Collective Action News: Past Issues

With the last issue vol. 26 of the Newsletter released this month, below is a list of all past issues that the programme has published.

Issue 26:  Regional Collective Action Wraps Up

Issue 25: Agriculture and Rural Development Day at the Cancún Climate Change Conference

Issue 24: Hope For the Future: Sowing the Seeds for Agricultural Research in Somalia

Issue 23: Rwanda launches Irrigation Master Plan

Issue 22:  South Africa to Burkina Faso: African Agricultural Innovation in a Changing Global Environment

Issue 21: Developing Africa’s Agricultural Markets 

Issue 20: 2010 International Day of Biodiversity celebrations

Issue 19: Highlights from GCARD

Issue 18: Regional Partnerships to Strengthen the Seed Industry

Issue 17: CGMap Ongoing Research in Africa: Empowering, Informative, Exciting

Issue 16: Regional Collective Action: Achievements to Date

Issue 15: Agriculture and Rural Development in the Copenhagen Climate Change Talks

Issue 14: Update on the CGIAR Reform Process

Issue 13: Disaster Risk Reduction: Addressing the longer term issues

Issue 12: Online Consultations to Enhance Agricultural Research for Development

Issue 11: Rising Food Prices in Eastern and Southern Africa Revisited: Lifting Trade Barriers Is Still the Answer

Issue 10: Managing the Fertility of Africa’s Soils: The Case for Collective Action

Issue 9: Biotechnology, Bioinformatics and Food Security: Hype or hope?

Issue 8: Priority Actions on Agricultural Markets? Not Easy At a Market of Ideas!

Issue 7: Climate and agriculture in East Africa: The future is mixed – April Collective Action News

Issue 6: Food Price Rises: Global Smiles, Regional Frowns?

Issue 5: Connecting the Dots: Online Maps for Improved Access to Information on Agricultural Research Projects

Issue 4: Could 150 Million Thirsty Livestock Be Efficient Water Harvesters? Nile Basin Studies Show How

Issue 3: Lessons from Kampala: Will Urban Farming Make a Difference?

Issue 2: Where Science and Emergencies Meet: As Crises Become More Frequent, Agricultural Research Finds a Big New Role

Issue 1: Food Price Rises: Is Regional Trade the Answer?

Regional Collective Action Wraps Up

After four years, the Regional Collective Action Programme has come to an end. In this final issue of Collective Action News, we report on how Regional Collective Action activities have supported the work of the Consortium and the CRPs.

The Regional Collective Action Programme has been described by Carlos Seré, Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which has hosted the Programme since its inception in 2007, as ‘a bold experiment that achieved considerable success in promoting collaborative action in eastern and southern Africa that has now been overtaken by the process of CGIAR reform’. Many of the activities started under the Programme have now been incorporated into the CGIAR Consortium and the CGIAR Research Programmes (CRPs).

A key output of the Programme has been the CGIAR Ongoing Research Map. The Map makes CGIAR research information publicly accessible, facilitating information sharing and promoting partnership opportunities. The Research Map is now maintained and managed by the various focal persons in most of the CGIAR Centres who work closely with scientists and take a leading role in ensuring that projects within their Centres are up-to-date. Future administration of the Map will be subject to the outcome of a proposal presented to the Consortium Office to take it up as part of the system wide initiatives. The Research Map, which now has over 530 projects, can be accessed from the home page of the CGIAR Consortium website.

The four Flagship research programmes have been incorporated into various CRPs: Flagship Programmes 1 (Integrated natural resource management) and 2 (Policies, institutions and information for achieving impact at scale) have become part of CRP5 (Durable solutions for water scarcity and land degradation) and CRP2 (Policies, institutions, and markets to strengthen assets and agricultural incomes for the poor). Some aspects of Flagship Programme 4 (Improving impact of emergency response on agricultural livelihoods in highly stressed and unstable systems) have been incporporated into CRP7 (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, CCAFS). Flagship 3 (Conservation and enhancement of agricultural biodiversity for improved agricultural production) held two regional workshops on food-feed crops in Nairobi and Bulawayo in February and March 2011 to further understand and evaluate the potential, challenges and opportunities of crop residues to address food and fodder challenges in eastern and southern Africa. Participants included representatives from ILRI, ICRISAT, CIMMYT and CIP, as well as private sector, national and regional partners. A full proposal around this issue is now being drafted which will link into the CRPs on grains, roots and tubers, and livestock. Further details of all the CRPs can be found here.

The Regional Collective Action Programme also recently supported a detailed review of inter-Centre CGIAR capacity development. A desk study, an e-consultation and two regional workshops held in Nairobi and Maputo in April, 2011, were coordinated by ILRI in collaboration with other CGIAR Centres as well as various other international, regional and national institutions with an interest in capacity development. The review found that, despite various past inter-Centre capacity development projects and numerous discussions over the years highlighting the need for enhanced collaboration, there has been limited action or follow-up. Those consulted by the review were critical of the proposed ‘dedicated informal network’ approach to collective capacity development as outlined in the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework (SRF). Instead, it has been suggested that a more formal mechanism such as a special unit or platform should be established to serve as a think-tank on CGIAR capacity development and collaboration to add value to all Centres and CRPs. The review recommended that a scoping study on the subject should be undertaken by a high level capacity development specialist in close collaboration with the capacity development staff of the CGIAR Centres and the CRP Leaders.If you need further information or details about this project, please contact Dr. Purvi Mehta (P.mehta(at)cgiar.org) head of capacity development, ILRI and Jan Beniest (jan.beniest(at)gmail.com).

