4.1. Background
4.2. Regional Fora and Global Forum
4.3. TAC Commissioned Studies
4.4. Conclusions
The TAC priorities and strategies exercise gave careful attention to the recently established regional fora of NARS, and the Global Forum on the NARS/CGIAR Partnership held at ICW96. The views of NARS on the CGIAR's future priorities on commodities and production sectors were also sought through a questionnaire. A synthesis of the discussions at the regional fora and the Global Forum, and an analysis of responses to the questionnaires, are presented in section 4.2.
Additionally, TAC took into account the specially commissioned inter-centre review of rice (1992); the stripe study of genetic resources in the CGIAR (1993); the CGIAR commitments in West Africa (1994); the inter-centre review of root and tuber crops (1995); the study of public policy and public management research (1995); the study on institution strengthening research and service (1995); soil and water aspects of natural resources management research (1995), and harvest and postharvest research in the CGIAR (1996). The main conclusions of these studies are summarized in section 4.3.
4.2.1. Introduction
4.2.2. Sub-Saharan Africa
4.2.3. West Asia-North Africa
4.2.4. Asia
4.2.5. Latin America and the Caribbean
The regional fora have come into existence as an integral part of the Outline Action Plan, proposed by NARS and endorsed by the CGIAR, to strengthen the NARS-CGIAR relationship in the area of priority setting and beyond. NARS involvement at the centre level is fundamental for centres' work and achievements. However, the involvement of NARS at higher CGIAR level is now considered to be a prerequisite in ensuring that the partnership concept permeates the NARS/CGIAR relationship at all levels. To this end, a Global Forum on NARS/CGIAR partnership was organized at ICW96.
At ICW94, it was decided to hold a NARS meeting in December 1994 in Rome. This was attended by several TAC members and a presentation was made on the CGIAR research agenda. This was followed by the Lucerne Declaration in February 1995 which endorsed the concept of a broader partnership with developing countries and their NARS, and encouraged the transition from a donor-client relationship to an equal-partners approach that would systemize the participation of NARS in setting and implementing the CGIAR research agenda. The NARS/CGIAR Partnership Initiative which was set up at the MTM95 in Nairobi, produced the Outline Action Plan which was endorsed at ICW95 by NARS and the CGIAR.
Subsequently, four NARS regional fora (and sub-regional fora) held inaugural meetings which were attended by TAC Members. The outcome of the meetings was reported to the Jakarta MTM in May 1996, at the Preparatory Meeting for the Global Forum on the NARS-CGIAR Partnership. This led to the draft agenda for the Global Forum scheduled for ICW96. The regional fora met again in August 1996 to prepare an action plan for consideration at the Global Forum. The Plan called for a farmer-centred research agenda, a strategy which TAC endorses for national programmes.
Concurrently, TAC has taken action on four fronts. First, in March 1995, TAC commissioned a strategic study on "The Future Role of the CGIAR in the Development of National Agricultural Research Systems: Institution Strengthening Research and Services", which was discussed by the Committee at its 68th meeting. Secondly, TAC submitted a discussion note at ICW95 on "NARS as a Factor in Priority Setting". Thirdly, through a short paper, questionnaires and discussions that took place at the regional fora, TAC sought the opinion of participants regarding future CGIAR commodity and activity priorities. TAC views the initial fora as the opening round of interactions feeding into its priorities and strategies, and expects an ongoing dialogue with NARS on priority setting and, in the future, on other themes. Finally, TAC presented its preliminary recommendations on CGIAR priorities and strategies to the Group at MTM96, and participated in, and took note of, the outcome of the Preparatory Meeting for the Global Forum and the Global Forum.. A brief synthesis of the discussions at the regional fora and the Global Forum, and an analysis of responses to the questionnaires, is provided later in this Chapter.
The study on institution strengthening acknowledges that NARS components related to centres' mandates have become stronger, and sees the emergence of regional groupings of NARS as a positive development that can facilitate the further strengthening of centres' efforts. Against this background, TAC's discussion note to ICW95 highlighted the issue of division of labour vis-à-vis the envisaged role of NARS as alternative sources of supply for research. TAC concluded that there is a need to strengthen NARS capabilities in policy and NRM research, both in terms of trained scientists and institutional capacities. However, given the current support available from other sources for NARS, TAC considered that the CGIAR should continue to assist NARS principally through collaborative research and by providing research management support and access to its products..
