In its third and last e-consultation week, LAC invited to a Webinar with Eduardo Trigo

In its third and last e-consultation week, the LAC team invites participants to contribute with thoughts and closing remarks for the event, as a means to link it with the process of preparing GCARD, to be held in March, 2010:

“The second week summary prepared by Dr. Eduardo Trigo is available. The summary indicates in his General Comments that participants understand that the priorities identified in the document “Key Issues” accurately reflect what should be the direction of Agricultural Research in Latin America and the Caribbean. Eduardo Trigo also presents his “Considerations on Specific Subjects” listed in the e-consultation, all mentioned also among the “Key Issues”.
These subjects are: Family farming, Climate change, genetic resources, utilization of technology, expanding the agricultural frontier and water management, integrated pest management and biological control, agro-energy and bio-economics, human resources and way of doing things.

This week will be focus our discussion on this document and trying to answer the following questions:

In your opinion the document presented by Dr. Trigo:

• Addresses in adequate manner the contributions participants rise in the “Key Issues”?
• Requires to incorporate other issues?
• Could you point out 3 specific issues that should be considered as priorities for Agricultural Research in your country or region?

A web conference was delivered by Dr. Eduardo Trigo today with 85 participants. Stay tuned for further updates.

Europe offers a draft synthesis of its recently closed e-consultation

The 115 messages of the European e-consultation helped to illustrate and develop many findings of the Review. New ideas have been put forward. The results will be discussed at a meeting organised by EFARD in Brussels on Tuesday 29 September 2009.

• Download the draft synthesis of the consultation.
• Download a power point slide show with the key messages.

Participants were invited to close the consultation with their perceptions on “key challenges in development and where to focus research”. Here are some ideas that we heard:

• Poverty: Multi-dimensional analysis of poverty and social exclusion.
• Social Networks and its role in poverty alleviation.
• Nutrition: How to better improve links between agriculture & nutrition issues.
• Plant science: Research on locally valuable plant species; Review of the Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) procedures and legal frameworks; knowledge transfer for organic horticulture or open discussions about GMO plants; development of a surveillance and risk assessment system for crop pests, diseases and invasive species; Global Hort – global initiative on horticulture.
• Forestry and landscape: landscapes management, including the role of forests
• Soil and water conservation

Other ideas include multifunctionality of agriculture, investments in Africa’s Agricultural Information Systems or Food waste in developed countries

On “changes and tools needed in the agricultural research systems”, participants refered to:

• Education: Agricultural education- How to harness creative ideas from young generation and to reform in primary and secondary education?
• Stakeholders and their relations: The critical role of extension and advisory services in Agriculture for Development;  Improve stakeholders participation in the research process through participatory approach; Adoption of Technological Innovation for Agricultural Production and Sustainable Rural Viability; Organizing the complementarities and synergies between the different research actors, including the private sector; How can we bridge the gap between research and farmers?
• Accessibility of research output: Accessibility of research output by smallholders; Are top researchers best to impact on poverty?
• Research evaluation: How to make impact delivery more visible and powerful in research evaluation & assessment and becoming an incentive for researchers?
• Dialogue: The need for more dialogue on issues of ARD and its linkages with the rest of the agriculture knowledge system.

Finally, several key issues for the discussion on the “major barriers to bring research into use” have been suggested:

1. The lack of liaison between agricultural research and broader development efforts.
2. The lack of involvement of users of research results in the definition and implementation of research.
3. The weakness of research institutions in many countries and the lack of researchers, in particular of young and female trained staff (particularly acute in most of Sub-Saharan Africa).
4. Agricultural research conceived and implemented in isolation from research in other development areas (health, energy, and environment) when interactions are important and directly affect impacts in each sector.
5. Agricultural research conceived and implemented in isolation from of investments in agriculture.

Summary of E-Consultation of West Asia and North Africa (WANA) Region

The WANA team shares with us the final summary of the e-consultation.

• Download full summary which contains in addition to the below a listing of regional challenges and researchable and development issues.

“The total Participants were 180 from: Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab of Emirates and Yemen in addition to some guests of WANNA region. About 150 messages have been received from about 85 participants.

