This paper presents TAC's conclusions concerning the needs for the soil and water aspects of natural resources management research in the System and the mechanisms for meeting them. These conclusions are based on background studies carded out by an independent panel and the TAC Secretariat, and on TAC's own deliberations during TAC 66, 67 and 68. The background studies are available as separate documents. 1, 2 This draft has been commented on several times by CGIAR Members, Centres, NARS and other partners. It represents the evolution of thinking over the past two years.
1
TAC (1995a). A Strategic Review of Natural Resources Management Research in Soil and Water. Document SDR/TAC:IAR/96/9, TAC Secretariat, FAO, Rome.
2 TAC (1995b). A Synthesis of Current Activities in Soil and Water Research in the CGIAR. Document SDR/TAC:IAR/96/10, TAC Secretariat, FAO, Rome.
Objectives and Scope
The linked objectives of sustainable food security, alleviation of poverty and protection of the environment are the overarching concerns of the CGIAR, as indicated and reconfirmed at the Lucerne Ministerial-Level meeting. 3 Within the context of these concerns, the CGIAR System needs to address a broad set of priority issues related to natural resources management and sustainable development.
3
CGIAR (1995). A Vision for the CGIAR: Sustainable Agriculture for a Food Secure World. Ministerial-Level Meeting on Renewal of the CGIAR: Sustainable Agriculture for Food Security in Developing Countries, Lucerne, Switzerland, February 1995. CGIAR Secretariat, World Bank, Washington.
The focus of the study is on the soil and water aspects of natural resources management (NRM) research in the CGIAR System. TAC fully recognizes that there are other, equally important natural resources and resources management subjects covered within the System, such as forests and forestry, fish and fisheries, and genetic resources. However, these have been the subject of separate, thorough reviews, fairly recently in the System. Thus, TAC decided to focus the present study on research related to soil and water aspects of natural resources management, bringing in the other topics as needed to clarify various linkages. It is emphasized that the absence of discussion of these other topics does in no way imply that TAC sees these subjects as being of lesser importance than soil and water.
Current Soil and Water Research in the CGIAR System
Part of the overall TAC study involved an assessment of the extent and objectives of current work on soil and water aspects of natural resources management research in the CGIAR System. A separate TAC Secretariat desk study 2 provides the detailed results. Keeping in mind that some arbitrary decisions had to be made when classifying various types of research in terms of contributions to NRM objectives, highlights are as follows:
· The CGIAR System is allocating about US$ 49 million, or a little over one sixth of its total resources, to soils and water (S&W) research.· The proportion of budget allocated by different Centres to S&W research ranges from 5 to 40 percent.
· Over one third (35-40%) of the total CGIAR investment in S&W research is directed towards irrigated lands and rainfed lowlands, which could be seen as proxies for well-endowed lands. The so-called "fragile" or "marginal" lands, the warm semi-arid, savannas and forest margins, each account for around 15 percent of the resources, while the cool semi-arid, highlands and hillsides each account for one twentieth of the total. The rest goes into policy and other research that cannot be attributed easily to any given ecosystem.
· On average Centres devote about three-quarters of their S&W efforts to on-site research. Furthermore, much of the rest appears to be devoted to policy and management research related to natural resources. This implies that very little research is done on the off-site, or landscape linkages, an important component of integrated natural resource management research.
· On average Centres allocate some two-thirds of their S&W budget to research of an applied nature, with a range between 50 and 90 percent. This allocation, taken together with the previous conclusion, suggests a strong concentration of research efforts on location-specific, production systems oriented activities. CGIAR Centres should be working on research of an international nature, i.e., results that have transferability across nations. Many Centres recognize that to meet this requirement when dealing with location-specific research, it is necessary to do comparative research across locations. The extent to which they explicitly build this into their programmes is not at all clear from the data at hand.
2TAC (1995b). A Synthesis of Current Activities in Soil and Water Research in the CGIAR. Document SDR/TAC:IAR/96/10, TAC Secretariat, FAO, Rome.
TAC's Conclusions and Recommendations
In an overall context, TAC reconfirms that strengthening research on natural resources management (NRM) and environmental issues is needed in the CGIAR, as is a more explicit linking of this area of research to the Lucerne "vision" of the CGIAR contribution to poverty alleviation and sustainable food security. This reconfirmation and recognition of the Lucerne Declaration has certain implications for the scope and orientation of natural resources management research in the System. These implications and the associated conclusions that TAC reaches regarding this area of research, need to be stated clearly at the outset of this discussion.