A preliminary analysis of the replies to the TAC questionnaire showed varying responses. This is probably due to the differences between NARS from different regions; then-knowledge of the CGIAR as a System (information appears to be closely linked to specific centres); and to differences in the institutional make-up of NARS. The need for closer interaction between agriculture, forestry and fisheries organizations is quite apparent. Also, in some cases it seems evident that NARS are just beginning to become oriented with one another at regional levels and that priority setting is more advanced at sub-regional levels.
At the Preparatory Meeting of the Global Forum there was a general endorsement of the goals of the CGIAR, and a recognition that emphasis on increased productivity and production remained a high priority of NARS. The greater transparency in TAC's CGIAR priority-setting was welcomed, as was further interaction with TAC to resolve remaining differences. Emphasis was given to the need to increase training as part of NARS capacity building and the CGIAR was urged to provide more training, particularly on advanced technologies, to complement the assistance offered by universities, the private sector and stronger NARS.
One point mentioned as being a matter of concern was the growing gap in electronic communications technology between NARS and centres and the need for NARS to gain wider access to new research technologies and databanks was supported. In addition, the importance of collaboration with farmers and extension services in order to carry forward technology generation through dissemination and adoption, was emphasized. It was also felt that this was an area where partnership with NGOs at the national level could have particular benefit.
The brief report of the Regional Forum meeting in Kampala stressed the need for the involvement of sub-Saharan African NARS in the process of setting research priorities and strategies. More specifically, the questions of recognition of sub-Saharan Africa's regional importance, and the methodology for priority setting, should be addressed thoroughly. One of the major outcomes of more collaboration between NARS and IARCs would be to fully exploit research synergy and reach a higher degree of resource-utilization efficiency.
The responses to the questionnaire by the four sub-regional NARS apex organizations suggest that the current CGIAR activities should change slightly in favour of stronger activities to strengthen NARS and a slight reduction in the germplasm enhancement and breeding activities which are part of the broader activity related to productivity increases. On future commodity priorities, the questionnaires revealed a preference for commodities which are important for the poor (producers or consumers), and where research has a high probability of success. These commodities would have a high impact potential on improving the welfare of the rural poor, in assuring regional food security and in improving soil and water conservation.
At the Global Forum, the sub-Saharan African NARS elaborated on a range of actions required to bring about lasting solutions to Africa's problems. Human capital must be developed in order to build the partnerships needed. Priorities need to be identified clearly at the national level and then matched across countries, so that constraints common to similar agroecological zones and farming systems on the continent can be identified and addressed in a more effective and collective manner. Research programmes must be formulated and resources sourced and pooled to ensure effective collaboration. Although international resources are very important they are not sufficient, therefore, local resources, available within countries and the region, must also be identified. Finally, collaborative research programmes should be implemented together with monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
Problems requiring immediate attention were: technology transfer, product development and diversification, and policy reforms. Technology transfer is needed to close the gap between significant advances obtained on a research station or by a good farmer and the productivity obtained by the average farmer. The issue of technology transfer must be addressed at both the national and international level, to enable farmers to move from where they are now to where they could be; frequently, this does not require sophisticated technologies. Product development and diversification is needed for areas where the technologies available are not applied because farmers are already producing more of the crop than they can use. Opportunities for policy reforms are abundant across Africa.
It was emphasized that Africa's problems must be solved by scientific solutions. The greatest need is to build partnerships to achieve either better products or the same products at less cost or in less time. Partnerships must be forged at all levels: first, within countries among national agricultural research institutes, universities, NGOs, private-sector institutions, farmers and others; secondly, among NARS to form subregional research organizations, and eventually regional research organizations, to tackle common problems; and thirdly, Africa must link more closely with the CGIAR centres, ARIs, public-sector research institutions and other international organizations. Existing partnerships should first be strengthened and then broadened. Progress has already been made; the three existing sub-regional organizations - SACCAR, CORAF and ASARECA - form the foundation for a regional organization at the continent level and many countries are already working closely with the centres.
The meeting of WANA NARS, held at Aleppo, stressed the importance of regional NARS collaborating with the TAC-led process of defining and setting priorities. Ideally the mechanism should consist of a bottom-up process whereby NARS identify national and sub-regional priorities to be brought together in regional and global priorities by the apex organization AARINENA. The WANA NARS emphasized that they should be involved not only in the setting of research priorities but also in the identification and formulation of research programmes. Overall, the implementation of the collective views of WANA NARS was the ultimate goal of collaboration.