Click here to down the newsletter

From Informing To Engaging: What Users of CGIAR Research Information Are Asking

Ask A Question Dialogue Box

As you know, the CGIAR Research Map (http://ongoing-research.cgiar.org/) provides information about research projects that are carried out by the 15 CGIAR Centers in order to enhance information and knowledge sharing while significantly reducing the time taken to search for project information across the various Centers.

Through the ‘Ask a Question’ dialogue box found at the bottom of each project fact sheet in the Research Map, the Map has moved beyond informing users of agriculture information of what is happening ‘where, when and with whom’ to engaging them.  Users can send messages to project scientists and make comments about the research projects through this dialogue box.

This new feature in the Research Map, designed to increase the level of interaction and collaboration among users of agriculture information has seen over 50 inquiries being sent to various projects. From technical support, project reports, internship opportunities for students, various scientists details requests to conversations leading to developing new partnerships, the ‘Ask a Question’ box has vast advantages and shows the enthusiasm of CGIAR scientists to share their information and knowledge, collaborate and even learn from others partners.

Below are some of the inquiries and the various responses by the scientists

Project Title:Promotion of Exports of Organic Bananas in Ethiopia and Sudan (Bioversity) 
Qn: We are a tissue culture firm based in India, and have been approached several times from private buyers in Sudan for tissue culture banana varieties of elite clones such as Grand Naine and Robista. We would like information on the banana market, import regulation and the growers in Sudan. Is it possible for CGIAR to share information with us?

Ans: The project in Sudan is being implemented with the Horticulture Sector Administration of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Khartoum and I am copying this reply to the National Project Manager, Dr. Salah Bakhiet (salba54@yahoo.com). Please follow up with him for more specific information, but I can inform you that this project has previously purchased tissue culture plants from Du Roi in South Africa and the import process is relatively straightforward. The local market is dominated by Dwarf Cavendish, produced on relatively small holdings, by traditional means, but there are a number of investors interested in expanding banana plantations for export, so I think there is growing demand for good quality planting material. I understand that there are also some start-up tissue culture labs in the country looking to produce seedlings; it is possible that they would be interested in collaborating with you.

Michael Bolton (m.bolton@cgiar.org)

Frequently Asked Questions on Food-Feed Crops

Collective Action supported a Food-Feed Crops in Eastern and Southern Africa proposal development workshop held on the 24-25 of February. This workshop was attended by various scientists from different CGIAR Centers including: CIP, ICRISAT, ILRI, CIMMYT who shared their interest, experiences and perspective in food-feed crop.

The below Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) gives an overview on these important crops.

1. What are food-feed crops?
Food-feed crops are crops that provide grain for human nutrition and fodder for livestock from the crop residues such as the straws, stover and haulms. A name often used synonymously is dual-purpose crops.

2. What is the importance of the crops in agriculture?
Food-feed/dual purpose crops play a key role in small holder crop-livestock systems since they provide food for humans and fodder for livestock at the same time. So no additional land and water are required for fodder production since these needed to be allocated anyhow for the primary product, the grains. Food-feed/dual purpose crops are therefore highly resource use efficient. Crop residues provide the major feed resources for small holders.

3. Who can grow these crops?
Essentially every farmer but they are particularly important for resource poor small holders

4. Who are the potential beneficiaries of these crops?
Basically everybody starting from the farmer and livestock producer to fodder traders and feed processors

5. Examples of food-feed crops?
Maize, rice, wheat, sorghum, millets, groundnut, cowpea etc.

6. Where can I find more information and research about food-feed crops?
For more information on food-feed crops and the workshop as well, contact Michael Blummel (m.blummel@CGIAR.ORG) a scientist at ILRI.

A food-feed crops search in Ongoing Research, the CGIAR Research Map will list some of the projects working on this area of agriculture.

What Kind of CGIAR Research is in Northern Africa?

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, ICARDA recently updated the Research Map with 52 research projects in the Ongoing Research. ICARDA is one of the 15 CG Centers whose main areas of research is North Africa (CWANA) region, with research in countries like Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco as well as areas in Central and West Asia including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and others.

ICARDA has a global mandate for the improvement of barley, lentil and faba bean and serves the non-tropical dry areas for the improvement of on-farm water-use efficiency, rangeland and small-ruminant production (http://www.icarda.cgiar.org/Mission.htm).

Among the research areas that the projects work in include, Agrobiodivesity, Water Management, Policy & Institutions, Crops, Climate Change and others. Search projects by ICARDA from the custom map below to find out more information about this Centers work and also what other CGIAR Centers are doing in similar regions in the Ongoing Research.

