University Assistance in Building Agricultural Research Institutions in Southeast Asia – A Case Analysis

Providing a sustained flow of improved physical, biological and social technology applicable to the country or region is essential in the strategy of agricultural development. Building research institutions, which have the capacity to supply this flow, has accounted for a large proportion of Land Grant University overseas technical assistance effort. Several papers and broad spectrum studies have attempted to review the experience to date with a view to inducing more productive effort. We shall (a) identify the main issues relating to required features of effective research institutions, (b) examine the history of American reasearch institutions for insight into the bases of effectiveness, (c) inventory institution-building attempts in Asian situations with regard to presence of these bases of effectiveness and (d) evaluate and interpret alternative policies of foreign assistance to build effective research programs in agriculture. Primary attention is focused upon one organizational aspect which appears to be both limitational and neglected – the engineering of dependable responsiveness of the institutions to the problems of their respective regions.