The AGRODEP Modeling Consortium is launching a competitive call for proposals for "innovative research". The theme of this call is:
Economic growth and development in Africa: Lessons from the last forty years and implications for its sustainability.
Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the African continent has known a very low record in terms of average economic growth, particularly during the 1980s and the early 1990s (Rodrik 1998; Collier and Gunning 1999; Azam, Kwasi-Fosu and Ndung’u 2002), with severe implications in terms of development, nutrition and social indicators. However, its performance has been outstanding since 2001 (UNECA 2013).
The central theme of these grants for innovative research is to study the lessons that can be drawn from the last four decades in terms of economic growth in Africa. In particular the research projects should focus on understanding: (i) how individual factors have contributed to the economic turn around and (ii) how the recovery can be sustained and broaden to reach a large number of ordinary Africans.
Research projects may focus on different aspects of this broad topic:
- The role of agriculture in the African process of development
- Export-oriented vs. non-export-oriented agriculture: the link between agriculture and agro-industry (CAADP Pillar 2)
- The natural resource curse (CAADP Pillar 1)
- Regional integration and global value chains (CAADP Pillar 2 and CAADP Pillar 3)
- Trade infrastructure: transportation corridor and trade (CAADP Pillar 2)
- Economic growth, education and development
- The economics of conflicts and civil wars
- Institutions, democracy and economic growth
- Impact evaluation of development interventions and sectoral policies (infrastructures, transport costs, subsidies to fertilizers, irrigation, biofuels, etc.) on economic growth (CAADP Pillar 2 and CAADP Pillar 3)
- The potential impact of climate change on agriculture in Africa (CAADP Pillar 1)
The AGRODEP management team encourages teamwork in order to increase networking among AGRODEP members. Therefore, submitting joint research with several AGRODEP members is highly recommended, particularly with members from different countries. Members are also encouraged to perform joint, comparative work on the same topic with different countries of application or the same topic with different methodologies. Under this option several teams of AGRODEP members may submit different proposals linked together by the same topic and/or the same methodology.
All subthemes are recommendations of the Program Committee of the 2014 GTAP conference that will be held in Dakar on June 2014. The AGRODEP management team intends to support the participation of selected AGRODEP members in the GTAP conference through this grant.
The management team will identify experts and academics to act as mentors for each accepted proposal. These mentors will be selected for their renowned competences on the topic of the proposal concerned. Mentors will advise each team during the research process and will ensure that the research delivery meets a high quality standard.
DEADLINEs
Proposals for this grant will only be accepted from AGRODEP members. AGRODEP members will be given until September 30, 2013 to submit a proposal that presents the research topic, its scientific and policy relevance for Africa, the methodology to be used, and its justification. Please, click here to apply.
The AGRODEP management team will announce the list of accepted proposals to the AGRODEP network by the end of October 2013.
Guidelines
Proposals are to be a maximum of six (6) pages and must list all deliverables (including, but not limited to, reports, databases, and methodology—mathematical programs) and a complete budget with details of all operations, as well as funding required from AGRODEP and any additional sources of funding. For more information on budgeting and disbursement requirements, please see section 3.1 of the AGRODEP grants program available on the AGRODEP website.
Grant amount
The budget for the innovative research proposal is between US$10,000-US$15,000 with a maximum of US$20,000. The maximum duration of a project funded by a grant for innovative research is one year starting November 1, 2013.
About AGRODEP
AGRODEP is an initiative led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in collaboration with the ASARECA, CORAF/WECARD, and FANRPAN. The Consortium aims at positioning African experts to take a leading role in the study of strategic development questions and the broader agricultural growth and policy debate facing African countries.
For more about AGRODEP or if you have questions about this proposal please visit www.agrodep.org and write to info-agrodep@agrodep.org.