Agriculture and Rural Development Day at the Cancún Climate Change Conference

Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) was held for the second time during the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which took place earlier this month at Cancún, Mexico. The day-long event, which drew hundreds of participants including policy makers, farmers, scientists and journalists, aimed to put agriculture on this year’s climate change agenda. In her opening speech, Inger Andersen, CGIAR Fund Council Chair and Vice President of Sustainable development, World Bank talked about the intersection of agricultural development, food security and climate. She proposed agriculture as a solution that was a triple win of increased food security, resilience and reduction of emissions. The success of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in promoting the spread of Evergreen Agriculture in Africa was cited as an example of a climate-smart agricultural technique that can both increase crop yields and help to reduce carbon emissions.

In support of such initiatives, the organizers of ARDD 2010 called for much more local action to help the rural poor adapt to climate change impacts and the use of climate finance to realize agriculture’s substantial potential for capturing carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In presenting the official summary of the day, Lindiwe Sibanda, Chief Executive Officer of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network, appealed to climate change negotiators to recognize explicitly the critical links between agriculture and forestry and to create an agricultural work program under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) as a first step toward meaningful inclusion of food security in any post-2012 agreement.

By the end of COP16, the collective push for including agriculture in a climate change deal had achieved small but important successes. The Cancún Agreements recognize agriculture and food security as areas deserving priority consideration in a footnote to the ‘Outcome of the Work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention’. Unfortunately there was no decision on a work program on agriculture on the SBSTA, proving correct fears that it would be held hostage by the uncertain state of broader negotiations and by a number of small technicalities at the 11th hour.
The Cancún Agreements did, however, call for a SBSTA work program on REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) that addresses drivers and methodologies, as well as exploration of REDD+ financing options under the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action. The links between agriculture and deforestation are such that this decision ensures some support for continued work on agriculture in the climate change context. Indeed, participants at Forest Day 4 (FD4), proposed several options to increase agricultural intensification whilst reducing net annual rates of deforestation including: increasing production efficiencies; promoting multifunctional landscapes; directing REDD+ financing to increase efficiencies in agronomic practices; and shifting extensive production systems to low carbon landscapes.

The thorny issue of agricultural intensification and its effect on deforestation was addressed at an official COP16 side event held jointly by the organizers of ARDD 2010 together with those of FD4. It was concluded that efforts to produce more food from less land must form part of an integrated package of interventions (including practices such as conservation agriculture, agroforestry and integrated pest management) aimed at achieving multiple benefits in rural landscapes. To pursue such an approach in spirit and in practice, it was suggested that the forestry and agriculture sectors should perhaps organize a ‘Landscape Weekend’ rather than two separate events at COP17 in South Africa.

For more details of ARDD 2010, see http://www.agricultureday.org/

For more details of Forest Day 4, see http://www.forestsclimatechange.org

For details of the first Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD 2009) held at COP15, see http://bit.ly/hAon9J

Collective Action blog: 2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,600 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 23 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 50 posts. There were 77 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 105mb. That’s about a picture per week.

The busiest day of the year was October 13th with 89 views. The most popular post that day was Rwanda launches Irrigation Master Plan – September Collective Action News.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were ilri.org, ilrinet.ilri.cgiar.org, ictkm.cgiar.org, twitter.com, and farastaff.blogspot.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for ravi prabhu, agriculture in east africa, collective action, copenhagen climate change agriculture, and cgiar reform.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Rwanda launches Irrigation Master Plan – September Collective Action News October 2010

2

What, How and Who – CGMap Ongoing Research in Africa March 2010

3

ICRAF Seminar – The new CGIAR Research Map February 2010
1 comment

4

Climate and agriculture in East Africa: The future is mixed – April Collective Action News May 2009
1 comment

5

Agriculture and Rural Development in the Copenhagen Climate Change Talks – December Collective Action News January 2010

Hope For The Future: Sowing the seeds for agricultural research in Somalia

The CGIAR Regional Collective Action for Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) recently supported the Somali Agricultural Technical Group (SATG) in organizing workshops in Hargeisa and Nairobi to identify ways to promote agricultural research in Somalia. The workshops were held under Flagship Program 4 which aims to enhance food security in ESA countries affected by natural disaster and/or conflict through research-related activities that contribute towards effective and appropriate emergency preparedness,
relief and recovery interventions.

The Hargeisa workshop (23-24 November 2010), focused on the self-declared state of Somaliland and the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. There were over 30 participants from universities, international organisations (FAO and IFAD), local and international NGOs, government ministries, and the private sector. The meeting was opened by the Minister of Agriculture for Somaliland, and included presentations on the institutional contexts in Somaliland and Puntland. Both regions are relatively stable and peaceful, and basic state institutions are functioning, thus providing an enabling environment for sustainable, long-term programmes for agricultural research and development (R&D). Implementing agencies working in the agricultural sector are now focusing on longer-term development, including institutional capacity building. The meeting participants identified four technical priority areas (testing, adaptation and multiplication of appropriate varieties of food and fodder crops; improved crop protection practices; post-harvest technologies; and soil and water conservation). Three institutional priority areas (capacity development; compilation of existing R&D information; and coordination among R&D institutions, both local and regional) were also identified. It was agreed that a Steering Group would be established in Somaliland to coordinate the activities needed to move forward on the priority areas identified.

