ISPC Science Forum 2016, Addis Ababa, 12-14 April 2016

1. Pathways from Agriculture Research to Poverty Reduction in
Africa: Report from break-out session

2. Drivers of change, possible strategies
Drivers of change: Africa www.ispc.cgiar.org
Mega-trend / Drivers Implications for agricultural research strategies / priorities
Urbanization Labour market changes – mechanization?
High-value products / peri-urban agriculture
Changing consumer
preferences / dietary
transition
High-value products / peri-urban agriculture
Nutrient-dense crops
Demand for quality, processed foods
ICT transition New models for reaching farmers via cell phones
Two-way dialogue – also for data collection?
Regional integration /
transport linkages
Comparative studies of the impact of development corridors
Policy-oriented research on impact of free-trade zones
Understanding inclusiveness of development
Climate change Technological (drought-tolerance, water conservation) and
social innovations (safety nets, warning systems, insurance
models) to strengthen resilience

3. Implications for how research is organized
Drivers of change: Africa www.ispc.cgiar.org
• Context-specificity: need to understand context before we start
• Need to strengthen interactions between biophysical and social research
• Need to institutionalize range of stakeholders involved in process
• Research needs to get “comfortable with complexity”
• Accountability to communities strongly involved in M&E systems
• Impact evaluation at whole farm level and higher, not plot level – need to
understand farmer decision-making in relation to new technologies and
how this interacts with “off-farm life” / livelihoods strategies
• Intensify studies and information-sharing on land ownership and gender

4. Partnerships
Drivers of change: Africa www.ispc.cgiar.org
• Platforms for consultation and information-sharing to build ownership:
implies effective communication systems in place
• Different partners needed at discovery, proof concept, scaling stages
• Partnerships are not a panacea and sometimes don’t work (not recipients
/ beneficiaries but true partners / users of research)
• Need to build capacity of weaker partners for stronger ownership and
contributions / implication
• Win-win partnerships are grounded in: rights, duties, trust and
transparency