Main points in the discussions:

The points in the discussion could be summarized as follows:

1. Food security, food safety and water scarcity: One of the main discussions was about water scarcity and food security as main problems facing the region. The participants have mentioned the need to improve water use efficiency, finding suitable alternative environment friendly crops that tolerate to drought and salinity and capable to give better economic returns.
2. Linkage between research, extension and farmers in the region: Many of participants have mentioned that there is a weak relation and also a gap in this regard. They have expressed the need of sharing knowledge between these three groups. This linkage needs to be addressed in relation to technology uptake and adoption. In fact, lack of integration partly explains the low adoption rates of improved technologies in dry areas.
3. Polices and strategies: The discussion reflects the need to develop clear polices and strategies for agricultural research, identifying areas and priorities of research. It has been mentioned that research in most countries in the region is still traditional; there is a lack of vision in setting research policies and priorities, and there needs to be a distinction between research policies (which include research prioritization and funding) and enabling policy and institutional options to enhance the uptake and adoption of improved technologies and practices. The participants emphasized that the policies and institutions should go side by side with the development of the technologies and integrated within the research process.
4. Innovation: There were varying opinions leading to general discussion about the innovation. Based on different opinion we could define the innovation in Agriculture as: It is the results of the events/ experiments/ investigations for the successful implementation of creative ideas to do something or solve problem related to the agriculture that have allowed the sector to increase both the quantity and quality of products available to consumers, while freeing up labor, land and other resources for use elsewhere in the economy. A successful innovation should be appropriate, sustainable, cost-effective, and more importantly acceptable by the end users (farmers, stakeholders).  Innovation is mostly a multidisciplinary and multi stakeholder and is a process rather than an action or operation.
5. Importance of regional cooperation, networking and knowledge sharing: Use and exchange of research information, through strengthening the national agricultural research information systems to strengthen the regional and international information systems and regional networks.
6. Livestock and trans-boundary animal and plan: There  was discussion in respect of the institutional arrangements and internationally recognized norms put in place, i.e. OIE rules. The concern in view of the increased cross-border animal movement and the ever emergence of new animal and plant diseases was also discussed.
7. Salinization: discussion was about losing more and more land due to soil and water salinization and the quick response must to be taken to stop more fertile land going out of agricultural process.
8. Climatic change: Nowadays climate change is taking larger attention than before, whereas the indicators show that the climate change will affect agricultural production and food security, and its negative impacts are expected to be more severe in dry areas including WANA region and
   threatening particularly food security of the poor.
9. Standard of Living of Farmers: Improving standards of living of farmers and tackling local problems through solving these problems which leading to increase the productivity of agricultural sector.
10. Plant Genetic resources: TO develop mechanisms to preserve plant genetic resources and establishing “Genetic Banks”.
11. Land degradation and combating desertification: This is a very serous issue in the WANA region; this complex phenomenon is still threatening the survival of the human civilization in many parts of the arid and semi arid region.
12. Increasing agricultural productivity: Agricultural productivity per unit area in both irrigation and rainfed sector is still low in many countries of the region. More integrated farming system approach should be adopted in research and technology development.
13. Information Technology: There was discussion on the application of regional management of fisheries status which requires online reports that depends on the data to be collected by a continuous monitoring program. Internet can provide the base for an electronic program which will utilize data and will provide online management reports.
14. Satellite Remote Sensing data: Agricultural Initiated RS/GIS applications in the sector of agriculture and natural resources have been highlighted by the participants.
15. Plant Protection: The issue of integrated pest management has been highlighted in the discussions.
16. Rural development and empowering the women in the rural areas: These issues have been reviewed in this e-conference.

From the above points of discussions the challenges and modification of researchable and development issues have been formulated as mentioned in the full summary.”

In Memory of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug

Norman E. Borlaug (March 25, 1914 – September 12, 2009)

by Adel El-Beltagy
Chair, Global Forum on Agricultural Research

“It is very sad for the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) Constituency that Dr. Norman Ernest Borlaug (March 25, 1914 – September 12, 2009) is no more with us. Dr. Borlaug was the world’s foremost agricultural scientist and a renowned humanitarian. Dr. Borlaug was one of only six people to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the American Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. He was also a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour and several other awards from all over the world.

