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Coalitions and the Organization of Multiple-Stakeholder Action: A Case Study of Agricultural Research and Extension in Rajasthan, India
(1998) Alsop, Ruth
"Decentralization implies an increase in the number of stakeholders involved in the design and implementation of interventions. This paper draws upon the experience of a multi-stakeholder program in India which has sought to increase the contribution of rainfed agriculture to rural household's economic portfolios. The strategy has been one of enhancing government research and extension service provision through collaboration and coalition building between NGOs and government line departments. Evidence from the last four years demonstrates that coalitions are appropriate vehicles for managing interaction among multiple and diverse organizations. However, as fluid entities without permanent governance systems, coalitions require formalized support mechanisms to function effectively. The value to project designers and policy makers of this paper lies primarily in the description and analysis of the 'nested' organizational support system which developed to fulfill the every day needs of the coalition in Rajasthan. Its secondary value lies in the discussion of conceptual and practical aspects of building and supporting coalitions."
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Client Participation in Agricultural Research: A Case Study from Ghana
(1997) Magrath, Priscilla; Compton, Julia; Ofosu, Anthony; Motte, Felix
"Paper 74b focuses on the costs and benefits of the various different activities within this project, notably the participatory versus the non-participatory elements. It presents a detailed assessment of the relative costs and contribution to meeting project goals of each research activity undertaken. This disaggregation of research activities in turn makes the potential complexity of a project such as this -- which in project terms was relatively well-bounded -- apparent and thus underscores the need for effective research management."
Definition of Homogenous Groundnut Production Domains: A Tool to Assess Transferability and Spillover Effects from ICRISAT Groundnut Technologies
(2011) Mausch, K.; Bantilan, M. C. S.
"Sustained, well-targeted, and effectively used investments in agricultural R&D improved productivity worldwide and thereby contributed to food security. In this context, research spillover effects refer to situations in which a technology that is developed for a specific target region or product is also applicable to other locations or products that are not targeted during the research process. The focus of this paper is the definition of homogenous zones (domains) as the basis to distinguish target from non target regions of dissemination and therefore enable delineating spillover effects from technology transfers that occur within the initial target region. Efforts to quantify these effects have shown that the contribution of spillover effects to the overall impact can be substantial at times. To maximize their impact, the thorough understanding, separation and quantification of transfers and spillover effects emerging from past research is one important tool in the priority setting process of international research institutions like the CGIAR centers. Based on methodologies developed by Davis et al 1987 and others, this paper enhances the measurement of transferability along agroclimatic homogenous domains for groundnut research. After illustrating the basis for the transferability measurement, the application of the concept is outlined along the example of ICRISAT groundnut variety ICGV 87123. Results show that the transferability between African and Asian locations is higher than the former domains depicted based on agroclimatic similarities across the locations. Nevertheless, actual transfers are lower possibly due to differences in market structure, governance factors and other socioeconomic factors. To overcome these bottlenecks through new innovations along the research continuum as well as along the commodity value chain is crucial in order to achieve higher impact from the funds invested and therefore increase the poverty reduction impact from ICRISAT research."
The Erosion of Crop Genetic Diversity: Challenges, Strategies and Uncertainties
(1996) Tripp, Robert; Van der Heide, Wieneke
"Within the past decade the concept of biodiversity has passed from the domain of academic specialists to the widespread attention of the popular press. The general public and policy makers are increasingly aware of the scope and seriousness of the disappearance of the earths genetic heritage. Although much of the debate focuses on animals and wild plant species, there is growing recognition that the diversity of cultivated crop species has vastly diminished, affecting the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers and threatening the future of agricultural development. A number of proposals and policy initiatives are being discussed to address the problem, including preparations for a global plan of action for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources which will be presented at the 4th International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources, to be held under FAO auspices in Leipzig in June 1996. This paper describes the challenges to crop genetic diversity, presents some of the strategies that are being implemented to reverse the erosion of that diversity, outlines several gaps in our knowledge that must be addressed in order to make such strategies more effective, and concludes with some policy implications."
