Prioritization of options for potato research for development: Results from a global expert survey.

The results from the expert survey presented in this report provide an insight into the perceptions of the potato community of practice about the priorities and needs for potato research and offer evidence about the relative importance of individual research options and constraints

Strategic assessment of research priorities for sweetpotato.

The following report presents an ex‐ante evaluation of priority research options for sweetpotato carried out in the scope of the strategic assessment of research priorities for the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers, and Bananas (RTB). It contains the results from the economic surplus model used for the assessment, which are extended to include estimations of the number of beneficiaries and poverty reduction effects. The report identifies and describes the sweetpotato research options taken into consideration for and included into the assessment. The socioeconomic and technological parameters used as input data for the analysis are described and information on the elicitation process and data sources is provided. Results are presented so as to explain the outputs obtained and interpreted with respect to the relevant differences between research option

Release and adoption of improved sweetpotato varieties in Southeast and South Asia

In this study we close the identified gaps in the existing literature and databases by documenting release and adoption of improved sweetpotato varieties in eight major sweetpotato producing countries in Southeast, South, and East Asia. Methodologically, this study adopts a refined expert elicitation (EE) approach applied in previous projects. EE workshops were used as an inexpensive alternative to the collection of national representative adoption data. An average of 12.67 experts working in the sweetpotato value chain participated in a one-day event to elicit perceived adoption rates and to update release databases. In total, 228 experts attended in 18 workshops held during 2014-2016

Las papas nativas: de ser un cultivo olvidado al boom culinario e innovación de mercado

La producción de papa nativa es una de las estrategias para generar ingresos y mejorar el bienestar para la mayoría de las familias rurales andinas. Un enfoque de desarrollo inclusivo de la cadena de valor desencadenó procesos de innovación en el sector de la papa en el Perú, contribuyendo a las estrategias de desarrollo de los medios de vida de los agricultores andinos y actores de la cadena de mercado, aunque la magnitud específica de los efectos en la reducción de la pobreza aún está por determinarse

User guide to seed regulatory framework analysis and implications for vegetatively propagated crops. RTB User Guide

Farmers who grow vegetatively propagated crops (VPC) face certain limitations in access to seed. Some of these constraints are related to policy, institutions and markets. This user guide describes a tool for conducting seed regulatory framework analysis for VPCs. It addresses quality assurance models (e.g. seed certification) and other regulations that can increase availability and access to quality VPC seed for smallholders. The methods used to collect and analyze the data include literature reviews, analysis of regulatory documents, focus group discussions and validation workshops. Stakeholder consultations through standardized key informant interviews are especially important. The resulting analysis is used to advise policy makers and regulatory bodies

Pathways from research on improved staple crop germplasm to poverty reduction for smallholder farmers

Innovations to improve staple crop germplasm can reduce poverty and otherwise improve farmer livelihoods through complex and multiple pathways. This paper reviews the evidence for one prominent pathway—through increased incomes (in cash and kind) for poor farmers who adopt the technology. An important determinant of poverty reduction is the ability of poor producers to adopt productivity-enhancing varieties, and the paper analyzes recent household-level data from two African countries to examine if poor producers face unique barriers to adoption. A second determinant of poverty reduction is the area available to plant these varieties and whether the intensity of adoption is great enough to significantly reduce poverty. The paper uses a double-hurdle estimation framework to model the adoption/area planted joint decision for maize farmers in Ethiopia and sweet potato farmers in Uganda. The focus of the analysis is the effect of poverty-related variables on adoption/area planted decisions. Farmer wealth, landholding, education, location, and access to support and information services are included to understand how correlates of poverty affect adoption decisions. We find evidence that landholding size is an important barrier to poverty reduction; poor farmers are able to adopt improved varieties, but their intensity is constrained by land availability. In Uganda, farmers at the 95th percentile of adoption area received about $0.13 per person per day from the incremental yield, covering < 50% of the mean household poverty gap. This gain only comes under optimistic assumptions and most adopters do not have sufficient area for the direct income effect to be large. The evidence suggests that direct, short-term impacts of increased productivity to increased income may be limited in magnitude. Nonetheless, we recognize that other, less direct pathways may be important, particularly over longer times. Impacts through indirect pathways are, however, more difficult to measure. This has implications for the design of M&E and the crafting of appropriate targets for outcomes of research on staple crops which should focus perhaps on the other pathways where poverty reduction is more probable