Part II
Pursuing the Vision and Strategy

Capacity Building

ICRISAT is committed to make a major cross-disciplinary contribution to the capacity development of its partners. This has been extensively articulated in Part I but in Part II it is inculcated into all research fields described from Chapters 1-6 using the 2005 CGIAR Systems Priority document as the exemplar.

Chapter 1

Improving policies and facilitating institutional innovation
to support sustainable reduction of poverty and hunger (System Priority 5)

Science and technology are the most important drivers of productivity enhancement. The experience of the green revolution in several developing countries during the second half of twentieth century has shown that total factor productivity grew at an impressive pace in these countries. It has also caused a decline in the real costs of production per unit of output. Intensification of agriculture has also led to the generation of additional employment and to increases in real wages. Increased real wages and reduced real prices of food together had a strong impact on the reduction of poverty. All these positive developments occurred as a result of technological innovations developed by the International Agricultural Research Centers, which were later fine-tuned and adapted to local conditions by the National Agricultural Research Systems. Several governmental and non-governmental agencies aided in taking technologies to farmers and several supporting institutions and policies facilitated the processes of development. Rates of returns on the R&D investments were estimated to be quite high. These processes need to be carried forward with renewed vigor to achieve the CGIAR and Millennium Development Goals.

Improving incentives for technology generation, access and use (Priority 5A: Specific goal 3)

A key intervention point is in developing strategic interventions and best practices for seed systems development in the SAT and supportive policies that facilitate trading and marketing of seeds across national boundaries, including harmonization of seed regulations and policies, especially variety registration, seed quality and certification procedures. This has the advantage of creating new incentives in terms of better economies of scale and scope for the emergence and participation of the private seed industry in seed supply and marketing. This has the potential to complement the weaker public sector seed enterprises in the region and create opportunities for farmer entrepreneurs and small rural agro-enterprises to participate in the seed production and marketing in rural areas.

Improving food and nutritional security and combating poverty in the region would depend on policies and institutions that influence the capacity of national systems to generate or adapt technologies to local conditions and develop delivery systems for their widespread adoption. The national systems in many countries however remain weak and require substantial support in developing research priorities and intervention strategies to harness available and emerging technological and market opportunities. Lack of investment in agriculture in the semi-arid areas and its low productivity is partly because of lack of enabling policy and institutional frameworks that make it less favored for sustainable intensification and development. Research for science and technology polices and institutions is needed for facilitating technology exchange; harmonization of seed sector policies; incentive systems that enhance R&D investments in dryland agriculture; development of regulatory systems for harnessing new technologies including bio-safety and food labeling; and provision of information on the changing environment and alternative futures for SAT agriculture environment.

What ICRISAT and its partners can achieve by 2015

ICRISAT and its partners can hope to achieve an enhanced policy and institutional environment for accelerated investment in SAT agriculture that would contribute towards generation and adoption of better suited technologies and increase in farm incomes and nutritional security for the poor. This may be achieved through a strategy that focuses on the following aspects:

• Harmonization of seed sector policies
• Facilitating public-private sector alliances for innovation
• Development of regulatory systems for harnessing new technologies
• Future commodity outlooks and investment priorities

Outputs and outcomes to 2015

Outputs

• Best practices for harmonization of seed-related regulations and policies suitable for the specific conditions of the SADC and ASARECA regions piloted, promoted and adopted. This would include harmonization of protocols related to (i) variety evaluation, release and registration, (ii) seed certification, (iii) phytosanitary regulations, (iv) plant variety protection, (v) laws and regulations governing development of the seed trade.
• Innovative approaches for generation and utilization of new agricultural technologies and for facilitating innovation identified and promoted
• Mechanisms for enhancing the utilization and market and non-market based exchange of germplasm developed and promoted
• Bio-safety standards and food safety regulations developed and promoted

Outcomes

• Partners and policy makers internalize and take initial steps to harmonize protocols related to (i) variety evaluation, release and registration, (ii) seed certification, (iii) phytosanitary regulations, (iv) plant variety protection, (v) laws and regulations governing development of the seed trade
• Policy makers and NARS in the SAT endorse and implement best practices for harmonization of seed-related regulations and policies at regional level.
• Research and development stakeholders adopt innovative approaches and consortium models for generation and utilization of new agricultural technologies
• Countries in the SAT appreciate and endorse an agreed mechanisms for enhancing the utilization and market and non-market based exchange of germplasm to promote conservation agriculture
• Countries in the region recognize the need for bio-safety standards and food safety regulations and take steps to develop and implement them.