The WANA NARS meeting was divided into five sub-regional working groups, which each analyzed the TAC handout on CGIAR priority and strategy setting. They also defined their own priorities in a matrix form and the CGIAR activities were all ranked fairly high. However, the matrix prepared by the sub-regional working groups showed that within the CGIAR commodity programmes cereals have the highest priority and cash crops (tree crops, horticulture) are considered the next most important group of commodities.
WANA NARS stressed that achieving food security, protecting natural resources and developing export markets were the goals to be achieved through research. With regard to future CGIAR research, the major selection criteria for commodities are the on-farm value of production, the welfare of the rural poor, regional food security, soil and water conservation and the utilization of marginal lands. Export earnings, which were rated as being a paramount objective in terms of development of export markets in the WANA NARS report, were ranked as being of only medium importance for commodity selection. The participants at the meeting affirmed that a re-examination of priorities may be necessary in the context of changing international trade laws.
At the Global Forum, the WANA NARS considered the major challenges faced by the region to be a rapid population growth rate of 2.7 percent annually, a fragile natural-resource base and the largest quantity of food imports in the developing world. In the WANA region 70% of the land area is desert or semi-desert and in 60 % of countries irrigated land does not exceed 15% of total cultivated area. Key issues that need to be addressed include the allocation of resources to rainfed agriculture relative to irrigated lands, and improving crop productivity to achieve the necessary increases in food production, without the further depletion of the natural-resource base.
The strengths of the region were emphasized. The WANA region is well known for its diversity of genetic resources of important cultivated species and farmers and stock breeders have a long history of experience in irrigation, pasture management and general fanning. There is potential for increased research capacity and for enhanced partnerships among NARS in the region, as well as for greater interaction with developed countries, particularly in the Mediterranean region, and with developing countries in Asia and Africa. CGIAR centres are valuable sources for new technologies and play a key role in genetic resources conservation, training, the upgrading of management capabilities, and the fostering networking in the region. AARINENA plays a significant role in fostering partnerships among NARS in the region and the exchange of experience and information, as well as developing agricultural research and strengthening linkages among national, regional, and international research centres and organizations.
The WANA region places high priority on capacity building and priority-setting at national, sub-regional and regional levels. In terms of capacity building, emphasis is placed on human-resources development, information management, biotechnology and NRM. Training in both research and management which address regional needs is needed. In addition, information management strategies and upgraded information systems are required to effectively manage the flow of information at local, national and regional levels, and to bridge the information gap to enable scientists in the region to exchange information with their counterparts around the world.
Integrated research and development and management strategies also need to be established and capacities for biotechnology and NRM upgraded. In terms of priority setting, emphasis is placed on the development of sustainable production systems for rainfed agriculture of arid, semi-arid and high-elevation systems, the management and efficient use of water, diversification of cropping systems to include both CGIAR mandated crops and other crops of importance in the region, and the sharing of responsibilities through networking and collaborative research programmes.
It was noted that the following areas of partnership between the CGIAR and the region required further attention: the development of a more systematic and institutionalized mechanism for the participation of regional fora in CGIAR decision-making and interaction with TAC; the support of strong NARS which have comparative advantages in taking a leadership role in the region; coordinating appropriate mechanisms for interaction with ARIs; and adequate financial resources to implement the Global Plan of Action for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources and ensure the sustainability of the mutual commitment between NARS and the CGIAR.
In early February 1996, 12 Asian NARS met at the regional forum in New Delhi. The NARS stressed that the process through which priorities are set, their own and those of the CGIAR, needed further transparency, that the active involvement of NARS or regional apex organizations in the process needed to be fostered, and that their representation in the decision-making bodies of the CGIAR and its centres needed to be strengthened.
The Asian NARS considered that the CGIAR should give higher priority to Asia than to other regions because the region had the largest number of poor and malnourished people, declining arable land availability, increasing environmental degradation and the constraint of yield ceilings which needed to be addressed. It was emphasized that priority setting should reflect more thoroughly issues concerning policy and macro-economics, especially in the context of expected future developments.
Asian NARS also felt that the current CGIAR commitment should shift slightly from activities favouring productivity increases towards those fortifying NARS. The NARS would like to receive more training, especially in the area of "high research" such as biotechnology, where the CGIAR centres should expand their role of suppliers of international public goods. This would help NARS to benefit more from research often carried out mainly by universities or private commercial suppliers. Further, the NARS needed training in research management, especially in the context of monitoring and evaluation. New activities of the CGIAR should include biotechnology, IPM and research on postharvest losses.
