ERA ARD

• The ARD landscape in Hungary
• Priorities
• Main programmes
• Funding mechanisms
• Donors and Recipients
• List of selected Web based information
• Country Profile Hungary, ERA-ARD I 2009 - pdf version

The ARD landscape in Hungary

Hungary provides training, extension and higher education to many specialists, researchers and farmers in developing countries. Hungarian experts and researchers carry out consulting activities in these countries and help in the development of the agricultural sector and its institutional system.

The main players in the Hungarian ARD field (on the donor side) are MFA, MARD and HAS with its
Agricultural Research Institutes. The NKTH is providing mobility funds for researchers carrying out bilateral cooperation projects. Among the agreements of more than 30 countries there is a significant amount with developing countries.

In Hungary the agricultural research belongs to (the competence of) the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In the past decades, our ministry signed
intergovernmental or interdepartmental cooperation agreements with the partner ministries of several developing countries, mainly in South America, South-East Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, as well as in the present CIS States and recently in 2007 with the FAO.

Institutional framework, financing

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Republic of Hungary is responsible for planning and coordinating Hungarian international development cooperation activities. An Inter- Departmental Development Policy Committee, chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, steers the Hungarian development policy, determining its geographical and sectoral priorities. This committee is assisted by a Civil Advisory Board, which consists of representatives of the MFA, political parties, trade unions, employers’ associations, academic communities, NGOs and individual experts. HUN-IDA, a non-profit company, is the implementing agency of Hungarian IDC programmes, while Hungarian missions abroad, NGOs, the private sector and various organs of public administration participate in carrying out development projects in the partner countries.

Hungary’s development assistance programmes are financed mainly from the central state budget. 12 % of the Hungarian IDC activities are bilateral ODA programmes. The remaining part is allocated through multilateral channels. The MFA administers approximately 6% of Hungary’s total contribution to international development, and the other 6% of the Hungarian official development assistance is provided by other line-ministries.

The main preferences of the Hungarian international development policy are:

• to preserve and support international peace and security, and to create and sustain regional, political and economic stability;
• to reduce poverty, and contribute to sustainable economic and social development;
• to protect human rights and equal opportunities, to strengthen democracy and civil society structures, and to support local community autonomies;
• to support efforts aimed at creating economic and social development (basic necessities, healthcare, primary education);
• to promote good governance;
• to protect and improve environmental resources.
  

MARD is participating in the work of international organizations which is a long term strategy. The geofocus and recipient of other bilateral and multilateral projects might change according to the actual needs of the partners, the type of relations with them and the available Hungarian capacities.

Priorities

The Hungarian development policy is gaining more and more public and political attention in Hungary.
Resolution 1/2008 of the International Development Cooperation (IDC) Governmental Committee acknowledges the fact that IDC is pointed out as one of the important activities in Hungary’s External Relations Strategy.

The Resolution also takes notice of the revision of our partner countries as follows:

• partner countries based on medium-term Country Strategy Papers (CSPs): Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Palestinian Authority, Serbia, Vietnam;
• project-based partner countries: Africa (the region South of Sahara), Cambodia, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macedonia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Ukraine, Yemen;
• partner countries based on international commitments: Afghanistan, Iraq;
• partner countries eligible for tied aid credit: according to the OECD DAC categorization.

The Resolution sets out the following goals for 2008:

• the drafting of medium-term CSPs for Moldova and the Palestinian Authority;
• special attention to be paid to development cooperation with our CSP partner countries when planning the 2009 budget;
• the preparation of a law regarding IDC and Humanitarian Aid with the perspective of its adoption by the Parliament in 2009;
• the enhancement of professional and political coordination regarding the realization of increased financial commitments for 2009-2010;
• the support of the civil sector – NGOs, the corporate sector, local governments – in order to facilitate their successful preparation for obtaining the EU’s different development instruments;
• the enhancement of coordination between the line ministries;
• the further development of the project registry system in the MFA and its transferring into a governmental database, thus leading to bigger transparency and better quality in providing statistical data;
• the further and widest possible application of the “good humanitarian donorship” principle according to the EU Consensus on Humanitarian Aid; making the Hungarian society familiar with the UN Millennium Development Goals and Hungary’s commitments made in order to achieve them.