Potential impact: The regulation of the seed industry, particularly if harmonized at a regional level could have a very great influence on farmer's access to improved genetic material. This is presently a major constraint to development and if it can be overcome it will be hugely beneficial.

Predominant capability: ICRISAT has taken a leading role in facilitating regionalized breeding and harmonization of seed policies. It has gained experience and credibility as a neutral facilitator of knowledge-based policy reforms in the agricultural sector. It has also a strong presence in biotech research that would help in developing bio-safety rules for ensuring food and environmental safety, and the associated social, economic and ethical concerns. ICRISAT also has also established essential partnerships (e.g., IFPRI, FAO) for evaluating alternative futures for dryland agriculture in the semi-arid tropics.

Counterfactual: If ICRISAT's closes its activities in this area, the evolving momentum on harmonization of seed policies will be derailed or countries will fail to capitalize on the benefits of collective action in the regionalized breeding. Hence the anticipated research spillover benefits will not be realized. Improved seeds will largely remain in the informal sector, private sector participation in seed commercialization will remain at its infancy, and the poor smallholders will continue to lack access to improved agricultural technologies.

Enhancing the structure, conduct and performance of knowledge-intensive institutions (Priority 5A: Specific goal 5)

A set of outputs will be produced from this initiative including intensive capacity building through collaboration with SAT Asia and Africa regional and international researchers. Policy dialogues with governments on research priorities, institutional innovations and policy will be catalyzed.

Outputs and outcomes to 2015

Outputs :

• Participatory, pro-poor Monitoring and Evaluation models (to measure impacts on the poor) developed for each research area i.e., agro-ecosystems, biotechnology, crop improvement and social sciences and applied to research projects by ICRISAT and its partners.
• Three models based on a coalition approach applying principles and methodologies of institutional learning and change (ILAC) developed, documented and implemented in select SAT countries with global and national partners
• Novel decision support systems and the required database on SAT agriculture developed for NARES and regional/global organizations for prioritization, investment decisions, monitoring and evaluation and technology forecasting developed and tested and further refinement and enrichment of the databases and support systems.
• Future outlooks for dryland agriculture, targeted research priorities and impact evaluation methodologies developed and shared with national and sub-regional agricultural research systems

Outcomes:

• NARS refine models and test their application in three countries.
• Impacts of research by partners on the incomes and employment of poor farmers and agricultural labor quantified by local agencies.
• Three alternate models of Institutional Learning And Change (ILAC) used and adapted by partner institutions in the NARES in selected Asian and sub-Saharan African countries
• NARES partner institutions demonstrate benefits from improved and participatory methods of technology development and adaptation
• Partners use ICRISAT- derived databases on research resource allocation, prioritization, monitoring and evaluation to improve research efficiency
• NARES demonstrate ability to develop and maintain databases and decision support systems in selected Asian and sub-Saharan African countries
• Research partners and policy makers take informed decisions on alternative investment opportunities for improving agricultural productivity and sustainability in the semi-arid regions

Potential impact: NARES demonstrate much enhanced research efficiency and knowledge is more freely available from their securely preserved databases.

Predominant capability: ICRISAT has earlier spearheaded Research Evaluation and Impact Assessment (REIA) exercises and shared the results with the NARS of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The interdisciplinary approaches and international character of ICRISAT gives it a clear edge over other organizations in doing this work. ICRISAT has already 7 to 8 years of experience in implementing such models. Its ability to work with a variety of organizations has been well demonstrated. ICRISAT's researchers have already developed several databases on Village Level Studies (VLS), district level data, impact assessment data and have the skills required in developing one on research management.