In terms of commodities, cereals (especially rice), roots and tubers (Pacific Islands), and fisheries should receive an increase in research allocation. In this context, the regional forum stressed the importance of the specific needs of small countries which should be addressed in the CGIAR research priority-setting process. New commodities on which CGIAR involvement was requested included cotton and vegetable crops, in addition to an increase in research on soybean. The most important criteria for selecting commodities for future research were considered to be: on-farm value of production, importance for the poor, regional food security, and conservation of soil and water resources.
At the Global Forum, the Asian NARS outlined the regional concerns related to population growth, poverty, food security, the sustainability of agriculture, soil degradation, deforestation and the conservation of biodiversity. As Asia contains over 50% of the world's population, there is a concentration of poverty in the Asia-Pacific region where more than 300 million people are impoverished. If the present population annual growth rate of 1.8% remains constant, over 0.7 billion people will be added to Asia's population in the next decade.
Overgrazing from a large livestock population, and slash-and-burn practices have resulted in serious land degradation and deforestation. Crop productivity in the region must be improved because the amount of land under cultivation cannot be increased. Communication gaps and lack of cooperation continue to be barriers to the adoption of significant advances by some countries in the region.
Significant developments in addressing the region's food needs were reviewed. The increases in wheat production were noted as well as the fact that 90% of the world's rice is produced in the region. Optimism was expressed regarding the region's ability to successfully meet its food needs in the future, providing that science provided the new technologies required, as was the case during the green revolution when NARS-CGIAR cooperation resulted in unprecedented increases in crop yields on existing land under cultivation. The green revolution was a success, because both the new technologies were available and the national systems had built the capability to absorb the technologies. Since then, many national systems have also developed important technologies.
The research gaps mentioned by NARS as requiring attention include work on important crops in the region that are not covered by the CGIAR mandate; sustainability of rainfed fanning systems; biotechnology research; the conservation and enhancement of genetic resources by national systems, particularly of unexplored genetic variability; and, increasing collaboration among countries in the region with countries from other regions and with international organizations.
The need for a future strategy that calls for a second green revolution was emphasized. In order to achieve this, collaboration and partnership must be enhanced, investments in agricultural research increased, and human resources developed. NARS stressed the importance of regional cooperation and networking, and the role of regional organizations as neutral platforms for discussion and the sharing of information among countries in the region, and as a point of interaction with the CGIAR. The establishment, constitution and activities of APAARI were described and it was noted that the Association operated on a sustainable basis.
In early January, a Caribbean sub-regional forum met in Trinidad. Most of the participants were from English-speaking Caribbean countries and represented 11 NARS, four regional research organizations, five universities and two private-sector firms. The participants general knowledge of the CGIAR was variable, and unfortunately, often rather limited.
The response to the TAC questionnaire on the CGIAR priorities called for a decrease in resource allocation to cropping systems/cereals research, but an increase for roots and tubers; fisheries; and resources to strengthen NARS, especially in information communication and networks; the inclusion of new commodities such as tropical fruits and aroids; and the inclusion of research on processing/postharvest technology.
The criteria for selecting commodities for future research were, in order of importance: welfare of the rural poor, contribution to export earnings, regional food security, and the welfare of women and children. At the end of February 1996, 24 NARS representatives met at the Latin America and the Caribbean meeting held in Bogota, Colombia. They represented nine NARS, nine NGOs, four universities and two private-sector institutions. In addition, two members from the Caribbean sub-regional forum mentioned above also attended the meeting. The participants concluded that priorities for research could not be established for individual commodities, but that relative priorities should be derived from the commodities' importance in the main farming and land-use systems.
The meeting emphasized the high degree of development of applied research by NARS in the region. The priorities of the CGIAR should, therefore, be directed towards upstream research with a wide applicability. In this regard, topics such as biotechnology, molecular biology and advanced informatics were highlighted. The analysis of the eight questionnaires which were returned offers a mixed picture which may be a consequence of the heterogeneous composition of the participants.
According to these, the CGIAR's research activities on developing breeding and cropping systems should be reduced, while those for tree and fish systems, the saving of biodiversity and strengthening NARS should be increased. New activities should include biotechnology, postharvest research, and fruits and vegetables. Within the crops sector, the allocation to cereals should be decreased in favour of food legumes and other starchy staples.
The highest ranking criteria for selecting commodities for future research were soil conservation, on-farm value of production, importance for the poor and their welfare, and water conservation. Additional criteria listed suggested a perceived regional importance of different forms of labour intensive, value-adding agricultural activities to increase the incomes of rural families.