Farmer and Community Organizations in Agricultural Research and Extension: Functions, Impacts and Questions
(1994) Bebbington, Anthony; Merrill-Sands, Deborah; Farrington, John
"Many efforts have been made to introduce institutional and methodological changes intended to make agricultural research and extension programmes more responsive to the needs of small scale producers. Yet evaluations of these initiatives suggest that in the absence of sustained political and social pressure from and on behalf of small scale producers, agricultural development institutions are unlikely to become more accountable or demand responsive. "The paper concentrates on the role that farmers' organisations can play in exercising this pressure. Drawing on the early findings of a joint ISNAR/ODI research programme, the paper examines the conditions under which strong farmers' organisations can emerge. These conditions derive from both the external and the internal environment of these organisations. The paper then presents an analytical and methodological framework that can be used when examining the strength of farmers' organisations and the potential for effective links between them and research institutions. "The paper identifies different types of farmer organisations and the roles they play in research priority setting and planning, technology development, processing and input supply in relation to public sector and non-governmental organisations. It reviews the main strengths and weaknesses of farmers' organisations in performing these roles. These qualities are related to determining factors in the social, political and economic context and in the organisational and managerial structure of the organisations. This analysis provides a framework of issues that need to be addressed in any effort to work with and support these organisations as more effective means of pressuring, and working as partners with agricultural research institutions. In addition, a review of the experience and evolution of farmers' organisations in today's industrialised countries, and of organisations of large farmers in developing countries, will identify issues that need to be addressed in any effort to understand the nature and potentials of small farmer organisations."
Financing of Agricultural Research and Extension for Smallholder Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
(1996) Beynon, Jonathan
"A range of options exist for public sector research and extension (R&E) institutions to alleviate growing financial constraints. Those that seek to make more effective use of existing resources, by making them more user-oriented and demand-responsive, are at least as important as those which seek to reduce the scope of state financing in areas where the private sector may be willing to participate or beneficiaries to pay. Most can have a positive impact in terms of fiscal, efficiency and distributional objectives. An important finding is that the scope for increased private or user financing of R&E is probably much greater than is widely recognised, although those removed from mainstream markets subsistence farmers in particular will remain largely reliant on public R&E services. In defining the most appropriate nature of the relationship between the public and private sectors, economic and institutional analysis have much to offer."
Forestry Research within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(1994) Sayer, Jeffrey A.
"The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is an informal consortium of more than 40 donor agencies, together with representatives of developing countries, elected through the FAO regional agricultural commissions. CGIAR was established in 1971 to support a system of agricultural research around the world."
Global Programme on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis for Technology Development and Organisational Innovation
(1997) Systemwide Programme on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis
"The aim of this paper is to introduce a programme which brings a number of the international agricultural research centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research together to collaborate with of a variety of other institutions including national agricultural research institutes and non-governmental organisations. The programme will attempt to advance the methodological development and institutionalisation of participatory research and gender analysis (PR/GA). It will, however, take a critical approach to the range of participatory methods currently in use and it lays great emphasis on measuring impact and cost effectiveness. An important goal is to disseminate strategic methods and institutional innovations to the full range of agricultural and natural resource research and development practitioners and to improve the efficiency of the agricultural research system itself."
In Search of Higher Ground: The Intellectual Property Challenge to Public Agricultural Research and Human Rights and 28 Alternative Initiatives
(2000) Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI)
"Given their current governance structure, CGIAR has neither the competence nor the accountability to be entrusted with intellectual property (IP) or public/private policy decisions. Immersed in their work and the struggle to survive, they have taken the path of least resistance and followed the IP trail. RAFI suggests at least 28 specific policy initiatives that the public sector should consider as alternatives to IP."
L'Agriculture en Asie du Sud-Est: L'Expérience Vietnamienne
(1997) Thông, Trân Thê
"Agricultural in South-East Asia: The Vietnamese experience."
