The Socioeconomics, Inclusion and Impact (SII) Theme generates evidence and insights that help ensure agricultural innovations deliver meaningful and lasting benefits for people, communities, and food systems across the drylands of Asia and Africa. Through interdisciplinary research, rigorous ex-ante and ex-post impact assessments, policy engagement, and stakeholder collaboration, the theme works to strengthen the social, economic, and institutional foundations needed for sustainable agricultural development.
The theme focuses on understanding how technologies, policies, markets, institutions, and social inclusion systems influence the adoption of innovations and their impact on livelihoods, food and nutrition security, resilience, and environmental sustainability. Placing people at the center of research and development efforts helps ensure that scientific advances translate into tangible benefits for farmers, consumers, and rural communities.
A key area of work involves generating evidence to support inclusive and resilient farm and food systems. This includes analyzing market opportunities, value chains, rural livelihoods, food systems, and policy environments with a gender and social inclusion lense to identify pathways for scaling innovations and maximizing development impact. Particular attention is given to understanding the needs and constraints of smallholder farmers, women, youth, and other underserved groups.
The theme works closely with scientists, development partners, governments, farmer organizations, private-sector actors, and civil society to strengthen the enabling environment for agricultural transformation. Through research, capacity strengthening, policy engagement, and impact evaluation, the theme helps guide investments and interventions that improve livelihoods, strengthen resilience, and contribute to sustainable development outcomes.
Through collaboration across ICRISAT’s research portfolio, the theme supports evidence-based decision-making and helps ensure that innovations are technically sound, socially relevant, economically viable, and scalable across diverse contexts to improve livelihoods, strengthen food and nutrition security, and create opportunities for rural communities across the drylands.
Focus Areas:
Socioeconomic analysis of agricultural technologies, innovations, and development interventions
Impact assessment and evaluation of research-for-development investments
Market systems, value chain analysis, and agribusiness development
Scaling pathways and adoption of agricultural innovations
Inclusive rural development and livelihood enhancement
Food systems research and nutrition-sensitive agriculture
Social, economic, and institutional dimensions of resilience
Policy analysis and evidence generation for agricultural transformation
Development of decision-support tools for policymakers and development practitioners
Science-policy engagement and knowledge translation
Assessment of barriers to technology adoption and market participation
Strategies to improve access to and utilization of nutritious crops and foods
Gender, youth, and social inclusion in agricultural and food systems
Monitoring, learning, and evidence generation to strengthen development impact
Understanding the linkages between agriculture, livelihoods, nutrition, environmental sustainability, and rural prosperity