At the Global Forum, the Latin American and Caribbean NARS elaborated upon the problems shared by countries in the region, and the challenges to meeting food needs. Agriculture represents 7% to 21 % of the economic activity in most Latin American countries. While some countries have attained food self-sufficiency in grains, there are still over 250 million people in Latin America who are malnourished. There is significant concern for poverty, malnutrition, food security and the conservation of biodiversity throughout the region. Funding is another issue of concern, particularly the cost/benefit ratio of investments in agricultural research in the region. Although more than US$ 1 billion is being spent many countries continue to import food. The transfer of technologies to farmers, contact with other regions to learn from their experiences, and a unified approach to collaboration within the region are all seen as areas requiring greater attention.
The meeting stressed the need to develop new agricultural technologies, particularly targeted toward tropical climates, to increase yields and to provide disease, pest and drought resistance. A range of specific examples were mentioned related to the genetic improvement of crops, research on alternative crops and the preservation of wild varieties. Technology transfer was a critical issue, and one in which researchers must be involved, to ensure that new technologies reach, and have an impact in, farmers' fields. Researchers should be involved in bringing technologies to the farm level and in facilitating the use of improved materials by farmers.
Communications need to be enhanced to enable countries in the region to understand and incorporate for their own use breakthroughs that have occurred in other regions. Mention was made of several examples of technologies used in other regions that may be applicable in Latin America, such as rice hybrids in China.
The need for enhanced cooperation in the region was emphasized. Recognition was given to the efforts made by several countries to come together, overcome differences in approaches and forge a common vision. Such a unified effort is essential if the challenges of the future are to be effectively met. Cooperation both among countries and within countries, among national institutes, the private sector, universities, federal and local governments and with producers, was seen as essential. National systems must be better organized to integrate various actors, and to develop a unified approach and national agricultural technology plans.
4.3.1. Inter-Centre Review of Rice
4.3.2. Stripe Study of Genetic Resources in the CGIAR
4.3.3. Review of the CGIAR Commitments in West Africa
4.3.4. Inter-Centre Review of Root and Tuber Crops
4.3.5. Public Policy and Public Management Research
4.3.6. Institution Strengthening Research and Services
4.3.7. Soil and Water Aspects of Natural Resources Management Research
4.3.8. Harvest and Postharvest Research in the CGIAR
The review panel were of the opinion that the overall level of core funding for rice research in the CGIAR should be maintained and that regional allocations should be commensurate with global needs. Resources should be shifted from West Africa to Asia, which will consume over 90% of the increased output in rice required by the year 2030. Productivity improvement should be brought about through technological change which is the best way to achieve the levels of production required by a twofold increase in demand.
It was felt that research should focus on (i) raising the yield potential for irrigated environments, (ii) managing pests and diseases to close yield gaps, and (iii) managing natural resources to sustain yields in irrigated, upland and inland valley environments. Efforts in the less favourable environments should be closely monitored, to ensure that the potential gains that must be eventually realized are commensurate with the present high level of funding (20%). In addition, IITA and WARDA activities should be integrated, so that the reduced level of core support can be effectively applied.
In view of the above, TAC concluded that the global share of the CGIAR funding for rice research should not be reduced. In principle, resources allocated to research in Asia should be increased, possibly by shifting some responsibilities from IRRI to Asian NARS. The CGIAR may be overinvesting in the rainfed lowlands and uplands, although the issue warrants further consideration.
The current regional rice research mandates of CIAT for Latin America and the Caribbean, and WARDA for West Africa, should continue to be supported. Given the CGIAR's policy decision to support rice improvement in West Africa, TAC finds no compelling reasons at this time to adjust the level of the resources it assigned to WARDA in the MTP for 1994-98. Over the ensuing five years (1999-2003) the CGIAR core funding to WARDA should be at a level consistent with its contribution to the CGIAR priorities. An IITA-WARDA integrated programme for resource-management research is required, at least for the inland valley ecosystem of West Africa.
The main conclusions of the study were that centres should operate collectively as a System for genetic resources by: defining a unified direction; developing interactive genetic resources conservation and development activities, particularly with regional partners; integrating existing efforts across centres; and exercising greater accountability to the major stakeholders. All work concerned with the conservation of genetic resources should be integrated into a single Systemwide programme, within which policies will be developed and coordinated. There should be a specific Genetic Resources Programme Fund in the CGIAR, which would provide funds to operate the Systemwide Programme. IARC's germplasm collections should be held in trust and financial benefits should not be sought from their commercialization. A standardized information management system for the Genetic Resources Programme (GRP) should be created to integrate databases across the CGIAR and to simplify communication with NARS.
