth in the Fund's Manual of Operations.

Supported Areas of Research

Pursuant to the provisions of FONTAGRO's Board of Directors, as set forth in the Medium Term Plan, the 1999 Call for Proposals will focus on the following priority areas:

Duration of Projects

Up to three years. In special cases, depending on the nature of the project, up to a five-year implementation period will be considered.

Grant Limit and Eligible Expenses

The maximum amount to be financed by FONTAGRO is US$500,000 (five hundred thousand US dollars) and the following expenses are eligible:

 

TYPE OF EXPENSE	ELIGIBILITY FOR FONTAGRO's RESOURCES
Investments in construction	Not eligible
Investments in equipment (inputs, instruments, machinery)	Eligible up to 50% percent of the total cost of expected equipment, provided that these expenses will not be higher than 25% of the total cost of the project
Personnel costs Payroll Consultant or specialists (fees, travel and per diem allowances) Travel and per diem allowances for payroll personnel	Not eligible Eligible up to 50% of the total personnel expenses expected for the project Eligible up to 20% of the total professional personnel expenses expected for the project
Extension expenses	Eligible up to 10% of the total budget financed by FONTAGRO

Eligible Institutions

The institutions eligible to submit project proposals to FONTAGRO as implementing agencies are the national organizations of the Fund's member countries that act as regional consortia, and that involve TWO OR MORE countries. The consortia may also include regional and international research centers, universities, and research institutions from outside the region.

Instructions for Submission of Proposals

The instructions to submit proposals may be obtained through the Fund's Technical Secretariat or at its website, http://www.fontagro.org, as part of the Manual of Operations.

Evaluation Procedures and Notification of Awards

The projects that meet the conditions set forth in this call for proposals and that are in accordance with the Fund's Manual of Operations will be evaluated by independent experts. We suggest a careful review of Annexes I and II of the Manual of Operations (July 1998). FONTAGRO's Board of Directors will consider the Annual Operations Plan during May of 1999, including projects to be financed with resources from the Fund. The implementation of the approved projects and the disbursements thereof will begin in the second semester of 1999.

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