Meanwhile, the Nairobi workshop (29-30 November 2010), focused on the less stable region of south-central Somalia, where there has been no effective government since 1990, and various NGOs and international organizations provide services to farmers and pastoralists. These include the provision of seed and veterinary supplies, training, rehabilitation of irrigation canals, and post harvest technologies. Seed distribution is a common short-term intervention, but limited effort has been made to assess the agroecological conditions, varietal suitability and technology adaptation to the local context. The Nairobi workshop included over 60 participants, mainly from local NGOs but also including international organisations (FAO, IFDC, WFP, and the MDG Center) and NGOs, Mogadishu University, and the private sector. The latter were particularly interested in the video presentation featuring successful agro dealers from ESA, and confirmed that there are several agro dealers already operating in Somalia, and that they can potentially disseminate new technologies, but constraints of quality control and technical capacity must first be addressed. It was agreed that a follow-up meeting of the key players would be convened to discuss in more detail how a technology testing and transfer system can be operationalized for south-central Somalia.

Participants at both workshops noted the important role of CGIAR centers in providing technologies suitable for testing in Somalia, and sought the assistance of SATG in facilitating linkages to CGIAR centers and other regional and international research organizations. SATG was also requested to support project development and resource mobilization to address the identified priority intervention areas.

For more details, please contact Dr Hussein Haji (hhaji@satg.org) or Kate Longley (k.longley@cgiar.org). Additional information is available at www.satg.org.

Mapping Agriculture Research Projects: The Redesigned CGIAR Ongoing Research Now Online

CGIAR Ongoing Research (http://ongoing-research.cgiar.org/) has been redesigned. The Research Map now has over 400 on-going research projects of the CGIAR and makes research information accessible, facilitates information and knowledge sharing and collaboration.

The redesign has been mainly influenced by feedback from users, who are at the centre of the Map, as well as by our own quality improvement goals. The Research Map now includes features that encourage re-usability and better searchability of information. Among the features that you will find in the map: RSS feeds, Embed maps, downloadable project reports, Ongoing Research News, “Ask a question” dialogue box for more interaction with the people responsible for the projects.

From covering research work in various African countries, the map has now been expanded to include projects in other regions where there is a CG presence: information from these areas is in the process of being updated.

5 key ways of using the map

1.   Map projects by research area, lead Center or time
Build a map with projects in a given research area ranging from climate change, market access to crops and livestock or led by a specific Center. Fine tune your search to cover a specific time period. Click the ‘View as list’ option and zero in on the projects in a specific country.

2.     Find project details
Informative yet compact factsheets provide you with the names of people involved in the various projects: principal investigator, scientists and partners. Related links to Medium Term Plan projects in CGMap and other online information enable you to learn more about the projects.

3.     Want to know more? Click, search and interact
The map’s clickable keywords enable you to access a list of related projects. Interested in more projects on a particular field or carried out by a specific scientist? Click on the linked words in the factsheet to view similar information in the Ongoing Research projects. Interested in more details? Use the ‘Ask a question’ box on the project factsheet.

4.     Reuse information
Customize and build a map for your own website or other application that reflects your selection and choice of information, simply by using the HTML code generated via the ‘Embed this Map’ option. Download and save in excel project factsheets for further analysis and review. The RSS feeds can be used to import and aggregate project information in Intranets, systems and websites.

5.     Always stay updated
Subscribe today to the RSS feeds and keep up to date with the latest research work.

For more information review the Frequently Asked Questions

To contribute project information and any other feedback send a message to Evelyn Katingi (e.katingi@cgiar.org)

For technical support, contact cgmap-support@cgiar.org

CGIAR Ongoing Research is the result of a collaborative effort between Collective Action in Eastern and Southern Africa and the ICT-KM Program of the CGIAR.

The premier focal persons workshop for the CGIAR Ongoing Research Map

The CGIAR Ongoing Research in Africa Map whose beta version was re-launched in February 2010 has recorded tremendous growth in the number of projects entered as well as the number of users. Currently there are 387 projects registered in the map.

A lot of feedback on the need to reuse the information and more interactive features in the map has been received over the months and this led the entire team which is the CG Collective Action Program in Eastern and Southern Africa and the ICT-KM Program of the CGIAR to review the system and later decided to migrate the website’s content and functionality to a Content Management System (CMS) from the current development framework that will see the incorporation of features that will facilitate the reuse of information and increase sustainability in terms of system maintenance and future extension as well as new look and features on the front end.

Why the focal persons meeting?
One of the key attributes of a successful project is the participation from stakeholders in the planning and development of the project, the Ongoing Research Map is built and designed for the users whose need are at the forefront of our development. To this end, we decided to hold a workshop for the various Ongoing Research Map focal persons in the CG Centers who contribute project information from their various CG Centers and who work closely with scientists in their respective Centers to make sure that the information in the map is accurate and up-to-date.

