The study investigates the impact of foreign aid on agricultural research in Ethiopia for the period covering 2011-2020. The study revealed that donors’ allocations accounted for an average of 23% of the total funding received by the institute in 2020 in the form of loans and grants. The donor investment in agricultural research has been declining and has experienced negative growth rates over the past 5 years from 33% in 2016 to 23% in 2020. Donors have cut aid funds by 51.3% in 2019, and 84.6% in 2020 as compared to 2018. Besides conducting joint research and financial investment, 65% of the improved germplasm came from donor organizations either for direct release through adaptation research or as parent material. Furthermore, for which data was collected and available, 7.3% of the trained scientists and 57% of the fixed assets purchased were financed by donors. The majority of the projects which granted by donors’ were focused either on short-term goals that are not necessarily aligned with national priorities or on commodities of comparatively limited economic importance to the country. Therefore, a new funding framework is needed whereby government establishes strategic priorities that donors contribute to the country.

Keywords: Donors, Projects, Agricultural Research, Public Research, Investments, Impacts.