21 research outputs found
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CRP Commissioned External Evaluation of the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Cereals
This external evaluation of the CGIAR Research Programme on Dryland Cereals (hereafter referred to as Dryland Cereals) was conducted with quality assurance support and advice from the Independent Evaluation Arrangement (IEA). It is intended to provide accountability for the progress of the CRP and to generate lessons and recommendations to enhance management decision making and program improvement, and to contribute to the design for the second phase of the program
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IPM for smallholder coffee farmers in Malawi
In the remote hillside farming systems of northern Malawi, coffee is one of the few options for cash cropping. Yields are among the lowest in the world but, despite the low world price for coffee, there is a market for ‘Mzuzu’ coffee because of its high quality. Following on from earlier work to identify the pest constraints, this project promoted control measures within an ICM framework. On-farm demonstrations were used to promote an ICM system based on growing a derivative of the improved variety Catimor 129 (known as Nyika), which is resistant to the two major diseases. On-farm trials to evaluate insecticides led to the approval of fipronil for use on coffee. This project has contributed to the rehabilitation of smallholder coffee in Malawi at a time when the estate sector is abandoning coffee in favour of other crops. The smallholder sector is expanding rapidly with the assistance of the EU, and the SCFT expects the crop to be sufficient to sustain this trade organisation from export levies by 2007. The project has contributed to the sustainability of the sector by promoting ICM for a farming system (coffee × banana intercropping) that is favoured by farmers, and which provides a food crop as well as a cash crop. Work with perennial crops over a relatively short time frame is always challenging, but this research has made significant steps in addressing some of the primary constraints facing Malawian smallholder
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How State Assessments Lead to Vacuous Thinking and Writing
Most states, in their statements about goals for education in the schools, talk about the need for students to learn to be critical thinkers. As part of their writing assessments, most states ask student writers to produce some sort of persuasive writing which the states usually see as involving critical thinking. If we believe that states truly are interested in students' thinking critically, then one would expect to find that the persuasive writing in the testing programs would reflect the concern with critical thinking. An analysis of the test formats (including prompt, test settings, and time available); the criteria for judging the results; and the benchmark papers that demonstrate what the criteria really mean indicates that states are not at all much concerned with critical thinking. Rather, most of the assessments examined appear designed to elicit and reward shoddy, vacuous thinking
CRP-Commissioned External Evaluation of the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Cereals
The evaluation is one of the five CRP commissioned evaluations requested by the CGIAR Fund Council, to assist and inform the planning and approval process for Phase II of the CRPs.
To assist CRPs in this effort, IEA provided quality assurance advice and support, as well as quality validation and review of processes and outputs.
The evaluation team began work in early May 2015: a number of overarching questions were formulated to explore the extent of added value generated by the Dryland Cereals.
1. Does the Dryland Cereals provide an effective framework and procedures for prioritizing research? Is research becoming strategically better focused on development outcomes as well as delivering the long-term high quality scientific research achievements which underpin these?
2. Is the Dryland Cereals generating synergy among centers and improving integration among disciplines and teams? Is knowledge being shared, technologies exchanged and capacity being built across countries and partners?
3. Is Dryland Cereals research becoming better aligned to the needs of smallholder farmers, consumers and other beneficiaries? Are gender and diversity issues being integrated into research planning and implementation and in the articulation of uptake pathways?
4. Is the Dryland Cereals developing a broader range of partnerships which contribute to research outputs and realization of outcomes? Is this adding value and likely to enhance the global benefits from Dryland Cereals research for poor producers and consumers?
5. How has Dryland Cereals managed resources to realize the new vision of the CRP; how have the multiple sources, levels and allocation of funding influenced incentives for bringing about change?
6. Are the governance and management structures, practices and reporting lines of the CRP efficient and effective? Is there clarity and a common understanding of the roles and operational procedures of different components of CRP management within the lead and partner institutions