In the collective spirit of learning and sharing knowledge, the AgKnowledge Africa Share Fair at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Ethiopia held on 18-21 October, couldn’t provide a better set up for the two days workshop.

The broad aims of this meeting was to incorporate this particular group of end users at the development phase for a critical user review, evaluation and training of the system, to engage in participative planning in matters related to research information in our centers and of course meet face to face for the first time after months and years of online interaction!

What did we achieve?
After a successful two days workshop we were able to collect a broad range of feedback, both positive and negative, on the system being implemented which will play an important role in the current development phase to ensure that the new look Ongoing Research Map is user friendly, informative and makes browsing and updating research project information the coolest thing to do! The entire team was better equipped with the necessary skills and strength to facilitate information and knowledge dissemination, bonds were strengthened and new ones developed, great ideas on how to plan for the launch generated and overall plenty of learning from one another and knowledge sharing.

The passionate team behind the Map who were present for the workshop.

Ongoing Research Map Workshop Participants

From left to right, standing: Evelyn Katingi (CGIAR Collective Action), Katarlah Taylor (IFPRI), Tiberious Brian Etyang (CIAT), Wubelem Dejene (ILRI), Lucy Gacheru (ILRI), Tezira Lore (ILRI), Anne Munene (ICRAF), Chanchala Kariyawasam (IWMI), Sarah Kibera (CIMMYT)

Seated: Antonella Pastore (CGIAR ICT-KM), Li Ping Ng (CIFOR)

Read related post by Antonella Pastore here and stay tuned for the new look CGIAR Ongoing Research Map!

Rwanda launches Irrigation Master Plan – September Collective Action News

Rwanda’s economy mainly depends on the agricultural sector, particularly food crop production. Poverty reduction therefore largely depends on efforts made on the modernisation of this sector.

Although Rwanda possesses considerable water resources, they are not evenly distributed. For example, while water is abundant in the marshlands, facilities for storing it elsewhere for irrigation purposes are lacking. Farming during dry seasons is thus limited in most parts of Rwanda. Agriculture and livestock in the eastern parts of Rwanda, where rainfall is lowest, are especially affected. This situation created a need for a full, efficient and sustainable exploitation of water resources that can help to ensure the sustainable production of food, cash, export and industrial crops.

One of the best options of achieving food security and improving people’s living conditions is through the use of modern irrigation technologies. It is from this recognition that the government of Rwanda commissioned Ebony Enterprises Limited, an Israeli firm, for the development of an Irrigation Master Plan (IMP) to facilitate the management of water resources, promote irrigation and improve food security. Ebony subsequently partnered with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) to undertake this task in collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) and Rwanda Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). The aim of Rwanda’s IMP is to develop and manage water resources to promote intensive and sustainable irrigated agriculture and improve food security in Rwanda. Specifically, the objective of the IMP is to provide Rwanda with a planning tool for rational exploitation of its soil and water resources as represented by the respective domains (see Figure 1) at both national and district levels. This tool is intended to lead to an increase in crop production for local consumption, as well as to promote production of high-value crops.

In order to produce the IMP, ICRAF developed a flow chart matrix that identifies potential irrigation areas and water sources by mapping biophysical and socioeconomic parameters. Details of this work are provided in the IMP document which was launched on the 17th September 2010 in a ceremony graced by the Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda and the Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr. Agnes Kalibata. In her remarks, Hon. Kalibata, commended ICRAF and Ebony for a job well done. A number of organizations from diplomatic missions, international research institutions, local NGOs and the community were represented during the launch of the IMP.

View full article

 

 

Bronze Medal goes to the Collective Action News!

The Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences conferred the Bronze Medal in the Newsletters Class of the 2010 Awards to Collective Action News – the monthly e-newsletter of the Collective Action Program.

Produced to alert agricultural researchers and professionals in Africa to the importance of collective action in research , the newsletter seeks to highlight successful cases of such collective action.

The target audience include agricultural researchers working in the Alliance of the CGIAR centres, staff in partner organisations (regional and national agricultural research institutes; NGOs, the private sector), donors, government policy advisers, among others. While the audience is primarily in Africa, the newsletter is also sent to readers in other continents who have an interest in these issues in Africa.

The newsletter reaches approximately 10,000 recipients, and is disseminated electronically – through email and on the Regional Plan website. Readers can easily forward it to others – the publication is generally limited to one page, and the PDF averages just half an MB. Relevant contacts are added onto the mailing list on a regular basis, and the newsletter is sent to Communications professionals in all CG Centres, with a request to circulate it to all staff in their centres and widely within their networks.

Reactions from readers, and the willingness to write lead articles and place newsbytes indicates that the publication is well received and is achieving its objectives.

