training at master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels in agricultural S&T. In other cases, training has been effective in boosting the capacity of weaker institutions to participate in CRG programs. Training and technical activities have been less effective in introducing reforms in public sector agricultural research institutes. In such cases, the lack of a strategic plan for reform, challenges posed by competing interests — public research institutes, universities, or line ministries — in the reform process, and staff resistance contribute to limited success in achieving reform objectives. FPD has successfully used mechanisms such as staff training to help public research institutes develop commercialization strategies that respond to the needs of the private sector and to strengthen the role of standards bodies. The use of twinning arrangements with advanced metrology and calibration laboratories was effective in setting and disseminating measurement standards, and staff training has strengthened the capacity of standard bodies, increasing their efficiency and helping them provide enhanced support to industry and trade. Strengthening Entrepreneurial Capabilities Matching grants were used in 21 projects to support interventions that sought to strengthen entrepreneurial capabilities and provide funds for commercialization of R&D products. Fifteen of these projects were implemented by FPD; other sectors accounted for the rest. Thirteen of the 21 projects successfully delivered project outputs. In FPD, 9 of the 15 projects that used matching grants delivered outputs that provided access to business development or consulting services, improved know-how and knowledge that improved firm productivity, and increased access to export markets. The mechanism was effective under the following circumstances: the selection process was rigorous and followed clear procedures, project design was flexible to deal with changing circumstances, processing of claims for reimbursement was expeditious, and the private sector or private sector associations were involved in the administration of the scheme. In 8 of the 21 projects, matching grants were not effective; that is, they did not deliver the expected outputs or achieve the intended outcomes. Project evaluations suggest that the failure of the grants was associated with several factors: • A failure to correctly identify target beneficiaries • Slow and costly implementation (for example, in one project 8 percent of the funds were disbursed but 100 percent of management fees was spent)
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World Bank Group Support for Innovation and Entrepreneurship