Counterfactual: There is little immediate likelihood of NARS partners developing M&E and ILAC models for application in SAT Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This activity will be delayed by at least a decade if ICRISAT does not take lead.

• Enhanced livelihoods and competitiveness for smallholder producers and food safety for consumers influenced by changes in national and international markets (Specific goal 1)
• Improved marketing environment for smallholders by improving the efficiency of domestic markets (Specific goal 2)

Rising incomes, urbanization and change in tastes and preferences are spurring rapid growth in demand for high value commodities like milk, meat, fruits, vegetables and fish, quality products for niche markets and processed food products. Due to the demand-led livestock revolution the derived demand for feed grains, brans, oil meals etc will also increase both at national and international level. Thus, trade liberalization and globalization (accompanied by removal of distortions in global trade) would open additional demand centers for developing countries for the export of feed ingredients, besides high value commodities. Alternative uses or non-food uses for a number of coarse grains in the SAT countries are on the increase. For example, while food use for sorghum is declining in Asia its use in poultry feed, alcohol manufacturing etc is increasing and the trend is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. Niche markets for green and canned pigeonpeas, bold seeded and/or organically grown chickpeas, edible (hand picked selected) groundnuts would be other opportunities for small farmers in the SAT.

There are, however, apprehensions about the ability of smallholders to take advantage of emerging opportunities. There are a number of reasons for low participation of small producers in the markets, such as there being only a small marketed surplus, thin markets often far away from production centers, exploitation by middle men, stringent food safety norms etc. Such issues escalate transportation and associated transaction costs. The agro-processing industry generally prefers to source its raw material in bulk and from near-by markets and production centers. Owing to small and scattered production and lack of adherence to quality standards small-scale producers may not be able to meet the requirements of the industry in a cost effective manner.

Under its institutional innovation research ICRISAT is experimenting with innovative institutional arrangements to link small-scale sorghum and pearl millet producers with poultry feed manufacturers in India, China and Thailand. The activities under this component include bulking, grading and storage of produce for sale directly to feed manufacturers. The models would link not only producers and processors but also link input suppliers, credit agencies and transport providers and market agents. Based on experimentation at the field level appropriate models of market linkages will be identified. The model will be generi c in nature i.e., applicable to many commodities in several regions with only minor adaptive changes needed to meet local requirements.

As demand for a consistent supply of homogenous and quality products increases, there will be growing demand for private sector participation in agriculture through contract farming and other arrangements. This may also pose new threats and opportunities for small farmers in the SAT. While it may create monopolistic behavior and further marginalize less-competitive and unorganized poor farmers in low potential areas, it may provide reliable market outlets and access to inputs, skills and technologies for some producers that will improve production efficiency. Future research will need to identify efficient strategies and equitable mechanisms for linking producers to markets and enforcing such contracts, while also protecting the livelihoods of marginal farmers under transitory and chronic poverty.

What ICRISAT and partners can achieve by 2015

The next decade has to see enhanced participation of dryland smallholder farmers in grain markets (mainly legumes and oil crops) that will generate higher incomes and accelerate commercialization of production. This will brought about multifaceted intervention strategy that will improve market access and competitiveness through improvements in efficiency, product quality, and adoption of good agricultural practices (GAP).

The strategy will focus on the following elements:

• rading and quality control systems
• Profitable marketing channels and outlets in domestic and international markets
• Future markets and commodity outlook studies
• Good agricultural practices that meet social, food safety and environmental standards
• Strategies that enhance farmer access to new technologies and services
• Institutional arrangements for better coordination of production and marketing
• Policies that enhance and encourage contract formation and enforcement
• Policies that support industry competitiveness and intra-regional trade

Outputs and outcomes to 2015

Outputs:

