Program Data Sheet
933-011

CENTRAL OPERATING UNIT: Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade: Economic Growth and Agricultural Development Office (EGAT/EGAD)
PROGRAM TITLE: Mid-East Research Cooperation
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE AND NUMBER: Increased Technical Cooperation Among Middle Eastern, Developing Countries, and the United States, 933-011
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $3,500,000 DA
PROPOSED FY 2003 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $3,500,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 2002      ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2010

Summary: This special science and technology program includes three activities:

• the U.S.-Israel Cooperative Development Research (CDR) Program, a competitive grants program funding collaborative research projects involving scientists from Israel working with counterparts in developing countries on topics relevant to developing-country needs;
• the Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) Program, a competitive research grants program specifically focused on promoting the collaboration of Arab and Israeli scientists on topics relevant to development in the Middle East region; and
• The U.S.-Israel Cooperative Development Program (CDP), a core grant to the State of Israel to partially fund its own general foreign assistance programs.

Inputs, Outputs and Activities: FY 2002 Program: USAID will fund (contingent upon ESF apportionment from the Department of State) the three component activities under this objective, as described below.

The CDR Program funds collaborative research grants awarded on a competitive, peer-reviewed basis. Proposals are developed jointly by scientists from Israel and their counterparts in developing countries to address technical problems relevant to the developing country partner. U.S. scientists are also eligible to participate as third parties. Projects are selected based upon technical merit, innovation, relevance to development, and the ability to strengthen the research capacity of developing-country institutions, which receive a substantial portion of each grant. Approximately 70 projects are presently active in about 25 countries, and the maximum grant size is $200,000.

The MERC Program awards competitive grants for collaborative research involving scientists from Israel and one or more other Middle Eastern countries. U.S. scientists may also participate in a supporting technical role; however, all projects are required to demonstrate significant levels of direct Arab-Israeli cooperation. The program uses external peer-review panels to provide expert technical advice to a USAID/U.S. Department of State selection committee. Selection is based on the degree of Arab-Israeli cooperation, relevance to development, technical merit/innovation, and merit of approach (management, costs, capacity strengthening, and sustainability). Nearly 30 MERC projects are presently active. The maximum grant size is $3 million, but much smaller projects are encouraged. Despite conflict in the region, nearly all MERC projects are functioning well, and applicant interest remains strong.

The CDP provides core funding to MASHAV, the international aid unit of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. MASHAV uses its USAID funding (cash transfer) primarily to train developing country personnel; both in Israel and their home countries, in fields such as irrigated crop production, dairy management, and a variety of health, small business, and rural development topics. Model farms and other Israeli technology demonstration activities are also funded.

Planned FY 2003 Program: FY 2003 resources requested in this Budget Justification will be used to continue the CDR, CDP, and MERC programs. USAID will continue to manage CDR and MERC as open, competitive grant programs utilizing external peer review advice and emphasizing developmental relevance and sustainable capacity strengthening of scientists and research institutions in developing countries. In MERC, maximizing direct Arab-Israeli cooperation will remain a major criterion for selecting projects. The CDP has met its goal of helping to introduce the Israeli model of development throughout the world, and, therefore, USAID and MASHAV are phasing-out the ongoing program and will transition to a new partnership. The new arrangement will be managed at the country level, with potential joint ventures identified by MASHAV and individual field missions considered for U.S. funding by the missions as they fit within the strategic objectives for each country. As agreed, FY 2003 is to be the last year of the CDP core grant.

The effectiveness of all three programs in FY 2003, particularly MERC, will depend upon the broader political situation in the Middle East region, as well as the willingness of participants to engage in cooperation in the face of these concerns. Despite the general situation in the region deteriorating significantly since September 2000, interest in MERC and Arab-Israeli technical cooperation remain strong, as demonstrated by the fact that the program received over 40 pre-proposals in FY 2001 for new activities - - more than it could possibly fund.

Performance and Results: This FY 02 SO has been preceded by a similar objective; results reported are for the old objective. USAID funding catalyzed cooperation that otherwise would not have occurred and enabled Israeli development assistance to take root in more than 50 developing countries. Results to date from CDR and MERC research include advances in saline and dry lands agriculture, improved agricultural water management technology, improved biological pest management, and an increased understanding of emerging diseases and threats to the environment. The level of direct cooperation on CDR and MERC funded projects, as measured by the number of jointly authored publications in professional technical journals, indicates the forging of collegial relationships between researchers in Israel and their counterparts in Jordan, Egypt, West Bank/Gaza, Morocco, and throughout the developing world. Through FY 2000, exchanges of scientists and students among Middle Eastern countries also increased, as evidenced by the number of meetings and workshops held per year in those countries more than doubling from 1998 to 2000. CDP continued to fund training courses for people from developing countries, in their own countries and in Israel, as well as the demonstration of Israeli technology. The number of CDP-funded trainees will gradually diminish as U.S. core funding to MASHAV is reduced, but it has been minimized thus far due to a more rapid reduction in the more costly demonstration projects.

Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: The Government of Israel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs administers CDP as part of its own foreign assistance portfolio. CDR and MERC grants are awarded to Israeli and U.S. research institutions, which, in turn, make sub-grants to their collaborating partner institutions. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences assists USAID in the peer review of proposals for CDR and MERC, as well as in the monitoring of technical performance reports. After selection by USAID, all CDR grants and most MERC grants of $1 million or less are negotiated and awarded by the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, which also provides non-technical oversight services for these grants as part of an interagency agreement.

US Financing in Thousands of Dollars