Innovations in Partnership

Source:ICRISAT

 

The second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD-2) took place in beautiful Punta del Este, Uruguay last week. The theme was “Foresight and partnership for innovation and impact on smallholder livelihoods”.

 

Our Uruguayan hosts welcomed us with open arms and made the Conference a national priority, including the participation of President José Mujica. Dr. Mark Holderness, Executive Secretary of the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR) and his team did a marvelous job in organizing and executing this large and lively event. No longer are conferences only for those in attendance; an energetic group of young ‘social reporters’ blogged every session, both praising the Conference and holding its feet to the fire. Sessions were also streamed live over the internet.

 

We contributed two briefing papers to the brainstorming sessions, and I tweeted Conference developments from my ICRISAT perspective (please ‘Follow’ ICRISAT on Twitter to stay current on all our progress!) Here, I’d like to share with you a few of the key messages that I took home.

Development frequently favors large-scale farmers because they can leverage resources that are beyond the reach of smallholders. Smallholders, and the partners who assist them need to innovate their way down a different path to prosperity. Foresight is essential for envisioning that path.

To put the spotlight on foresight, a distinguished Panel moderated by Dr. Raj Paroda, Executive Secretary of the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) discussed ‘Innovation for Impact on Smallholder Farmers: Challenges and Opportunities’. One of Dr. Paroda’s summary points was “We need to empower farmers to earn, because they are not only producers. They must also feed their own families. If we can empower them as producers and bring in inclusive market-oriented development, we will achieve the Millennium Development Goals more quickly.” This conclusion was reflected in the recommendations of the Conference including to “Increase funding for market-oriented development and support farmers’ organizations in the resolution of challenges in value chains."

 

This reminded me of our own stakeholder consultations two years ago that led to our ICRISAT strategy of Inclusive Market-Oriented Development (IMOD). A global consensus truly appears to be emerging that collective action and partnerships can harness markets for the benefit of the poor. GCARD-2 also highlighted the need to apply systems thinking to grapple with complex development issues – another theme that resonates with our Strategic Plan.

 

Conference discussions emphasized that partnerships will only innovate new paths of development if those partnerships themselves are innovative. ‘Innovation partnerships’ to lift the livelihoods of smallholders must include those smallholders and key enablers as equal members in order to ensure that priorities are relevant to their needs. We came to a similar conclusion in our own Strategic Plan, pointing out that farmer groups, non-governmental organizations, policy makers and the private sector would need to be included alongside our traditional partners in order to access markets for the poor. I discussed some of those partnerships underway in a previous blog post. GCARD-2’s endorsement of diverse and innovative partnerships puts wind beneath our wings.

 

Innovation feeds on knowledge-sharing, and as a research partner we bear a special responsibility for sharing our findings as widely as possible. This means working through a dense tangle of copyright issues with an array of publishers. I reported to GCARD-2 about our pioneering Open Access policy in place since 2009. As of today, our Open Access Repository makes available more than 5,700 research-for-development documents, and is growing every day.

 

GCARD-2 was invigorating. But it made clear that much hard work lies ahead. GFAR Chair Dr. Monty Jones exhorted us all to see it as a process, not just a biennial event. He urged us to unite around the six-point plan of the GCARD Road Map: inclusive priority-setting, equal partnerships, increased investment, improved capacities, improved development impacts, and better communication of achievements. It was agreed that we all share responsibility and accountability for executing towards those targets.

 

We embrace that challenge, because we believe that GCARD has got it right. Inclusive and innovative partnerships, guided by well-informed foresight, will illuminate the road ahead. Let’s strengthen our partnerships to accelerate the engine of development for smallholders.