IAR4D

1. A Review of IAR4D Concept
&
How it Proposes to Yield
Improved Output from
Agricultural Research
‘Wale Adekunle
A Presentation at the SSA CP -SADC-ARC Meeting on Transfer of Roles of
Lead Institution in ZMM
15th July -16 July 2009

2. Outline
• What are the challenges?
• Evolution in SSA
Agricultural Research
System.
• Why IAR4D?
• IAR4D Principles
• IAR4dD in SSA CP

3. The Challenges
African agricultural research has not
realized its potential contribution towards
improving the livelihoods of Africans,
especially smallholder farmers.
Old challenges
• Population growth against
economic and agricultural
productivity growth.
• Rural poverty
• Environmental degradation
• Markets, policies
• Natural resource
management
Additional challenges
- Unstable commodity prices
- Globalization
- Increasing protectionism of the
West
- Rising energy costs
- Challenges of new waves of
technology
- Climate change
- Traceability

4. Evolution of the SSA Agricultural Research system
Need to strengthen the NARS
**Advent of extension services as link to farmers**
**Linear technology transfer**
**Improved management of NARS for program
relevance to client**
Early 1980s
and before
Late 1980’s
Mid to Late
1990’s
2000 till
Date
A start in history with the formation and consolidation
of the National Agricultural Research System
supported by International Agricultural Research
Centers.
**Disjointed disciplinary on-station research **
** Cultivar development**
Pluralistic participation, Grassroot emphasis,
Information system and long term innovation
development
**Popularization of the Farming systems research
approach**
**Adaptive on-farm research**
**Sustainable agriculture***
**Multidisciplinary research approach**
** ICT ** etc

5. African ARD has had numerous
successes
• Varietal improvements (NERICA, climbing
beans, mosaic resistant cassava etc)
• Alternatives and supplements to expensive
inputs (soil fertility, fodder, pest management)
• INRM
• Approaches to R&D (Farming systems research;
participatory research, scaling up)
However, the impact of the technologies did not match
their potentials
• Institutional setting of the research system can not
support scaling up of the technologies.
• Approaches to R&D is not all encompassing.
• Inadequate human and financial resources
Local
variety Experimental

6. Why IAR4D ?
IAR4D is designed to overcome the
shortcomings of the traditional systems.
IAR4D concept entails a multi-sectorial
orientation to agricultural problem diagnosis, and
draws on integrated approaches using ‘hard’
and ‘soft’ sciences to provide solutions,
.
while maximizing the available
resources
IAR4D is premised on the innovation
systems approach and requires systemic
interaction among all stakeholders
around specific commodity or
production system.

7. Linear approach for ARD
Organization of ARD actors in a linear configuration

8. Institutional and technical constraints
• Institutional constraints limit the use of technical
possibilities / opportunities
-E.g Soil fertility restoration affected by land tenure insecurity
- Adoption of Nerica affected by non- availability of seeds
- Adoption of a variety of potato grown in Rwanda by farmers in Uganda
affected by varietal release process
• Technical constraints may limit the realisation of socio-economic
opportunities
– E.g. lack of a suitable sorghum variety for brewing
beer

9. IAR4D Operation principle 2
• IAR4D is a multi-stakeholders
approach;
as such, it will
accommodate and give
adequate recognition to
the complexities of the
situations that affect
sustainable production,
marketing and
utilization of each
commodity in designing
a solution

10. IAR4D Operation principle 3
• IAR4D will engage
stakeholders beyond
the rural communities
to ensure their
intellectual
contribution to
innovation and also
secure their sense of
ownership of the
research products

11. IAR4D Operation principle 4
• IAR4D will involve the
policy makers at
different levels of
governance in
research, to diagnose
problems, innovate
solution and facilitate
implementation

12. IAR4D Operation principle 5
• IAR4D will adopt the
innovation systems
approach and create
innovation platforms
on which
stakeholders will
interact to jointly
identify problems,
device solutions,
implement solutions
and evaluate the
cycle.

13. Illustration of an innovation platform

14. Innovation Platform, Innovation Systems
/ Societal Learning
Innovation Platform
Policy Dialogue
Multistakeholder
engagement Action Research
Knowledge
networks Social Learning
Interactive Knowledge
Processes
Researchers
Shared Understanding
Policy Makers
Entrepreneurs
Community Leaders
Practitioners
Activists
Citizens
Media
Educators
Politicians
Context To
Improve
Collective Action

15. Conducting IAR4D : Opening up space for
innovation
• Requires careful diagnosis/analysis of constraints
and opportunities
– Institutional constraints limiting technical opportunity
– Technical constraints limiting socio-economic opportunity

16. Windows of opportunity at local level are too
limited but important!
IMF, WTO,
free(*?) trade,
EU/USA tariffs & subsidies,
International treaties
Continental and Globalizing forces
National & local
forces Local responses
Local resources
Regional &
national forces
Trade policy,
Commodity & labour
markets, Migration
Commodity & labour markets,
Land rights & tenure,
Politics & corruption,
Roads, etc

17. For example (hypothetical!):
• A hypothetical potential opportunity:
• ‘Commercial livestock production in Maradi
Southern Niger Republic to cater for growing meat
demand in Northern Nigeria