Subsequent to a joint session with Centre Directors and co-sponsors, TAC recommended that IPGRI should become the lead Centre for the Genetic Resources Programme, its Director General being the GRP Director with overall responsibility for the principles of the CGIAR's involvement in genetic resources, including some policy and representational responsibilities for fisheries and livestock. Genetic Resources Units in the CGIAR Centres should have a programme or equivalent status and their day-to-day management should remain with the centres in which they are located. There should be a GRP fund from which earmarked financial contributions will be allocated to all centres following TAC recommendations.
The panel's recommended that there should be a decrease in IITA's and ICRISAT's research investments in the development and management of production systems (activities 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 in the present classification), and there should be an increase in IARCs' efforts on upstream germplasm enhancement and breeding (category 1.1) and on process-oriented research in natural resources management (categories 1.2.3/5.a and 2.5). It was also felt that long-term joint programmes should be developed in which IARCs will be broadly responsible for upstream research in germplasm improvement and NRM, devolving to NARS research on production systems and management. (TAC does not believe that outright devolution will be appropriate under the existing circumstances and will rely, therefore, on strengthening partnerships as a way of shifting centres' research towards the more strategic end of the spectrum.)
An in-depth review of the current scientific approach to crop improvement in dry areas should be carried out, to know why "improved" materials do not perform better than local varieties under field conditions; this should include a high-level review of ICRISAT's crop improvement programme, including sorghum research at CIRAD. Millet research efforts should focus on agroecological zones where it can be integrated into more complex cropping patterns. This should involve shining millet improvement from Niamey to a less arid area.
Furthermore, training activities in the region should be consolidated along the lines of the "Inter-Centre Training Programme for sub-Saharan Africa" in order to strengthen NARS. Also, IARC's regional research efforts should be harmonized by creating a common Board of Trustees for WARDA and IITA, with ex-officio representation of ICRISAT, ICRAF and IRRI.
The review recommended that global investment in R&D research should continue, at least at its present level, and that there should be an increase, in relative terms, in research on cassava and potato, and a decrease in that on sweet potato. It was also believed that the creation of an Inter-Centre Committee would increase inter-centre collaboration, develop a Systemwide strategy, and promote collaboration on vegetative propagation and conservation, biotechnology, postharvest, policy, training and mechanization. The Committee should commission a task force to rationalize international phytosanitation regulations affecting the shipments of vegetatively-propagated materials which should remain in operation for as long as it adds value to inter-centre activities in the CGIAR. Furthermore, the Committee would take responsibility for reconciling discrepancies in the production/consumption data available from different sources in order to reassess priorities.
In addition, a joint collaborative programme should be designed to devolve research on sweet potato to strong NARS. Reductions in CIP's research on sweet potato should be linked to opportunities for strategic partnership with the Chinese Agricultural Research System. Also, the work carried out by CIAT, CIP and IITA in technology transfer aimed at overcoming constraints to the dissemination of improved cultivars should be supported, while avoiding duplication of the effective technical assistance work of other development agencies.
Partnerships with NARS, ARIs and the private sector on postharvest technologies should be explored, especially on the characterization of starch and flour, food-processing technologies and market research. The duplication of advanced biotechnology with ARIs should be avoided and CGIAR's activities should focus on safe and viable technologies for vegetative propagation, especially of cassava.
The main conclusions of the study were that the CGIAR mandate on policy and management research be broadened to encompass i) the public-private interface, ii) the co-production of public goods by public and private sectors, and iii) the role and management of NGOs and other non-profit organizations. The current efforts in research on common property resources should be pursued, particularly in terms of solid empirical research. The work on global-food and natural-resources-use projections should be advanced and the possibilities of research on the political economy of policy and management decisions should be explored. Furthermore, the potential of "new" institutional economics in policy and management research need to be explored and attempts made to understand determinants of choice of efficient institutions.
With regard to the budget, it was believed that investment in socioeconomic, policy and management research should be maintained at its current level. While, the budget reporting on the programmes for policy, and protecting the environment should be disaggregated to identify the real extent of policy and management research in the System.