Coming from the humble roots of a farming family and a rural upbringing in Wisconsin, USA, Dr. Borlaug received his Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He took up an agricultural research position in Mexico, where he developed semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties. This led to the beginning of the Asian Green Revolution and the Indian Sub-Continent becoming more resilient in food production and ultimately becoming net food exporter. Dr. Borlaug’s contributions to agricultural development have been estimated to have saved over one billion lives worldwide.

At his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Borlaug speculated: “When the Nobel Peace Prize Committee designated me the recipient of the 1970 award for my contribution to the ‘green revolution’, they were in effect, I believe, selecting an individual to symbolize the vital role of agriculture and food production in a world that is hungry, both for bread and for peace” which illustrates his contribution to the world as a scientist and humanitarian.

Dr Borlaug’s ability to inspire young people to get involved in agricultural research and development and to work tirelessly in their endeavour to make agriculture more productive the world over is a legacy we cannot ever forget. Many of us at GFAR had personal acquaintance with him and I am sure all of us would say that he inspired us very deeply.

Dr. Borlaug with John Ruan established the World Food Prize to recognize – without regard to race, religion, nationality, or political beliefs – the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. I had the honour to regularly attend the various events around the award of this prize and especially in its Youth Programs.

I witnessed through three decades on different occasions the interventions of Dr. Borlaug which resulted in improvement in wheat as well agricultural development. I remember vividly late in 2005 when he phoned me, when I was Director-General of ICARDA, to join with my colleague, the Director General of CIMMYT, the US and FAO in the global initiative to prevent a pandemic and to produce cultivars resistant to UG 99.  This initiative is now known as the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI).

He was keen to build capacity of young wheat breeders and he accepted to establish the now Norman Borlaug – Robert Havener Centre for Wheat Breeding at ICARDA to build the capacity of scientists in the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA).

We were expecting Dr. Borlaug to be with us at the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) in Montpellier, France in March 2010. We were informed that he had not been keeping good health just a few weeks ago. We shall miss you, Norman.

Rest in peace, old warrior. You deserve it. But be assured, we will continue your good work.”

GFAR welcomes everyone in its constituency to post their remembrances of Norman Borlaug in the GFAR forum  (http://www.egfar.org/egfar/website/opensite/forums) entitled “Norman E. Borlaug (March 25, 1914 – September 12 2009)”. We also encourage you to send us photographs, articles, links, or anecdotes in remembrance of Dr. Borlaug, which will be published on the e-GFAR’s page   (http://www.egfar.org/egfar/website/new/newspage?contentId=2917) dedicated to the memory of Dr. Borlaug.

The CGIAR suggests seven Mega-Programs and two cross-cutting platforms for its strategy

In a very recent update on the CGIAR reform, the CGIAR chair Kathy Sierra mentions among others the good start of the GCARD process, as well as a new progress report on the Strategy and Results Framework and Mega-Programs.

This document —a work in progress— outlines a strategy “orientated to results at scale” and suggests the establishments of 7 Mega-Programs defined as “major research efforts reaching across CGIAR centers and their partners that promise to make a major difference to achievement of global development goals.”

The 7 suggested Mega-Programs are:

1. Crop Germplasm Conservation, Enhancement, and  Use
2. Diets, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health
3. Institutional Innovation, ICTs, and Markets
4. Climate Change and Agriculture
5. Agricultural Systems for the Poor and Vulnerable
6. Water, Soils, and Ecosystems
7. Forests and Biomass

In addition the creation of two cross-cutting platforms is suggested.
1.    A Global Platform on gender in Agriculture
2.    A Global Platform on capacity Building

On the latter, it is mentioned that “the design of this cross-cutting program will be a joint effort between the CGIAR and its research partners, represented by GFAR and its constituency. “

The Alliance of the CGIAR invites for comments on this document at: http://alliance.cgxchange.org/strategy-and-results-framework-and-mega-programs