• Trade prospects and outlooks for major commodities assessed and communicated to major producing countries in the region
• Good agricultural practices that meet social, food safety and environmental standards for internationally traded commodities developed and promoted
• Strategies that enhance farmer access and utilization of productive inputs and linked services that enhance competitiveness developed and promoted
• Innovative arrangements for better coordination of production and marketing along the value chain for reducing transaction costs developed and promoted
• Policies and strategies that encourage private sector investment in dryland agriculture through futures contract markets that provide more reliable markets for the poor and support contract enforcement developed and promoted
• Policies that enhance the competitiveness of rural agribusiness enterprises, service providers, processors, exporters and permit enhanced intra-regional trade developed and promoted
• Grading and quality control systems for all the tradable cereals and legumes established and adopted in the major growing countries
• Profitable marketing channels and outlets for dryland grain legumes and tradable coarse grains in domestic and international markets identified and promoted

Outcomes:

• Farmer organizations and small-scale producers will benefit from profitable marketing channels and outlets that reduce transaction costs for dryland grain legumes and tradable coarse grains
• Policy makers and investors will take decisions informed by studies on trade prospects and outlooks for major commodities
• Producer organizations and extension agents will adopt and implement good agricultural practices that meet social, food safety and environmental standards
• Agro-enterprises and farmer organizations will establish and adopt innovative institutional arrangements that enhance farmer access and utilization of productive inputs and linked services in rural areas
• Policy makers and planners will adopt policies and strategies that encourage private sector investment through future markets that provide reliable markets for the poor and ensure contract enforcement
• Policy makers and planners will take steps to implement policies that enhance the competitiveness market agents and facilitate enhanced intra-regional trade
• Policy makers, farmer organizations and traders will realize the benefits and adopt grading and quality control systems for grain marketing
• The supply chain for tradable dryland tradable commodities will be differentiated by grades and quality standards opening opportunities for value addition and competitive exports to high-value niche markets

Potential impact: The marketing industry, particularly if harmonized at a regional level, has the opportunity to transform agricultural performance in SAT countries. This is presently the major constraint to development and if it can be overcome it will be hugely beneficial.

Predominant capability: ICRISAT is a major player in developing strategies, policies and innovations that facilitate commercialization of agriculture in the semi-arid tropics of the region. It has initiated or completed a number of studies on improving market opportunities for dryland farmers, especially food legumes. The multidisciplinary research has clearly recognized the role of markets and the need to develop differentiated products that meet market requirements. This strong synergy between breeders, agronomists and economists is a rare and unrivalled capability that ICRISAT provides in making markets work for the poor.

Counterfactual: Closure of activities in this area would mean that smallholder farmers in the semi-arid tropics will remain largely subsistence producers and fail to harness existing and emerging market opportunities at least for some of their vital commodities. In the era of globalization and liberalization of agricultural economies, lack of competitiveness will further marginalize dryland farmers and their commodities, leading to further exclusion, worsening poverty, livelihood insecurity and environmental degradation in these historically less-favored areas. Lack of market outlets and favorable policies would also undermine incentives for adoption of market-oriented agricultural innovations thereby stifling the overall gain from research investments.

Global information on mandate crops and positioning the SAT in the WTO arena

World market price information of mandate crops and supply–demand projections would help in more informed decision making on research resource allocation and their implications for small- scale farmers in relation to global market trends. A set of outputs will be produced from this initiative including intensive capacity building through collaboration with SAT Asia and Africa regional and international researchers. Dialogues with governments on policy options and suitable interventions will be catalyzed.

Outputs and outcomes to 2015

• Appropriate innovative / vertical integration / market linkage models identified, tried and adopted for selected commodities / SAT mandate crops in at least three countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (the selected models would enable participation and empowerment of small scale farmers, taking on board gender and equity considerations).
• Development of forecasting models and analytical tools in collaboration with other CG centers and partners for situational analysis and outlook in commodities including phyto-sanitary standards (SPS) and technical specifications for international trade

• Successful models used by partners in selected Asian and sub-Saharan African countries
• Small and marginal scale farmers in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa produce ICRISAT mandate crops for niche markets or alternative uses, i.e., non-food uses and high value food products
• Small producers in the SAT demonstrate enhanced technical know-how, institutional linkages, bargaining power; reduced transaction costs and reduced market risk.
• Model testing completed by target partners, refined and in use
• Partners show informed decision making for SAT regions and commodities

Potential impact:

• Supply and demand projections for SAT mandate crops based on more scientific information that would lead to more informed research resource allocation and research priority setting by commodities and regions.
• ICRISAT mandate crops tailored to meet international quality standards for the benefit of small scale farmers.