It was felt that a Systemwide initiative on policy research, as an instrument to enhance collaboration and coordination, should not be pursued. However, six specific criteria for priority setting should be adopted, dealing with relevance to goals and efficiency, nature of outputs useful to NARS, comparative advantages, and quality and impact assessment mechanisms. There was need for a modality to be defined to allow TAC to allocate resources on a competitive basis in response to requests by two or more centres to support project preparation and coordination, and methodological backup activities.
The centres should have a minimum capacity to collaborate with IFPRI on policy and management research. IFPRI's and ISNAR's involvement in ecoregional initiatives should be reviewed and the opportunities to derive lessons of international relevance and achieve greater synergy in inter-centre collaboration questioned. The responsibility for studies on global-food and natural-resources-use projections should be assigned to IFPRI.
The main conclusions of the study were that CGIAR's activities in institution strengthening should be demand-driven, more structured and based on collaboration with other partners (internal and external). Resources should be shifted from services to research on institutional development related to agricultural research in developing countries, including the assessment of NARS institutional requirements, organizational structures, management practices, leadership skills, and planning, monitoring and evaluation tools. Careful review of TAC's system to classify activities in relation to the "fortifying NARS" category should be made, to clearly distinguish those providing direct services to NARS.
Additional resources should be made available for ISNAR to enable a more comprehensive analysis on NARS' strengths and weaknesses to form the basis for a proposal for inter-institutional collaboration. Studies on successful and unsuccessful examples of institution-building activities should be carried out by ISNAR in collaboration with major donor agencies and/or with selected NARS.
There should be closer collaboration among centres in all facets of institution-strengthening support to NARS, particularly between the other centres and ISNAR. Joint projects on areas such as setting research priorities, programme planning and evaluation, project preparation and budgeting, could be developed under the umbrella of a Systemwide initiative on institution strengthening.
Generic, methodological tools that can be used by other organizations and consultancy firms should be developed and disseminated, freeing resources for R&D activities. ISNAR should assist in strengthening emerging regional groupings to facilitate the Centre's efforts to strengthen institutions and encourage the participation of NARS in CGIAR priority setting. The information services provided to NARS partners should be distinguished from those given to the Centre's own scientists and those provided to donors and the public. There should also be a differentiation between advice on research in mandated commodities and that on management of research in general.
The main conclusions of the study were that as well as the general requirement that CGIAR research should produce international public goods, the CGIAR should concentrate on those aspects of soil and water research for which the benefits are likely to be delayed, remote, difficult to identify, and do not accrue to the investor of effort, money or foregone use. This follows from the generalization about NRM that a larger role for publicly funded institutions is likely to be needed in such circumstances. Conversely, user (landholder) responsibility on an individual or collective basis will be more feasible where NRM benefits, relative to costs, accrue quickly, locally, visibly and to those who bear the cost. However, the CGIAR could still have a legitimate role in research on the constraints, especially institutional, that deter land users from accepting responsibility for NRM, even when it appears to be clearly in their interest to do so.
The necessary conditions for CGIAR involvement in NRM-related environmental research is that it should be clearly identified with the impacts of agriculture, forestry and fisheries on the System's goals of sustainable poverty alleviation and food security. With some adjustment, such CGIAR research can also yield results that will assist in achieving other, broader environmental objectives, and it should do so, costs permitting.
CGIAR research should generally be conducted within an integrated NRM framework. So, if the emphasis is on water issues, a catchment-management framework is needed, though rarely will it be possible for centres to participate in comprehensive studies of whole river basins. Nevertheless, research on the off-site effects of agricultural, forestry and inland fishery practices is a legitimate part of the CGIAR's responsibilities. Therefore, production experiments should take account, whenever possible, of the possible consequences of new technologies for all downstream water users, for stream health and for coastal fisheries. Similar principles apply to the use of an integrated NRM framework for other kinds of research, such as IPM.
There is a need to improve the information on land and water degradation and its impacts on agricultural, forestry and fisheries production. Obviously, the CGIAR has limited resources to devote to fixing the deficiencies of the existing data, but it can work with other agencies to this end. In the absence of more definitive information, the CGIAR itself has little choice but to work on combating forms of degradation known to be serious, notably soil erosion and irrigation salinity, in selected hot spots. At the same time, some CGIAR resources should be allocated to monitoring trends in the condition of the resources under study and to setting baselines for future evaluation of impact.
