How CIAT’s climate research informs and influences decision making in IFAD and the cocoa and coffee sector globally: An outcomes validation report

Programs and projects are implemented to produce results that are beneficial to sustainable societal wellbeing (both human and environmental). These results are used to demonstrate the project’s progress and performance and they are varied but their documentation is critical in order to demonstrate progression towards or the extent to which the ultimate goal has been or is being reached. The variation stems from the way the project’s logic model or impact pathway is designed but the most fundamental categories are the outputs, outcomes and impacts. The definitions or descriptions of what these mean has been a subject of many discourses but it is now generally agreed that outputs are what a project delivers (from its activities), outcomes are how these outputs are used, and impacts are the long term change in state as a result of the outcomes. Projects are designed to deliver outcomes that can influence impacts that indicate their goals have been or are being realized. In this case, outcomes are described as ‘behavioral changes’ in stakeholders that will have an effect on the target impacts. They are usually not in direct control of a project (unlike outputs) but the program has a greater chance of influencing their nature if they are well targeted. Performance evaluation of projects then strives to analyse and document these outcomes. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and its partners, under the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) have and are conducting extensive research around four pillars of climate change: Climate Smart Agriculture Practices, Climate Risk Management, Low Emission Agriculture, Policies and Institutions and Gender and Social Inclusion. The information is now being used by next-users of the research. These research results are expected to inform and guide decision-making among key actors that will support the growth of sustainable agriculture adapted to climate change. CIAT has been interested in confirming these outcomes using a detailed validation study of the reported outcomes in key actors

Pedagogy and adult training: A trainer’s manual

This manual, to be used to train adult participants, is designed with features to help overcome the challenges faced in delivering such training service. For one it promotes interactive, experience-based, practical and impact-oriented approaches based on various experiences. This involves role plays, hands-on exercises and training materials that are designed for trainers to deliver the service effectively. The course is based on case studies and shared learning from a large number of developing countries with agriculture, climate change and animal science focus. The training manual is divided into seven sessions. Session 1 defines adult learning; Session 2 explains the principles of designing and planning of a training program; Session 3 describes the course introductory session; Session 4 elaborates on guidelines for effective teaching styles for adults; Session 5 explains the different styles involved in adult training; Session 6 describes training aids or materials that can be used to support the training; and Session 7 covers the steps to be taken to evaluate and measure the impact of an adult training course. Each manual session has four parts to facilitate its use as a practical training guide, whereby each session can be implemented as a stand-alone course. The first part of a session gives a summarized introduction of the session. The second part contains session guide, objectives to be achieved and the training activities and requirements. The third part of each session contains slides that can be used in plenary presentation. The fourth part contains detailed notes to be used by the trainer or given out to the course participants. Each session then ends with a list of references used and recommended reading. The manual’s goal is to strengthen trainers and their faculties’ capacities to design, disseminate (or conduct) and evaluate the impact of adult trainings forums and their development as ‘Trainer of Trainers’

How an improved knowledge and information system can support productivity and livelihoods in the smallholder dairy sector.

The Smallholder Dairy Project (SDP) carried out a short study into the knowledge and information systems of Kenya’s smallholder dairy sector. The rationale was that by understanding and catalyzing reform of this system, SDP would not only enhance the impact of its own research outputs, but would lead to a long-lasting improvement in the impacts of research and other information relevant to the sub-sector. The RAAKS (Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Knowledge Systems) approach was used, involving a range of participatory approaches through workshops and semi-structured interviews, at national and local level. Key findings included poor co-ordination between the many public, private and NGO actors in the knowledge system, and problems in the regulation of privately provided information that limited farmers’ ability to access information to improve productivity. Options to improve the system and the linkages were explored through key informant workshops

Research that matters: Outcome mapping for linking knowledge to poverty-reduction actions

An 'Outcome Mapping' approach was applied retrospectively to five diverse, highly collaborative research projects aimed at poverty reduction. Designed to help plan for, clarify, and document intended and actual changes in behaviour, actions, and relationships of groups and organisations that directly influence a project's intended beneficiaries, Outcome Mapping enabled us to identify and describe the strategies and actions that played important roles in the innovations achieved. Successful strategies observed included the use of champions, jointly producing high-profile outputs that enhanced the status of local partners, multiple communication strategies, targeting ongoing policy processes, and strong emphases on and investment in capacity building

Factors influencing farmer-to-farmer extension of forage legume technology

Forage legumes have been introduced to farmers in Central Kenya between 1980 and 2002 through various Institutional and Projects’ efforts. The adoption rate of these forages among farmers has been found to be rather low, with the NDDP reporting only 1.9 % of farms surveyed and an ICRAF report indicating that the technology was only reaching 1 % of smallholder farms. An evaluation of adoption of Calliandra and Desmodium was conducted to identify farm characteristics affecting the likelihood of sharing of Desmodium and Calliandra technologies as well as to characterise the spread or diffusion of the technology from the original contact groups and the effect of distance from those groups. Three groups of farmers were approached. A first generation who received planting material from the distributors, a second generation who received planting materials from the former, and a randomly selected group of farmers at various distances from the first contacts. Informal discussions were held with the farmers and formal questionnaires filled. Out of the 133 first generation farmers contacted 64.7% still had Desmodium and 89.5% still had Calliandra. More farms in the contact sub-locations had the plants than the sub-locations further away. The small sample size of those with the forages could not allow effect of distance to be worked out. Tobit estimates of effects of farmer attributes influencing sharing of planting materials shows that the status of the household head in the community positively affected the likelihood of giving out planting material. The technology has a rather slow spread as indicated by percentages of farms with the forages. For better adoption and spread proponents of the technology should have the technology introduced to farmers who have substantial positions in farmer groups or have been bestowed community responsibility