The CGIAR at a Crossroads: Assessing the role of international agricultural research in poverty alleviation from an innovation systems perspective

Globalization, technical change and migration are changing the dynamics of poverty and food production. These factors, combined with a better understanding of the nature of complex processes, are also changing the nature of scientific research, the roles researchers can play in poverty alleviation and the niches in which the CGIAR can operate. While keeping strong breeding and research programs, the CGIAR should devote increasing resources to better characterize the dynamics of poverty, redefine the networks it will use to promote the use of scientific information to foster innovation, link local innovators and researchers with international scientific networks, and help to build innovative capabilities in developing countries. These capabilities should refer not only to scientific research but also to new ways to support innovation and to design and implement poverty-alleviation programs. Finally, CGIAR researchers should adopt new research methods to better integrate into local and international innovation networks.CGIAR, Innovation, agricultural research, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The CGIAR at a crossroads: assessing the role of international agricultural research in poverty alleviation from an innovation systems perspective

Globalization, technical change and migration are changing the dynamics of poverty and food production. These factors, combined with a better understanding of the nature of complex processes, are also changing the nature of scientific research, the roles researchers can play in poverty alleviation and the niches in which the CGIAR can operate. While keeping strong breeding and research programs, the CGIAR should devote increasing resources to better characterize the dynamics of poverty, redefine the networks it will use to promote the use of scientific information to foster innovation, link local innovators and researchers with international scientific networks, and help to build innovative capabilities in developing countries. These capabilities should refer not only to scientific research but also to new ways to support innovation and to design and implement poverty-alleviation programs. Finally, CGIAR researchers should adopt new research methods to better integrate into local and international innovation networks

IMPACT OF NO-TILL TECHNOLOGIES IN GHANA

In the 1990s, no-till with mulch, a sustainable agricultural alternative, was introduced to Ghanaian farmers through a joint program between the Crops Research Institute in Kusami, Ghana, Sasakawa Global 2000, and the Monsanto Company. The package was disseminated to farmers in the Forest, Transition, and Guinea Savannah Zones, and rapidly adopted. In 2000, it was estimated that 100,000 small-scale farmers practiced no-till on 45,000 hectares of land. This study examines the impact of no-till on farmers who adopted the technology in the three zones, and to a lesser extent, the reasons for non-adoption. The impact of no-till among agrochemical dealers was also evaluated. The report found that no-till brought important changes to farmers using the technology and expanded the market for agrochemicals. It calls for more research on machinery for the technology, crop rotations, and the dynamics of diseases and weed and pest populations. More research on the organization and performance of agrochemical markets is also needed to identify bottlenecks that hamper the dissemination of no-till.Farm Management,

INVESTMENT EFFECTS OF ENDOGENOUS AND EXOGENOUS DEPRECIATION: IMPROVED PASTURES IN URUGUAY

The depreciation rate for capital assets may have endogenous and exogenous components. Change in the exogenous component depends on technological change and/or environmental factors, shifts the production function, and independently affects profitability and investment. Change in the endogenous component does not. These hypotheses are tested using data on Uruguayan grass-legume pastures.Land Economics/Use,

An overview of rural extension in Brazil: the current situation

This document is the result of a series of interviews carried out in November 2012 with extensionists, university professors, researchers, technicians, and extension service coordinators from different states in Brazil. A total of 14 professionals from CATI, ESALQUSP, EMPAER-MT, EMBRAPA, and independent consultants were interviewed. The information shared by those professionals was combined to build a narrative, showing an overview of the current rural extension practices in Brazil

Assessing the role of international agricultural research in poverty alleviation from an innovation systems perspective