A lot of sound scientific information already exists that could be adapted for the practical improvement of NRM. Two important conclusions follow from this assessment, which is supported by several authoritative sources. Firstly, future activities should focus on the incentives and other policy tools needed for effective widespread adoption of appropriate NRM knowledge and technologies. There is a common perception that the track record for the adoption of the results of research on NRM improvement is not good, at least in the less-developed world. While there are important exceptions, as in IPM on rice in Indonesia, this experience indicates that a cautious approach should be taken by the CGIAR in strengthening its NRM research. Where there have been successes already in developing countries, local participatory organizations working in a learning mode have been a common feature.
Secondly, the CGIAR should be highly selective in choosing areas needing further research, at least until there is a better understanding of the conditions necessary for worthwhile impact. Research should make full use of existing knowledge and contribute to filling gaps. This counsel is reflected in the careful preparation given recently to the Soil, Water and Nutrient Management Programme and the Systemwide Programme on Water Management.
The final point is that there is a powerful argument for more closely linking objectives on enhancing productivity and reducing the degradation of resources in conducting CGIAR research. The solutions to many soil and water problems lie not in expensive soil remediation or water-treatment processes, but in reducing or preventing their development in the first place.
Beyond this, in prioritizing its work, the study calls for the CGIAR to first attend to natural resources issues in terms of their implications for present and future production, and then for their effects on global environmental concerns.
The studies main conclusions were that the CGIAR should move towards an approach in determining priorities and strategies that gives greater weight to the harvest and postharvest parts of the production-consumption continuum. Centres should review, and strengthen where necessary, their internal capacities for identifying needs in harvest and postharvest research, and for assessing the most cost-effective ways of implementing projects. Monitoring and evaluation of harvest and postharvest research should be strengthened through existing mechanisms of internal and external review.
There is a need for a strategy to ensure that appropriate mechanisms are in place to enable the centres to identify harvest and postharvest problems so that centres, by working together, can evolve informal coordinating mechanisms. In any new approach to harvest and postharvest research, the centres should take mil advantage of opportunities for collaboration with others, such as national organizations, sister CGIAR centres, ARIs, and industrial, manufacturing and processing companies.
The regional fora and the global forum meetings were attended by the majority of NARS in the four regions, although the absence of China in the membership of the Asian apex organization is regrettable. The views analyzed represent a broad picture of the regional perspectives in relation to the CGIAR centres as suppliers of strategic and applied Agricultural research. Some of these perspectives show differences both across and within the four regions, and these reflect variations in the relative importance of the different production sectors and the commodities therein, and the strength of NARS.
All of the regional fora and the Global Forum endorsed the CGIAR's mission and its focus on poverty alleviation, sustainable food security and NRM. They also all emphasized the continued priority to be given to capacity building, particularly in the new or advanced technologies. In each of the regional fora, concern was expressed that the CGIAR was moving too fast in adjusting to new Member preferences and that increased production remained of primary importance to national programmes. Repeated emphasis was also made at the regional fora on the role of export and cash crops in poverty alleviation.
The views of the regional fora and the Global Forum, in relation to the setting of research priorities and strategies, highlighted the following elements in terms of the process, criteria and priorities:
- process: there was a call for greater transparency in the process of CGIAR priority setting and in the choice of criteria, and for greater attention in the process to global and regional issues related to economic and political development;- criteria: welfare of the poor, and conservation of soil and water resources were considered to be the most important criteria for setting commodity priorities and the related future research agenda;
- priorities: while there was a general endorsement of the CGIAR goals and priorities, there was also a fairly common interest expressed for new cash crops (e.g., cotton, fruits, horticulture) to be included in the CGIAR portfolio, as well as for export-oriented, income-increasing agricultural activities. Furthermore, all NARS stressed the need for activities to enhance the capacity of their organizations (e.g., training, policies, information, networking and improving research management).
TAC notes that the varied circumstances of NARS blunt, somewhat, the nature of the recommendations. Even so, the importance given to the welfare of the poor and the protection of natural resources is notably congruent with CGIAR concerns, and the call for transparency in priority setting can only lead to greater efficiency in attaining those ends. TAC sees this last point as reaffirming its emphasis on identifying alternative sources of supply. With regard to strengthening NARS, attention is called to section 5.5 in the following chapter.
By offering possibilities for discussion and negotiation, the regional fora and the Global Forum will greatly facilitate the convergence of NARS views which can only improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the global system and the further integration of the CGIAR. Moreover - perhaps serendipitously, given that the investment in NARS greatly exceeds that in the CGIAR - the regional fora offer great potential for improving efficiency through horizontal cooperations.