Managing Applied Research: Experiences From a Post-Harvest Pest Control Project in Ghana
(1997) Compton, Julia
"The aim of this paper is to make some suggestions about improving the management of applied agricultural research projects in order to improve the speed and quality of benefits to farmers. Factors influencing research success are described under four headings: choice of objectives and approach to work; choice of research methods; project organisation and management; and liaison with other organisations. Examples are given from the experience of the Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture/UK Overseas Development Administration Larger Grain Borer (LGB) Project, a recently completed three-year postharvest project with a 25-person team."
Portfolio Theory of Technological Change: Reconceptualising Farming Systems Research
(1997) Gupta, Anil K.
"I argue in the paper that in high risk environments the high degree of ecological variability makes it well nigh impossible that traditional models of extension be used. In any case there is not much to transfer. At the same time farmers have been trying to survive in these regions some how. It is true that with worsening of prospects of their survival, their household portfolios have been shifted towards some of the environment degrading resource mix. Survival in the short term takes precedence over the long term sustainability of resources. It is for this reason I have argued that portfolio approach is necessary for developing a viable approach to fsr and extension in high risk regions."
Princípios de Boas Práticas e Gestão Ambiental na Avaliação da Qualidade de Sementes
(2010) Gonçalves, Madaleine Santiago; Pompeu de Sousa, Rita de Cássia; Smiderle, Oscar José
"O objeto deste estudo foi as sementes de Bowdichia virgilioides Kunt, conhecida como paricarana. É uma espécie arbórea da família Fabaceae (Leguminosae), de ampla dispersão pelo Brasil, com maior ocorrência nas regiões Norte, Nordeste e Centro-Oeste. Com características de plantas pioneiras, é uma espécie ornamental, adaptável a solos pobres e com potencial para a produção apícola. Estudou-se o processo de avaliação da qualidade de semente de B. virgilioides em laboratório, com enfoque qualitativo e quantitativo nos tipos de resíduos gerados, na utilização, no tratamento para a inertização dos resíduos e no teste de germinação para avaliação da qualidade dessas sementes em laboratório. A partir dos resultados obtidos da qualidade das sementes de B. virgilioides de duas procedências do Estado de Roraima, verificou-se, quanto à viabilidade de plântulas normais pelo teste de germinação em laboratório, que se obteve 92,5% para o Taiano e 92,3% para o Bonfim, concluindo-se que é possível avaliar a qualidade de sementes de B. virgilioides com a reutilização do ácido sulfúrico oriundo da escarificação das sementes e também aproveitar as plântulas, resíduos biológicos, para o desenvolvimento de mudas florestais."
Public Plant Breeding in an Era of Privatisation
(2000) Tripp, Robert; Byerlee, Derek
"Both agricultural research and national seed systems are undergoing increasing privatisation. Although there are a number of possibilities for making public agricultural research more efficient and better able to interact with the private sector, the major opportunities are in plant breeding. This paper examines the possibilities and limitations associated with revenue generation through public plant breeding; the opportunities for moving the products of public plant breeding through the private sector; and the need for increased contacts with, and contributions from, private research."
Research Partnerships: Issues, Lessons, Results and Dreams for Sustainable Development
(1997) Castillo, Gelia T.
"This paper examines the need for and the nature of partnerships in agricultural research. Most of these, it maintains, are North-South partnerships. Though increasing South-South collaboration has been evident over the past decade, South-South partnerships are usually dependent for funding on northern countries which makes them vulnerable in the longer term. South-South partnerships are also less likely to find themselves at the cutting edge of scientific thought which makes it important that South-based institutions continue to partner with their counterparts in the North. The paper argues that so long as adequate attention is devoted to defining the terms of partnership and choosing the 'right' partner, research partnerships can yield enormous benefits. It takes the view that many 'sins' have been committed in past partnerships but that we should be able to learn from these. It also maintains that partnerships between the 'strong' and the 'weak' are possible so long as both sides recognise what they can gain from partnerships and that this accords with their overall institutional priorities. Finally, it gives some examples of successful partnerships and suggests that many of the characteristics of these are not pre-conditions but are aspirations which can be pursued through the lifetime of the partnership itself."

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