Feedback from updates on CGMap Ongoing Research in Africa

One of the challenges in the Ongoing Research map has been convincing scientists on the advantages of updating and sharing information in the map. I recently sent out an update on: awareness creation, database growth, information contribution as well as future development plans, here is some of the feedback received from the map contributors;

• This is very nice indeed. I had not visited the site for some time and am surprised how much it has evolved. Henry Neufeldt, ICRAF

• Just checked out the site and it really is a wealth of information well put together. Andrew Mude, ILRI

• Congratulation for the great job you are doing and for your contribution in bringing together so many different experiences. Carlo Fadda, Bioversity

• Thanks very much. This is useful. James Sackey, IFPRI

• It is indeed a relevant site and well organized with huge information. Negussie Zenna, AfricaRice

• The CG requests more and more work from each project leader but do not provide funds to cover the time necessary to deliver these requests. Christophe Bene, WorldFish

• Thanks for the update. Is it possible to get information on the projects working on ag and health? Delia Grace, ILRI

• Thanks for the update which I find important in keeping me informed on the dynamics of the CGIAR.  Jeremias Mowo, ICRAF

While the challenge still exists, there has been positive feedback on the usability and functions of the map including specific information being sought for.

To go to the Map click here

To read more of the database growth click here

South Africa to Burkina Faso: African Agricultural Innovation in a Changing Global Environment

This was the theme that brought together more than 700 hundred diverse participants for the 5th Agriculture Science Week and Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) General Assembly, held 19-24 July 2010 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The FARA Science Week has become a major event in the African agriculture scene and has successfully expanded its stakeholder base beyond the national agricultural research systems to include NGO, government, farmer organization and some private sector participants, as well as several ministers of agriculture.

One of the highlights of the week was the discussion on the role of the private sector in implementing the activities of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). A panel composed of various ministers of agriculture, among others, said that – rather than wait for external support – African countries need to provide structured leadership in agriculture, form thematic groups, and mobilize resources.

The increasing interest in South-South cooperation and partnership was evident by the launch of the Africa-Brazil Agriculture Marketplace. This initiative seeks to promote knowledge exchange, promote investment and support agriculture research and development in the two regions. Up to seven joint project proposals are expected to be selected in October for funding.

The need for access to knowledge, formation of partnerships and adequate allocation of resources to communication, as well as the coordination of regional agriculture research was echoed by various presenters. The CGIAR Collective Action’s CGMap Ongoing Research in Africa, which responds to these needs, demonstrated the use of the map at one of the week’s events. Participants commended the CG for its efforts in sharing and opening up its research activities, and there was interest in the adoption of the map and the use of the tool to synchronize agriculture information in Africa.

The week saw a diversity of side events – nearly 30 in total – many of which were proposed and facilitated by the stakeholders. Among the many side events there was one on technological foresight, and one on an assessment of lessons learnt from the sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program. A side event organized by ILRI, WorldFish, CIAT and ICARDA to help shape the new CGIAR mega program on livestock and fish attracted many participants and allowed for valuable
partner interactions.

The general mood of the week was one of things happening and opportunities to be captured: Africa’s economies are growing; important infrastructural investments (ports, roads, railways, internet, etc) are taking place; and direct foreign investment is picking up, particularly with the interest of foreign investors in large scale commercial farming. At the political level the CAADP compacts are being signed by more and more African countries, and advancing regional economic integration is creating new market opportunities. Overall, the FARA Science Week presented a very positive picture about the development of Africa’s agricultural sector.

More highlights of the FARA Science week can be found here: http://faraweek2010.blogspot.com/

Collective Action on a higher notch!

With our common goal of fighting poverty and making concrete efforts to synergise and work more closely together, this year’s 5^th Agriculture Science Week and Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) General Assembly saw the CGIAR Centers collectively come together and showcase their work under one large CGIAR booth. Approximately 40 exhibitors participated in the marketplace from July 19-24, 2010, and the CGIAR stood out not only as a successful one-but as a successful collective!

How was this possible? An initial call from the CGIAR Fund Office was made to all Centers informing them of the idea of having one grand stand as opposed to different Centers having separate stands at the event and collectively displaying our work. CGIAR Centers responded enthusiastically to this call and organized their materials to be sent to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso where the event was held.

Danielle Lucca (CGIAR Fund Office) and Muthoni Njiru (ILRI/Nairobi) worked together to develop a series of large bilingual posters containing impact stories of CGIAR work in Africa. Text was prepared by Nathan Russell (CGIAR Fund Office/CIMMYT). Once the text was final it was translated into French and photos were chosen to illustrate the 12 stories. All text and photos were sent to ILRI for desktopping. ILRI staff then developed attractive large-scale artwork and printed the panels in-house for shipping to Ouagadougou.

After flying in to Ouagadougou from various parts of the world, our “booth babes” Danielle, Nadia Manning-Thomas (ICT-KM) and myself -Evelyn Katingi- set up the booth with the panels and Centers’ publications. An extra large monitor played videos from Centers and also displayed web-based programs such as Ongoing Research in Africa.  On July 19^th the show was ready to roll thanks to our super crew.

Many visitors stopped by the booth to pick up information from the Centers’ publications collections and to play the “Name that Grain” game, a popular crowed-gatherer.  The games requires that players correctly identify 12 grains and cereals on a display board. If all responses are correct, the prize is a CGIAR cap.  Some of those who visited the stand included Dennis Garrity and Carlos Sere the DG’s of World Agroforestry and ILRI respectively, scientists from ICRISAT, IITA, AfricaRice, ILRI, CGIAR Fund Council Executive Director and representatives from other African organizations and local Burkina Faso agencies.  Being a common booth under the CGIAR name, Centres made use of it for promoting their work, an example being CIP’s Lieven Claessen who made use of the booth and its equipment to show visitors CIP’s video “The Orange Revolution” on the orange fleshed sweet potato in Mozambique on the large monitor screen.  The screen was also used to demonstrate CGMap Ongoing Research in Africa.

