F.3 International networks in East Asia

Box F.2, continued

China’s co-authored patents represented 22 percent of all its agri-food patents; a similar share for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was 12 percent, and 17 percent for the European Union. About 10 percent of China’s co-authored patents were in the areas of agriculture and food processing, which is below OECD and BRIICS (Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, Indonesia, China, South Africa) averages. Between 2007 and 2012, Chinese authors produced a relatively small number of joint publications with foreign co-authors in agri-food sciences, constituting one of the lowest shares of total agricultural science publications in a country in an international comparison. less than 15 percent of agriculture science publications by Chinese scholars had foreign co-authors, while almost every second publication in both the OECD and in the European Union, and one-third in the BRIICS had at least one. These indicators suggest that, although China has been active in the integration of international collaboration frameworks in the agri-food area, it has yet to advance substantially in exploiting the potential of these frameworks (OECD 2018a).

Source: OECD 2017b.

International networks in East Asia

Apart from international collaboration with the CgIAR and multinational organizations (such as the European Union of the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and bilateral relationships with many countries, the East Asian countries represented by the main government research agencies are also members of international research networks, including for research on cross-cutting issues. Notable research networks and platforms include the global Research Alliance on Agricultural greenhouse gases (gRA), Conservation Agriculture in Southeast Asia (CANSEA), the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), and SEA-EU-NET.

Indonesia, Malaysia (represented by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute), the Philippines, Thailand, and vietnam (represented by the vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences) are part of the gRA, and are variously members of the livestock, paddy rice, croplands, and integrative research groups. Member countries of the gRA collaborate on the research, development, and extension of technologies and practices to help deliver more climate-resilient food systems without increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

CANSEA is a network that promotes the development of innovative farming systems based on an agro-ecological approach that combines rural development with environmental preservation. Its membership includes Cambodia (represented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries), Indonesia (represented by the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development), the lao People’s Democratic Republic (represented by the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute), Thailand (represented by Kasetsart University), and vietnam (represented by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development agencies); and the network is linked with institutions in Australia, China, and France.

APAARI promotes the development of national agricultural research systems in the Asia Pacific region through interregional and interinstitutional cooperation. The main research agencies from Malaysia (the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute), the Philippines (Bureau of Agricultural Research and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development), Thailand (Department of Agriculture), and vietnam (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) are regular members of APAARI.