The System should, with few exceptions, be doing NRM-related environmental research that is clearly identified with the impacts of agriculture, forestry and fisheries on sustainable poverty alleviation and food security. That should be a necessary condition for undertaking NRM research in the System. It derives from the obvious fact that priority should be given to research directly related to the mission and goals of the System.
Since sustainable food security and poverty alleviation - whether for the rural or urban poor - depend directly on the health of the environment and the natural resource base on which all food production depends, their conservation and enhancement serve as central and legitimate themes for CGIAR research.
Both on-site and off-site efforts are a legitimate part of the System's responsibility. Firstly, the off-site efforts of one area used for agriculture, forestry or fisheries can impact on downstream areas used for the same purposes. 4 Secondly, the sometimes damaging effects of agriculture, forestry and fisheries on those who use land and water for other purposes downstream, can cause restrictions to be placed on the use of land for food and wood production. This has happened in industrialized countries and is likely to happen in developing countries, especially with increased urbanization.
4
Note the point that the downstream impacts of agriculture may lead to significant impacts on upstream agriculture as well as downstream agriculture, e.g., when the downstream effects on people are such that action is taken to curb certain agricultural practices upstream.
The above should be the necessary conditions for the CGIAR undertaking NRM research.
There are other goals for research on natural resources and the environment, e.g. ecosystem health for its own sake or some broader purpose, recreation, aesthetics, global climate change, wildlife management and so on. While there are significant alternative suppliers with competitive advantage when it comes to research for these purposes, it is very desirable for the CGIAR's research to take account of these other aspects of the environment. Research designed for the necessary purposes of the CGIAR can yield results that will assist in achieving other environmental objectives. 5 Every effort should be made to create such win-win situations or at least to minimize trade-offs between agriculture, forestry and fisheries and those other environmental and natural resource values. Such adjustments should, of course, consider the extra costs.
5
Examples include: biological control undertaken primarily because of the rising costs of chemical control with increasing resistance, but benefiting also farmer health and the environment; trees grown on farms for food, wood, and forage, but helping to control erosion and, if native species, helping also to conserve biodiversity.
Conclusion: There is a need to improve the state of information on land and water degradation and its impacts on agricultural, forestry and fisheries production
TAC agrees with a variety of experts (cf. Crosson and Anderson 1993 6) that there is a serious, widespread problem of lack of adequate information on land and water degradation and the state of the environment, and knowledge of the impacts of environmental change (both degradation and enhancement) on crop production, particularly over time. Arguments regarding the seriousness of the problems abound among reputable groups. The arguments arise almost entirely because of deficiencies in basic data and because of differences in interpretations of the scarce data that are available.
6
Crosson, P. and J.R. Anderson (1993). Concerns for Sustainability: Integration of Natural Resources and Environmental Issues in the Research Agendas of the NARS. ISNAR Research Report No. 4, ISNAR, The Hague.
Given the need for transnational information and research on the condition of natural resources and the environment, and particularly on the extent and impact of degradation and enhancement of the environment by humans, TAC believes that there is a critical role for the CGIAR System to play in developing a better understanding of some of the linkages between agriculture, forestry and fisheries and the condition of the environment and the natural resources base on which all agriculture depends.
At the same time, it is recognized that the CGIAR System has only a limited role to play in this field, since there are many actors involved, some of whom are much better placed to generate and analyze the necessary data. Since the CGIAR has only limited resources to devote to filling information gaps, it needs to choose carefully what aspects of this momentous task it undertakes. Its focus should be primarily on generating the evidence on the impacts of natural resources degradation or enhancement on future agricultural, forestry and fisheries production and vice versa.
Recommendation 1:
The CGIAR System should develop improved mechanism(s) by which Centres, collectively, can be involved with other partners in generating and interpreting improved scientific evidence on the extent and magnitude of the impacts of agriculture, forestry and fisheries on the degradation or enhancement of natural resources and the impacts of such degradation or enhancement on agriculture, forestry and fisheries production and food security.
Conclusion: The CGIAR System has Need for an Integrated Natural Resources Management (INRM) Framework for Research
TAC concludes that the CGIAR System could benefit from the introduction of a more consistent, systematic, and environmentally sensitive integrated natural resources management (INRM) framework for research. This framework would serve two main purposes. One is to provide a logical framework for linking the various natural resources management activities in the System. The other is to provide a better means of showing the rest of the world how the System is addressing the interrelated set of environmental and natural resources issues that are of concern when moving towards sustainable agricultural, forestry and fisheries production. Such a framework would involve four sets of interrelated linkages:
· Links between productivity-enhancing and resource conserving research (e.g., crop improvement and natural resources management);· Spatial or landscape level linkages (e.g., upstream-downstream linkages in a watershed management framework);
· Temporal linkages (e.g., links between present and future, or sustainability considerations);
· Linkages between research and the diffusion/adoption of results from such research.