The common booth was also useful in showing what the CGIAR is all about. It was able to reflect the overarching system, but also the diversity of research efforts being carried out by the individual Centres. We noted that there was a large demand for more CGIAR publications to be available in French.

As the printers quieten and everyone returns to their work stations, we reflect on some of the achievements that can be gained by working together, including more effective utilisation of resources, formation of partnerships, enhancement of team work and more cohesion.

An applaudable effort by the CGIAR Centers!

By Danielle Lucaa, Nadia Manning-Thomas and Evelyn Katingi

Share Fair on Networking Tools – 5th Agriculture Science Week and Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) General Assembly

The share fair on networking tools was a side event organised by task force of RAILS and DONATA at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso the venue for this year’s Agriculture Science Week where I presented CGMap Ongoing Research in Africa (http://ongoing-research.cgiar.org/) on Monday 19th in a session on Tools to facilitate synergies among partners of similar interests.

The objectives of this meeting were

1. Learn and share co-creation and co-learning concepts to build and strengthen knowledge networks
2. Provide space for FARA’s national partners to share networking tools used to coordinate, facilitate or manage country platforms.
3. Listen and learn from international initiatives on how they empower local communities across Africa
4. Understand how research knowledge can compliment local, regional and continental initiatives

Why CGMap Ongoing Research in Africa?

1. big numbers of disparate information management systems in the CG

2. little or no integration or coordination

3. clearer picture of the research in the region

4. Reduce unhealthy competition

5. Reduce redundancy and overlap

Ongoing Research in Africa has information on the projects done by the CGIAR Centers in Africa, with details including: who the project scientists are, what the project time line is, who are the project partners and external links to related websites and documents among others. Currently there are 309 projects listed in the map representing an average 86% of the information from all CGIAR Centers.

Some of the experiences in developing the tool

• Difficulties in changing working cultures
• Lack of tangible incentives to facilitate information and knowledge sharing
• Diverse information need, thus the importance to focus on a particular area where there is an information gap to be filled
• Agriculture information and knowledge sharing has not yet been widely adopted and put into practice

The presentation elicited a lot of positive interest and comments from the audience with many complementing the CG for this effort. There was a call for us to extend the lessons and experiences learnt to our partners in NARs and other development organizations.

Outcomes from the interactive discussion also include the below set of issues that need to be addressed to facilitate information sharing of the innovation complied by Krishan Beenick of SADC

1. Documentation of the process of development of the innovative tool as a learning resource
2. Description of the approach, methods, standards and protocols used enable evaluation by others prior to adoption
3. Availability of the tool as a generic approach for use by other stakeholders (Creative Commons)
4. Possible linkages of the innovative tool to other tools with similar concepts and purpose
5. Offering a platform for further discussion on potential refinements and applications of the innovative use of technology

With this as a starting point, we intend to monitor the use and demands of the resource while extending the positive aspects of the map to our partners with the hope of having a linked information system of agriculture research that is done in Africa not only by the CGIAR but by all research partners!

Click here for CGIAR post of FARA; http://www.cgiar.org/meetings/fara2010/index.html

ICT-KM Blog entry; http://ictkm.cgiar.org/2010/07/26/african-carrots-results-of-a-consultation-at-the-african-agriculture-science-week/

Developing Africa’s Agricultural Markets – June Collective Action News

In May 2009, 150 of the world’s leading market experts gathered in Nairobi, Kenya to consider how governments, donors and other stakeholders could improve Africa’s national and regional agricultural markets. Their goal was to identify and recommend priority actions for achieving more efficient and effective markets that would contribute to poverty reduction and economic development throughout the continent.

The Conference, organized by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, (AGRA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), comprised a wide range of representatives from the African agricultural value chain.

Participants considered interventions that have improved African markets as well as actions and policies that have undermined them. Overall, the experts concurred that no single institution or group of special interest stakeholders could resolve the array of problems afflicting Africa’s agricultural markets. Participants called for a range of efforts that would dramatically scale up proven interventions and test new ideas and approaches that would unleash the capacity of African agriculture to improve livelihoods and drive economic growth.

Among the many recommendations made for priority action was the need to encourage innovations that improve market efficiency and more fully integrate small-scale agro-entrepreneurs into marketing processes. Another recommendation was to support the provision of financial services to small-scale agro-enterprises and smallholder farmers – especially women – and the channeling of “smart subsidies” for farmers and small agro-businesses through private sector input suppliers in order to create market demand.

