Economies of scale
The capacity of some member national programs is still inadequate
to address all research issues due to lack of financial
resources, weak human scientific capacity, a low critical
mass of scientists, inadequate institution development mechanism
for research conceptualization, and ineffective technology
development and dissemination on a sustained basis.
The
PRAPACE network itself was
designated to increase the productivity of national programs--not
to substitute for them--, and to increase cost efficiency
in the use of international, regional and natural resources.
The network ensures that adequate support is available
for full scientific participation of national programs.
The network also makes provisions and efforts to promote
dissemination of technologies to farmers groups and other
end users including private sector, government and non-governmental
organizations.Through networking, member national programs
can pool resources, and on the basis of comparative advantage
and regional research priorities, share responsibilities.
They also share research results and technologies developed
in member countries and have the opportunity to adopt
technologies from environments with similar constraints.
Each
national program is expected to take a leadership role
for particular aspects of a given commodity. Where there
is overlap in assigned responsibilities, the stronger
program assists the weaker one in carrying out and obtaining
results in different components of the research aspect.
The network therefore supports coordinated research activities
on common problems and avoids duplication of effort, thus
leading to efficiency in the use of limited resources.
Also, through networking, member national programs share
experiences. Once proven in one program, the technology
is easily transferred to other programs for adaptive testing
as appropriate.
The
network has gained and demonstrated useful lessons in
avoiding duplication through economies of scale, through
utilization of human resources and facilities in different
member countries. For example:
 Germplasm improvement and exchange
Varieties are widely tested
across diverse ecological zones in various countries
Widely adopted varieties have
been released by member programs
Training
Exchange of information, technologies
and methodologies
Inter-country consultancies
using resource persons from within the region
Joint fora such as meeting,
conferences, policy and governance (eg. through ASARECA
review).
All
these have been successfully undertaken using resources
available in different member countries under the umbrella
of ASARECA.
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