Predominant capability:

• In-house availability of multidisciplinary expertise for the mandate crops
• Availability of varieties suitable for alternative uses and/or expertise on tailoring varieties for end uses
• Hands on experience in using a consortium approach for 3-5 years
• Existing broad web of linkages with various partners across SAT Asia and Africa
• International reach and political neutrality
• Archived databases & lessons learnt from past work.

Counterfactual:

• Farmers not growing mandate crops for niche markets or alternative uses
• Increased price risk and lack of opportunities for growing mandate cereals
• Small producers do not gain from the benefits of a consortium approach
• The area, particularly under mandate coarse cereals, may go down further with detrimental consequences for the environment, human health and livestock feed.
• Resource allocation by NARES not based on scientific forecasting of trends in SAT agriculture

Increasing Incomes from mixed crop-livestock systems

Consumption of animal products in the developing world increased dramatically between the early 1970s and the mid 1990s. This factor, corroborated by simulations using the IMPACT model (International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade), led ILRI/IFPRI to predict/confirm the beginning of the livestock revolution. The IMPACT model predicts that by 2020, developing countries will produce on average 38% more meat and 62% more milk per capita than in the early 1990s. Much of the increase in meat will come from monogastric livestock such as pigs and poultry. Meat and dairy production has doubled in the last three decades; and if sufficient feed could be produced, supply could multiply by 1.3 for red meat, 4.3 for white meat (pork and chicken), 1.8 for milk, and 3.1 times for eggs between now and 2020.

Market information confirms these predictions. Developing countries, despite increasing production, are net importers of animal products. Along with the increase, the composition of trade in meat has changed significantly. Poultry imports are already larger than imports of all other meat products put together. This clearly indicates the increased demand for poultry and huge opportunities for livestock keepers in the SAT.

ICRISAT has traditionally focused on crops; but in recent years the research agenda has expanded to include livestock. ICRISAT recognizes the importance of livestock – and crop-livestock synergies – in the smallholder farming systems of the region. With our experience in drought-tolerant smallholder crops, ICRISAT believes that as an institution it can make a vital contribution to alleviating poverty, improving agricultural sustainability, and facilitating market access of poor livestock keepers. ICRISAT and ILRI recently signed an agreement for collaborative research. The first stage examines developments in the region's livestock sector over the past 15 years.

Market development and access

The importance of market access cannot be over emphasized. Much of the degradation in southern Africa, and for that matter eastern Africa, can be ascribed to poor market access and poor market-related policies. Experience has shown that farmers are prepared to invest more in livestock (e.g. health care, feed supplements) if direct benefits accrue from these investments, than in crop production . Milk cows are often given additional feeds because milk can be sold for cash. Thus, in order for farmers to fully benefit from their livestock, access to markets is crucial. These markets can either evolve autonomously, or in response to policy changes or greater demand for animal products. It is important to study the development of markets, from the informal sector to the large-scale commercial sector, for small-scale livestock production. For example: South Africa and Namibia have well developed markets for sheep and goats; but in adjacent Botswana and Zimbabwe, goats – which are a key for poorer households –have almost no marketable value, except at the informal scale where prices are low. Interventions to improve livestock markets – particularly for small species, would go a long way in alleviating poverty, improving income, food security and human nutrition while also improving the environmental sustainability of mixed crop-livestock systems.

• Understanding is generated on how informal markets function, how small-scale livestock owners can engage in these markets and how it would benefit them and the regional economy and ultimately how these informal markets can develop into more formal institutions.
• Formal markets, both local and export, show how small scale farmers can contribute in order for them to participate in mainstream economy.