Download full article

The story behind CGMap and Ongoing Research in Africa

While the number of projects being added to Ongoing Research in Africa map have been soaring over the last few months, with over 300 projects from most of  the 15 CGIAR Centers now listed and more being added, as well as more and more people visiting the site for numerous reasons, this article aims at improving the clarity on what the map is all about. Being a collaborative effort between the ICT-KM Program of the CGIAR and CGIAR Collective Action in East and Southern Africa, Ongoing Research in Africa map shows one in a rich geographical interface which projects are carried out by the CGIAR in Africa, who is carrying out the projects, together with other key project information.

In her two-part post series Antonella Pastore, the CGXchange project coordinator of ICT-KM looks deeply at the complementarity and difference of CGMap and CGMap Ongoing Research in Africa, the two information management systems supported by ICT-KM.

Just a tip of what she says in her blog articles;

The MTP project (information in CGMaP) is used by the CGIAR to have the research agenda approved and funded by bodies who were in charge of approving plans and budgets. Ongoing Research in Africa map is a place and a way to show what the CGIAR is doing.

While CGMap’s medium-term research plans provide the official umbrellas under which projects in the field are going to be implemented, Ongoing Research contains information about the research projects through which these plans are being implemented. CGMap focuses on Center and Program research plans over three-year terms, and Ongoing Research focuses on who is doing what now, where and with whom.

Read more of this very informative two-part series in the below links;

CGMap and Ongoing Research: what’s up with projects in the CGIAR -

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

2010 International Day of Biodiversity celebrations – May Collective Action News

In collaboration with national and international partners, Bioversity International launched a campaign ‘Diversity for Life’ on 22 May 2008 (the International Day of Biodiversity) leading to and culminating in the International Year of Biodiversity, 2010. The campaign is raising awareness of the role that agricultural biodiversity plays in the lives of people.

To focus the world’s attention on the importance biodiversity plays in sustaining life, the United Nations proclaimed 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). In Africa, where food insecurity threatens the lives of many people in the midst of a large diversity of agricultural biodiversity resources, the year 2010 presents a unique opportunity to highlight the need for the conservation and use of these resources to feed Africa’s populations.

The official celebrations marking the International Day of Biodiversity (IDB),(22nd May,- celebrated worldwide every year) were officiated by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Secretariat of Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), National Museums of Kenya (NMK), Bioversity International, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture of Kenya. National and international delegates to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological ADVICE (SBSTTA 141) meeting in Nairobi, researchers, students and the general public attended the event.

As part of the celebrations of the IYB 2010 special events were held at the NMK. These included the Guardians of biodiversity exhibition, a tented exhibition and a lecture. The “Guardians of Biodiversity “ comprises photographs and captions on the work of farmers, communities and researchers who are role models in the conservation of agricultural biodiversity resources. It is jointly organised by the CGIAR and Bioversity International and will run for three months at the Museums hall. A similar exhibition is also on display in Italy. The ‘Guardians’ are people who are dedicated to safeguarding and using agricultural biodiversity to improve their lives and those of others. Their passion for agricultural diversity is helping to create a healthier, more food secure world…Read more

Ongoing Research Map & the Cali, Columbia knowledge share fair May 2010

Huber 1991, notes that many organizations do not know what they know because they have weak systems for locating and distributing their knowledge.

The CGIAR is making great efforts to conquer this, one way is by the use of CGMap Ongoing Research in Africa, a map of projects being carried out by the CGIAR.
The map was selected as an entry for the Knowledge Share Fair in Cali that is currently taking place, one of the objectives of the share fair is to encourage sharing and learning from each others’ good practices.

In part, this is why this innovation was selected.

What knowledge sharing tools and methods did you use in your project or initiative, and how?

The system was upgraded from the initial desktop application to an interactive web database (February 2009), allowing for multiple users from across the globe to input and access research information.

The software used to design the Map (Linux, MySQL and Sympony) and agile software development allowed for iterative development to incorporate new changes coming from user feedbacks throughout the development phase while at the same time providing a cost efficient method. This choice of software also created a platform that allows for co-ownership of information among various information contributors where each was given rights to update, edit project information and invite other contributors. Further with the option for users to send messages to project scientists directly from the system, the door to online collaboration has been much widened.

Finally, newsletters, seminars, email messaging and social media tools like blogs were utilised to reach different audiences.

What were the main challenges and issues (what worked and what didn’t work) and how these were addressed? If you worked in collaboration with other organizations, please provide your reflections on this aspect as well.

Big numbers of disparate information management system in the CG with little or no integration between them resulted in centers working independently for a long time. Trying to build a system that can accommodate the varying differences and standardizing this information was the greatest challenge. By involving different key people and users in the centers in the development of the tool and distributing user roles, tremendous steps have been made to overcome this challenge.

Through collaboration with the ICT-KM Program of the CGIAR we have been able to apply the latest technology to build the system and apply a wide range of expertise support bringing in a rich and wide exchange of ideas which facilitated the speedy delivery of the system.

With the tremendous development and growth of ICTs and their use in knowledge sharing it is important that we have mechanisms that can be able to re-use this information, aggregate it and provide opportunities for synergy in agriculture development. As opposed to have 15 CGIAR websites providing similar information, Ongoing Research Map provides all this information in just one website  http:\\ongoing-research.cgiar.org