TAC re-emphasizes that research within this INRM framework incorporates a broad spectrum of disciplines and activities outside the soil and water focus of this study, including those related to forestry, fisheries and genetic resources. These other areas of activity are fully as important and critical to the successful use of an INRM framework as an integrating tool. Thus, they will need to be incorporated into a more operational INRM framework and approach. One example of an INRM framework focusing on the spatial (watershed) linkages is provided by an integrated watershed management framework (see Annex I).
Conclusion: Within the INRM Framework There is Need for Additional Focus on Specific Subject Matter
TAC concludes that most of the areas of research within the INRM framework that are relevant for the CGIAR System already are being dealt with to some extent in the System, but in many cases not adequately in terms of scope and/or quality, nor in terms of the environmental aspects of the four sets of linkages described above (again, note the high proportion of CGIAR resources in natural resources management that is apparently devoted to on-site, on-field research).
TAC emphasizes that the linkages covered within the INRM framework need to be introduced into the CGIAR System not only through Centre activities, but also to a great extent through work in the Systemwide Programmes, essentially those that implement the ecoregional approach. These include the emerging Water Programme and the existing Soil, Water, Nutrient Management (SWNM) Programme, which provide an important means to introduce INRM considerations in a systematic way into the ecoregional approaches to research. 7 The INRM framework is mainly an integrating mechanism that helps to develop full coverage of natural resources management issues and full sensitivity to environmental externalities and linkages.
7
Note that the water focus in the SWNM Programme is on water-soil relations, while in the Water Programme, the focus is on broader issues related to water use, competition for water, water allocation, and so forth. There likely will be some, hopefully complementary, overlaps between the two Programmes.
Water is one area of focus that particularly needs much greater emphasis within an INRM framework. TAC considers water-related issues, including waterborne diseases, to be some of the key ones that will face agriculture, forestry and fisheries even more pressingly in the future. Thus, TAC concludes that water-related research is a priority area in which the System's scope and intensity of work should be significantly expanded, particularly related to water scarcity and competition, and water quality, but also in terms of the broader watershed management activities needed to optimize water availability and use. There is need for greater capacity in hydrology to complement the existing work on water-soil relationships, allocation and distribution of irrigation water, and the role of alternative water users associations and management schemes.
In fact, such expanded work currently is being proposed in the Systemwide Water Programme being organized by IIMI with partners from within and outside the CGIAR System. Whether that initiative alone can cover the needed expansion adequately - both in terms of magnitude, breadth, and quality - remains to be seen. It still is in a very early stage of development. TAC will continue to strongly encourage, support, and monitor such work, recognizing the increased need to understand the various linkages (both ways) between water and agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
Furthermore, the System and its relevant Centres need to focus on the international aspects of the water-related issues and to provide leadership in developing effective processes for researching, assessing and solving water-related issues. The System needs to build on the work of its partners in research and development. In order to carry out this work, there is need for an increased number of hydrologist/watershed management researchers.
A number of other research priorities (only some of which can and will be covered by CGIAR Centres) have been identified within the context of the four INRM linkages discussed above. They are mentioned below, although not all of them will be undertaken by CGIAR Centres.
In terms of linkages between productivity-enhancing and resources conserving research the following topics seem particularly relevant:
· managing water and nutrient supplies for greater efficiency and sustainability; research on the efficiency of water and nutrient use by crops, especially to prevent degradation of irrigated land; both economic and biophysical efficiency should be considered;· research on the processes underlying the long-term, less obvious forms of soil and water degradation. (This will complement existing production-oriented CGIAR soils research);
· managing soil fertility (organic matter, mineral nutrients, acidity).
In the case of spatial or landscape linkages, the key areas include research on:
· the pros and cons of devolution of NRM responsibilities to local government bodies and user groups;· the physical, economic and social impacts of agriculture, forestry and aquaculture production practices on the quality and quantity of downstream water supplies and on assemblages of aquatic organisms in downstream and upstream water bodies;
· development of acceptable methods for combatting soil erosion (mainly associated with its off-site impact on environment);
TAC also advocates a greater use of the interdisciplinary and systems approaches (including mathematical modelling) in developing research within the INRM framework, and it suggests the need for development of a limited number of carefully selected watershed or catchment studies that can serve as baseline studies within the ecoregional approaches developed by centres and their partners.