Presented at the GLOBELICS 6th International Conference 2008 22-24 September, Mexico City, Mexico.The role of agriculture in development and poverty alleviation, including that of agricultural research, has been reevaluated in recent years (World Bank 2007). The discussion, however, has not yet fully addressed how globalization, migration and new technologies have changed the dynamics of poverty and the organization of science, and what role formal research, including the CGIAR, should play in the new juncture. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is an informal alliance of about 60 international donors (including governments from developed and developing countries, private foundations and multilateral organizations) that support 15 international agricultural research centers. The first two centers in the system (CIMMYT and IRRI) created the high yielding varieties that were a key factor in the Green Revolution. Poverty alleviation has two benchmarks: achieving food security and affording a healthy life. In the past, greater productivity of food crops resulting from input-intensive technologies was seen as the main tool to achieve both goals; this view was supported by the success of the Green Revolution in Asia. This is no longer the case. An increasing share of rural households derive most of their income from off-farm employment (World Bank 2007); for them food security depends more on access to labor markets and on the price of staples than on their own food production. For those households that still rely mostly on staple production, food security still depends on higher yields, but for most of them, it will not be the path out of poverty (see section 2). On the other hand, higher yields can eliminate poverty for those small farmers who can make the transition from subsistence to commercial agriculture. Recent studies seem to indicate, however, that only a small share of rural households can make this transition (Ekboir et al. 2008). The substantial reduction in poverty observed in the last two decades resulted from rapid growth enabled by integration into globalized markets and from remittances from migrants and not from the expansion of staples in small farms (World Bank 2005; IFAD 2008). Commercial agriculture played an important role in this process. Its expansion resulted from the use of commercial and production technologies generated by private firms and sometimes by NGOs. International and public research institutions contributed little to the process. As the limited contribution of public research to agricultural development became evident, donors started to question the effectiveness of their contributions to agricultural research, including the CGIAR and developing countries’ research institutions (Byerlee, Alex and Echeverria 2002). The questions about the CGIAR’s effectiveness also reflected a better understanding of the links between formal research and innovation. The literature on innovation processes and the theories of complexity have shown the limitations of the linear vision of science, and have identified new instruments to foster economic and social development. For several reasons, however, the CGIAR has not been successful enough in adapting to the new environment. First, in contrast to what happened fifty years ago, there is no clear model of what role modern technologies should play in development, in particular, because there are no clear recipes for development (Rodrik 2006). Second, it has been accepted that the joint dynamics of agriculture and poverty have changed (see section 2), but it is not clear what role the CGIAR should play in poverty alleviation. Third, because the CGIAR is composed of a large number of actors, each with his/her own agenda, it is difficult to agree on and implement substantial changes in a system with diffuse governance mechanisms. Fourth, the CGIAR’s existence was justified as a source of international public goods. When the linear model of science was shown to be incorrect, the idea of scientific public goods as a source of economic growth was also questioned (see section 3.3). The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews the new dynamics of agriculture, especially the impacts of globalization, high value markets and remittances. Section 3 examines some recent advances in the literature of innovation systems and complexity theories, while section 4 presents a stylized picture of changes in research systems. Section 5 discusses the CGIAR’s current role and section 6 presents some ideas to adapt the system to the needs of twenty first century agriculture

Knowing what research organizations actually do, with whom, where, how and for what purpose: Monitoring research portfolios and collaborations

Peer Revie

Monitoring the composition and evolution of the research networks of the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB)

Several tools have been developed in the last three decades to manage not-for-profit research activities. Most of these tools have focused on research outputs or outcomes, while few have analysed the processes of research and innovation to identify emerging problems and opportunities during the course of a project. This brief presents a cost-effective methodology that can be used to monitor changes in research networks. Since these networks change as the research projects mature (Kratzer, Gemuenden and Lettl, 2008), tracking the network structure provides information on the nature and evolution of research activities

Algunas reflexiones respecto a los sistemas de innovación en la era de la globalización

El presente trabajo es un borrador de discusión sobre aspectos vinculados a las definiciones de los sistemas de innovación y su rol en el desarrollo económico, considerando que es esencial la profundización de estos tópicos en la formulación de políticas públicas referidas a esta temática. El documento intenta además brindar un aporte al capítulo teórico del proyecto “ANALISIS DE IRRADIACIONES NACIONALES E INTERNACIONALES DE TECNOLOGÍAS, ECONOMÍAS DE TAMAÑO Y ECONOMÍAS DE DIVERSIDAD” cuya dirección está a cargo del Dr. Javier Ekboir del Programa de Economía del CIMMyT y del cual participa el Instituto de Economía y Sociología del INTA junto a otros Institutos Nacionales de Investigación Agropecuaria de América Latina. Como en el resto de los documentos difundidos por el IES, nos proponemos comunicar los avances logrados de forma tal de poder compartir los resultados alcanzados y dar lugar a sugerencias, comentarios y debates que enriquezcan nuestra labor y la de nuestros asociados.Instituto de Economía y SociologíaFil: Ekboir, Javier. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMyT); ArgentinaFil: Parellada, Gabriel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Economía y Sociología; Argentin