When planning of an ARD programme, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development takes into consideration its existing bilateral agreements, the priorities of the International Development Cooperation Programme (IDCP) of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the capacities and partner relations of its institutions (including CGIAR), and last but not least the demands and offers for cooperation of the parties involved in the ARD programme.

Concerning funding, the possibilities are still modest. Eight agricultural research institutes belong to MARD, and their basic operation expenses are partly funded by the ministry from the central budget. The institutes can complement their budget out of their service incomes and the money from competitive international and national grant funds. In addition, the ministry can support the institutes in the execution of certain important tasks, research programmes, cooperation programmes and projects arising from its bilateral agreements.

A new element of the development programme in MARD is the closer linkage with the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations. FAO and the Government of Hungary signed an agreement (27 March 2007) to open two new FAO offices in Budapest, Hungary from the year 2008. The FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and the FAO Shared Services Centre has joined the Organization’s Subregional Office for Central and Eastern Europe, which has operated in Budapest since 1996.

The agreement between FAO and the Government of Hungary also includes a Partnership Framework Agreement, under which Hungary will contribute to the implementation of projects serving food safety, sustainable rural development and the Millennium Development Goals. Two Albanian projects are being implemented in 2009 and further projects are in a preparatory phase. Hungary will also ensure scholarship possibilities for students from transition economies and developing countries (see details below under 6. Main Programmes)

Concerning international organisations MARD has the middle -term aim to join the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Presently Hungary has an observer status and according to its plans in the coming years it will reach the full membership status by supporting projects carried out with the cooperation of Hungarian and CG research groups. The membership is a challenge of a consensus to be reached by relevant ministries, NGO’s and all possible stakeholders aiming to participate in the work of the CGIAR by establishing a firm financial background.

The Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has an excellent relationship with CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre of the CGIAR). They are carrying out two programmes together.

Main programmes

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

• Moldova: Training for EU conform plant protection and food safety laboratory operation and maize production methods. Providing support for purchasing modern equipments for phitosanitary examinations.
• Afghanistan: Complex agricultural and aquaculture project (mini waterpower reconstruction, building cold storage and other tools for a more efficient production). Providing training for farmers.
• Vietnam: Training on organic herb production and Extension of Hungarian poultry breeding on tropical climate
• Kosovo: Training on agriculture and aquaculture production
• Laos: Training of researchers from the National Agricultural and Forestry Research Institute in the field of animal breeding and/or aquaculture.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

The multilateral relations are mainly based on the contributions made to the operation of international institutions (for example FAO, WFP, ECPGR). The projects related to the CGIAR GCP programme belong here as well, along with the training of researchers (Thailand, Nigeria). The ministry supported the preparation of a development project (aquaculture in Cambodia) sent a Hungarian researcher to French Guiana and invited researchers from Nigeria and Niger.

The multilateral ARD relations are partly embedded in the above mentioned FAO Scholarship programme which means providing scholarship in Hungarian universities for students from developing countries (Ethiopia, India, Mongolia, Ukraine, Vietnam) and partly related to training of experts.

HAS Agricultural Research Institute

The programme with CIMMYT includes two projects:

1. Seed smoke treatment to favour germination under water stressed conditions
2. Field evaluation of wheat-barley introgression lines under different water regimes.

Science and Technology Cooperation of the National Office for Research and Technology

Hungary has bilateral intergovernmental S&T cooperation relationships with 34 countries at present. NKTH is responsible for implementing these co-operations. The aims of the system of calls for proposals are to find and prepare opportunities for co-operations which have a good opportunity to be giant projects, and to help researchers join international S&T networks and co-operations and to promote their professional carriers.

Funding provided shall cover travel expenses, daily allowance and the costs of project closing seminars of researchers. The usual duration of projects shall be 2 years (or in exceptional cases, if the international partners need, it may be 3-4 years). Calls are published in 12 relations a year, following negotiations with partners obviously with the same submission deadlines.

Funding mechanisms

Donors and Recipients

Country Profile Hungary, ERA-ARD I 2009 - pdf version

pdf (English)