In the case of temporal linkages, the key area for research is:
· measurement of the rates of change in key dimensions of natural resources (the dynamics of resources management, use, enhancement and degradation); and research on the impacts of such changes on food and water security; and on health.
This work is particularly critical, given the conclusion above concerning the state of knowledge and understanding of the impacts of agriculture on natural resources and the environment and the impacts of land and water degradation on overall agricultural production. (see Recommendation 1 above).
In the case of linkages between research and diffusion/adoption, the key area for research is:
· the reason why existing information has not been used more effectively to improve natural resources management practices, for instance in the move from shifting to permanent cultivation; also, research on how to get more effective implementation of existing knowledge for improved INRM, i.e., research on cultural diffusion and adoption of research results already on the shelf, in the context of fostering a participatory approach to improving natural resources management.
TAC is concerned with the fact that there is a great deal of research-generated NRM information that is readily available but unused in practice at present (e.g., knowledge regarding soil conservation technologies and watershed management practices). Further, based on the assessments of the Study consultants and others, many of the past improvements in NRM can be related back to research that was carried out for other purposes. Thus, the links between research and action are weak in such cases.
There is need for increased research to look at why there is a lack of application of known technologies and ideas, why there is a lack of widespread progress in natural resources management using much of the available research-generated information and technologies. This is a promising, potential area of significant gains. TAC believes that there is opportunity for the CGIAR to expand its activity in this area, particularly looking at the NRM technologies and ideas generated in its own Centres, but also at related knowledge developed by its partners. The kinds of research questions which appear to have promise include ones such as: Was the research undertaken in isolation of the needs and incentives of potential beneficiaries? Were the costs of diffusion, adaptation and adoption ignored or underestimated? To what extent were issues of diffusion and adoption ignored? Have the research results not been adequately translated into practical language that is understood by the potential users? Why is it in areas of success, that it appears that strong local organizations are one key factor in effective transfer and utilization. How can existing knowledge and technologies be used more effectively and efficiently to generate gains in terms of natural resources management and conservation?
Recommendation 2:
TAC recommends that intensified and expanded collaborative mechanisms and activities be developed among Centres, and between Centres and their non-CGIAR partners, to help focus increased research and institution strengthening on issues related to adoption, adaptation, and utilization of existing NRM technologies and knowledge that so far have remained unused.
Again, the above recommendation needs to be focused on a few, well-developed areas in which the CGIAR has an advantage. This recommendation should be implemented through a coordinated effort of the Centres, based on their own ongoing, individual programmes in this area. It is an activity that should become part of every research programme and centre's activities, where it is not already so. TAC does not envision it as a formal Systemwide Initiative but as a reallocation of resources into areas of higher priority.
Conclusion: There is a Need for Uniform and Consistent Criteria for Judging the Priorities for NRM activities/research in the CGIAR Centres and Programmes
TAC considered various criteria for assessing the relative importance of the proposals to strengthen or expand INRM research in the System. TAC recognized that the criteria or factors involved also could be used to look at the desirability for continuing current programmes.
TAC concludes that at least four factors, described in section 4.1, should be considered by those preparing proposals and in judging the relative importance of new research themes. More specifically, priority activities should:
1. Make an identifiable contribution to poverty alleviation and environmental protection or enhancement;2. Be results-oriented and utilization focused (demand-driven with high probability of use);
3. Make optimum use of existing information and fill knowledge gaps;
4. Build on the CGIAR's international advantages.
TAC also considered various criteria for judging the usefulness of alternative modes of operation for implementing INRM research (see section 4.2). It concluded that seven such factors should be considered in choosing among options:
1. Degree and effectiveness of collaboration with others;2. Cost-effectiveness/value added of the option;
3. Extent to which stakeholders' interests are considered in defining problems and planning research;
4. Clarify for communicating the importance of the research to CGIAR members and others;
5. Continuity of funding/support;
6. Ease with which acceptable lines of accountability can be established;
7. Standards of planning, monitoring and evaluation proposed.
The above criteria for judging importance and for choosing among operational modes are fully consistent with those that have been adopted for use in the broader TAC Priorities and Strategies exercise related to Systemwide Initiatives and Programmes. In fact, they have evolved from TAC's experience in assessing future funding of the NRM components of Systemwide Initiatives and Programmes, including those based on the ecoregional approach.