Outcomes:

• Small scale farmers show that they have increased access to markets, increased income and increased ability to cope with adverse natural and economic conditions
• Excess animals are sold by farmers and reduced impact on natural rangeland is observed.

• An understanding of the functioning of formal and informal markets, how small-scale farmers may access and benefit from these markets is developed
• Land degradation is reduced, where alternative feeds are available for livestock.
• Risks and vulnerability to adverse natural and economic conditions are reduced

Predominant capability: ICRISAT plays a leading role in developing small-scale agriculture in the SAT – Extremely important work has already been done in studying market accessibility and commercialization, adding livestock to our repertoire would not be that difficult. We have active NARS and other partners with an established network of researchers within the DMP countries.

Counterfactual: If ICRISAT does not address these issues at a regional level, we will lose the comparative advantage that the ongoing studies with ILRI and BMZ has allowed us to generate. There are no other regional organizations that have the capacity to engage on a regional level that could assist SADC in their objectives for livestock development at the regional level.

Rural institutions and their governance (Priority 5C)

• Specific goal 1: Identify mechanisms for the strengthening of producers' organizations and for modes of participatory research
• Specific goal 2: Identify new forms of partnerships with NARS, the private sector, public extension agencies, NGOs and producers' organizations, and public agencies from other sectors, such as environment and health to enhance the conduct and impact from agricultural research

Recognition by the CGIAR of research on rural institutions and their governance is essential for establishing the enabling conditions and agents for facilitating agricultural transformation and market-led rural development. Rural institutions are pivotal in this process as they form essential channels for implementation of research interventions as well as facilitate the access of the rural poor to markets and to agricultural innovations. Farmer organizations can contribute towards coordinating production and marketing activities, dissemination of agricultural technologies, and provision of various service functions. One of the major challenges for commercialization of production in isolated rural areas has been lack of economies of scale resulting from the low volume of marketed surplus and the high costs of marketing both inputs and products. Smallholder farmers can circumvent this problem through collective action that would help them coordinate production and marketing decisions.

Many of the past cooperatives were established by the state to replace private commercial activities in the provision of essential services to the rural sector (including credit and inputs). Hence, they functioned primarily as ‘service cooperatives' supported by governments rather than as business enterprises owned and managed by the members. With structural adjustment and economic reforms, many of the service cooperatives lost this special protection from the state, further reducing their viability in the competitive economic environment. Studies on past cooperatives in many sub-Saharan countries of Africa indicated that they often failed to develop into viable, self-managed and profitable organizations mainly due to lack of autonomy and a clear business plan. There are however some successful examples pf well-managed and efficient farmer organizations (formal and informal) in the region.

Rural organizations require exogenous assistance in terms of capacity building to backstop new innovations that may be introduced to them; but the success of this depends on how well such capacity building will augur with prevailing local knowledge, values and norms. Viable and effective rural organizations for providing essential services to the poor would also require measures for timely coordination of their functions, conflict resolution, consensus building, and protection of organizational goals, development of horizontal and vertical linkages, and monitoring and evaluation to identify constraints and take corrective measures. Moreover, evidence suggests that HIV/AIDS may be contributing to an increase in the proportion of rural populations trapped in chronic food insecurity and poverty.

ICRISAT is faced with the challenge to identify broad lessons and strategies that facilitate the emergence of viable farmer organizations and institutions that facilitate access to essential services, namely markets and agricultural innovations, and help mitigate vulnerability to shocks or support local agricultural recovery efforts. ICRISAT is working closely with different kinds of farmer organizations in various countries. ICRISAT has also taken initial steps in understanding how such rural organizations evolve and function and how they can provide effective services especially in relation to marketing groups, farmer cooperatives and other commercially-oriented farmer enterprises.