18. Retailer
Slaughtering
Commercialization
Production
Input supply
Market
Roast meat
sellers
Slaughterhouse
, butchers
Big
producers
Export
Slaughterhouse
(private)
Wholesale
Merchants
(Bulking)
Small
producers
Feed Drugs Animal
Support services
Policymakers
Transport
Market information
system
Financial services
Extension service
Research
Meat value chain
Policymakers
Transporters
Market information
system
NGOs
Financial services
Farmers’ Organizations
Extension service
Research
18
Consumers

19. Next Steps
Set up Innovation Platform
•Relevant Stakeholders ( responsibilities
and benefits)
•Share the challenge
•Undertake the activities

20. Assessing technical/ecological constraints
and feasibility
• Is it possible to produce/collect sufficient feed?
– Short term, long term?
– Sufficient water?
• Through what feeding / grazing systems?
• What breeds may satisfy consumer demands?
• Etc.

21. Mapping (different types of) institutional
constraints
• Physical infrastructure
– sub-optimal transport infrastructure
– no slaughtering facilities in Maradi
• Cultural
– livestock regarded as banking (rather than production) system
• Services and organization
– limited availability of animal health services
– lack of farmer organization / collective marketing
– limited coordination in the chain

22. Mapping (different types of) institutional
constraints
• Economic
– lack of price information
– traders dominate market / price setting
– limited anticipation of consumer preferences
• Legal
– land-tenure arrangements prevent investment in feed production
– ‘forbidden’ to impose import levies / free dumping by Europe
• Science and education
– limited attention for animal feeding systems;
– no training of veterinary assistants

23. Moving Forward
Joint prioritization of constraints
……buy in
Joint research and learning
Joint assessment and re-assessment of remaining
constraints
Joint celebration……

24. IAR4D offers Iterative
Learning
Reflection
/Monitoring Planning
Rural
Communities
Researchers
Development
agents
Markets &
value chains
Policy
makers
Diagnosis
Planning
Action /
Intervention Action / Adapted
Intervention
Reflection
/Monitoring

25. SSA CP
IAR4D in SSA CP

26. Principal Research Questions
Integrated Agricultural Research for Development -
FARA
1. Does the IAR4D concept work and can it generate
deliverable international and regional public goods for
the end users?
2. Does the IAR4D framework deliver more benefits to
end users than conventional approaches (had the
conventional R&D and extension approach had
access to the same resources)?
3. How sustainable and usable is the IAR4D approach
outside the test environment (i.e. issues of scaling
out for broader impact)?

27. Pilot Learning Sites (PLS)
• 3 PLS;1 project per
site
• 3 sub-projects per
project: total of 9 sub-projects
• 1 meta-project on
cross-site analysis to
extract principles
generalizable across
SSA
• Core Scientists, Post
Docs; NrA; CRST

28. Model of Partnership
Extension
NG
O
Researc
h
Private
Sector
Farmer
s
Financial
institutions
Policy

29. The 9 SSA CP projects…1/2
Southern Africa (ZMM) based on
Value chain
1. Expansion of horticulture value
chains in irrigated and rainfed
systems. [Bioversity]
2. Integration of sustainable soil
fertility management innovations
into staple food value chains in
high and low potential systems
[SOFECSA/CIMMYT]
3. Integration of efficient water and
nutrient use innovations in high
and low potential cereal grains
systems [TSBF-CIAT]
East Africa (L.Kivu) based on
Watersheds
4. More food products and better
nutrition at reduced cost and
minimal degradation of the
natural resource base [ISAR]
5. Beneficial conservation and
sustainable use of natural
resources [Makerere/ICRISAT]
6. Wealth creation through agro
enterprise diversification and
improved market access [CIAT]

30. The SSA CP’s 9 projects … 2/2
West Africa (KKM) based
on agro-ecology
7. Innovation platforms to
improve livelihoods in
the Northern Guinea
Savannah [IFDC]
8. Sustainable agricultural
intensification in the
Sudan Savannah zone
[IITA]
9. Improving rural
livelihoods in the Sahel
of Niger [INRAN]
# of Partners in the 9 Projects
Research-oriented institutions 44 (55%)
Civil society groups 36 (45%)

31. Proposed design
For each I P TIME 1
(BEFORE)
TIME 2
(USE IS
APPROACH)
TIME 3
(AFTER)
Experimental
Situation
(WITH)
Baseline
Study
Causal
Process
Tracing
Impact
Assess-ment
Control
Situation
(WITHOUT)
Baseline
Study
Impact
Assess-ment

32. Types of information required (Gerry Hursh)
• Describe: tell what exists
• Explain: tell why something happens and how it is
caused
• Extrapolate: make an inference about a population
based on evidence from a sub-group that does not
necessarily represent the population
• Generalise: make an inference about all situations based
on a study of some of them

33. Methodologies (Gerry Hursh)

34. Proposed Progress Chart for SSA CP

35. The big Question
Are we on course?

36. Conclusion
• IAR4D provides opportunities for tackling both technical
and institutional constraints hindering development
• The strength of the IAR4D concept lies in its all inclusive
stakeholders approach to identify the problems, prioritize
the important ones and innovate solution.
• All stakeholders in an IP have a contribution and benefits
which sustain their interest and continued participation.
• All segments of the commodity of interest value chain
are adequately catered for within the platform to ensure
a win-win scenario for all stakeholders

37. Thank you