What ICRISAT can achieve by 2015

• Characterization of selected rural institutional arrangements in selected countries and comparative analyses of their potentials for improving farmer access to markets and agricultural technologies for income growth and reducing vulnerability to shocks (HIV-AIDS, drought, etc)
• Evaluation and identification of innovative institutional arrangements and farmer organizational models for enhancing smallholder' access to markets and facilitating technology uptake
• Institutional options for targeting technology and market interventions for poor and HIV/AIDS affected households.

Outputs and outcomes to 2015

Outputs:

• Alternative institutional topologies for adoption of technological and market innovations identified and characterized
• Alternative institutional innovations to strengthen rural institutions that facilitate and enhance adoption of technological and market innovations developed and promoted
• Institutional arrangements that strengthen rural institutions (e.g. multi-stakeholder coalitions to address vulnerability) for mitigating the impacts of HIV/AIDS on household food security and incomes developed and promoted
• Policy recommendations for formal and informal social networks to address vulnerability, gender and social exclusion in SAT farming systems developed and shared.

Outcomes:

• Policy makers, planners, extension and market agents realize the potentials of alternative institutional options for delivering technological and market innovations to smallholder farmers
• Policy makers, planners, extension and market agents adopt and implement innovative institutional arrangements that strengthen rural institutions that facilitate technology adoption and/or make agricultural markets work for smallholder producers
• Agencies for social protection and agricultural rehabilitation adopt and implement institutional innovations that strengthen local institutions that facilitate recovery and mitigate the impacts of HIV/AIDS on household food security and incomes
• Policy makers adopt policy recommendations on how to strengthen rural institutions for addressing issues related to vulnerability, gender and social exclusion in SAT farming systems.

Potential impact: Development can only occur within a context in which rural institutions are strong and functional. This is not the situation at present in much of the SAT. Overcoming this constraint would have a big influence on making development programs more successful.

Predominant capability: Lack of strong institutions in many less-favored and geographically isolated areas has prevented the poor from tapping technological and market opportunities. ICRISAT has realized the fast emerging and expanding future opportunities on the role of rural institutions in facilitating access to new technologies and markets in rural areas. Accordingly ICRISAT has already initiated research on understanding and developing ways to build and strengthen rural institutions that facilitate access to technologies and markets in remote villages. Its comparative advantage remains in developing institutional models and generating knowledge on ways to strengthen rural institutions through collective action and other innovations that enhance economies of scale, reduce transaction costs and help improve livelihood security in the SAT.

Counterfactual: Rural institutions bridge the access to new technologies and markets for the poor. If ICRISAT fails to take an active role in this area or closes down its current activities, the impact of its research on poverty and food security would be substantially reduced. The majority of smallholder farmers and vulnerable households in areas away from markets will fail to benefit from technological and market opportunities and continue to suffer from marginalization and exclusion. Other agencies will not be able to fill the vacuum in terms of generating the required knowledge in the near future.

Improving research and development options to reduce rural poverty and vulnerability (Priority 5D)

Almost a billion people in SAT Asia and Africa are still engaged in small-scale agriculture. But the ability of the agricultural sector to contribute to enhanced economic and social development is constrained by diminishing farm sizes, degrading soil and water resources, increased variability in climatic parameters, greater human disease burden, unfavorable policies and practices and rapid urbanization. There are also tremendous changes occurring in the consumption patterns, employment absorption, and livelihood strategies in response to changes in climate, markets, institutions and policies. Besides addressing technical issues relating to the entire value chain in agriculture from production to marketing, agricultural research and development should monitor the impacts of technologies on economic, social and political aspects of rural life. The past years have seen an increasing focus on the diversity of livelihood strategies employed by rural households. Farming remains important but rural people are looking for diverse opportunities to improve food security, livelihood resilience, and stabilize their incomes. Farmer's vulnerability and their adaptation through coping mechanisms depend on their assets (physical, natural, financial, human, and social), and are influenced by institutions, the external environment and broader economic trends such as market prices and shocks including drought.

What ICRISAT and its partners can achieve by 2015

ICRISAT and its partners can aim to maximize the impact of agricultural research by improving research and development options to reduce rural poverty and vulnerability in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. To achieve this, ICRISAT will focus on mapping complex development pathways and alternative livelihood options to help make critical interventions to address poverty, vulnerability, marginalization and social exclusion. In particular, this will involve:

• Understanding the dynamics of poverty in the SAT and monitoring changes; identify options for the rural poor to access, acquire, protect (in the case of shocks) and use assets to improve their livelihoods and use the information to inform future R&D strategies, assess priorities and impacts, and target efforts more effectively on the needs of the poor.
• Improving characterization of the rural poor (assets, context, depth and duration of poverty, vulnerability, basic needs, and choice of livelihood strategies) in relation to SAT agriculture.
• Analyzing uptake pathways of improved technologies and natural resource management practices and participation in higher-value product markets; as well as identifying binding constraints for agricultural transformation in the rural SAT with reference to the drivers of socio-economic, institutional and political change at the micro and macro level.
• Determine specific opportunities or niches for ICRISAT to make a difference to the welfare of the SAT poor to include trade-offs underlying investments in crops and livestock, farm and non-farm rural employment and enterprise, migration and remittances, labor efficiency and greater human disease burden including HIV/AIDS, market interventions and policy changes.
• Improve the quality of the context (markets and other infrastructure, institutions, public goods, policies and governance) where the poor use their assets and reduce the risks affecting livelihoods. This involves development of institutional innovations to improve the availability and effectiveness of credit, social networks, safety nets, asset and labor markets, common property access, and indigenous knowledge.
• Assessment of returns to alternative livelihood and resource management strategies, and evaluation of approaches to improve ex-ante risk management through livelihood diversification, formal and informal insurance mechanisms, financial and in-kind savings, futures and forward markets, and improved market information systems.
• Analyze the effectiveness of public sector assistance programs and rural development strategies to improve livelihood resilience and reduce poverty; and design new strategies to achieve those goals combining agricultural and non-agricultural sources of incomes and employment.

Outputs and outcomes to 2015

• Village Level Studies fully completed in the 10 original benchmark sites in India and methodologies/database shared with national and global partners; Village Level Studies initiated/expanded to two countries in SAT Asia to support the mapping of complex development pathways in the rural SAT economy
• Similar follow-up of the longitudinal VLS panel in WCA (focusing on agricultural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa) and in ESA (focusing on agriculture and HIV/AIDS) spearheaded with support of the World Bank and Rockefeller Foundation
• Case studies fully documented on uptake pathways of SAT technologies developed and shared with national program partners (from genetic enhancement, from biotechnology, from NRM and from social sciences); meta analysis and lessons learned on the constraints and mediating factors facilitating adoption of SAT technologies shared with partners globally
• Policy package on risk management strategies (both ex-ante and ex-post) for mitigating the impact of risks inherent in rainfed agriculture developed; Capacity building on risk management policy package for policy makers in SAT Asia

• NARS social scientists demonstrate enhanced research efficiency through use of ICRISAT promulgated methods
• Policy makers are better informed on alternative development pathways for rural SAT economies
• ICRISAT and NARES show better targeting of research products in SAT Asia and Africa with effective pro-poor policies on risk management for SAT agriculture

Potential impact: Hard factual information from the VLS and lessons learned from past success and failures have a major impact on ensuring more scientifically based decision making in matters concerning agricultural development in the SAT. As a result ICRISAT and its partner contributions to the attainment of the MDGs is much enhanced.

• ICRISAT is a leader in this research area and in linking micro and macro-level analysis to inform policy development
• It is a Center of excellence for developing technologies for SAT
• It works in an interdisciplinarity and partnership mode and produces the necessary IPGs.

• Lost opportunity to contribute significantly to understanding the dynamics of poverty in SAT rural economies in collaboration with partners
• No IPG contribution in enhancing the capacity of NARS in VLS and micro-level based policy formulation
• Lack of targeted technology development
• Lack of reflection of lessons based on past successes and failures at ICRISAT and in NARES research organizations
• Technologies for the improved welfare of SAT farmers will not be documented by ICRISAT
• Pro-poor strategies strengthened by village level insights will not have evolved