cgiarNews w w w . c g i a r . o r g S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 4 33145 Nourishing the future through scientific excellence In this Issue Bangladeshi farmers take Bangladesh Farmers as Scientists 1 Chairman and Director's Message 2 on role of Dialogue with New Europe 3 scientists Announcements/Upcoming Events 3 News and Views from Center Directors 4 and banish New Japan Forum Launched 5 LITE farmer from Bangladesh, Joinal Ahmad, is pio- neering new approaches that reduce insecticide Japanese Fellowship Program 5 insecticides use in paddy farms. China's Timber Imports 6 Meet Ruben G. Echeverría 7 Imagine 2,000 poor rice farmers in Dhaka, whose average farm income is around Java's Forest Reserves 8 US$100 per year, suddenly taking on the role of agricultural scientists. Over the Sticking Together 10 course of 2 years--or 4 cropping seasons--they prove that insecticides are a com- Challenge Programs and plete waste of time and money, and that they can significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer they use. They save, on average, $17 per year. It might not Property Rights 10 sound like much, but it's a 17% pay rise for people who struggle to provide suffi- From Science Council Chairman 11 cient food for themselves and their families, and enough to help put children Seeing is Believing 12 through school or buy grain to tide over to the next harvest. Miracle Peanut for Philippines 12 News from WARDA 12 Over the last 2 years, the IRRI-led Livelihood Improvement Through Ecology (LITE) Milk and Dairy Markets in Syria 13 project has trained 2,000 farmers to perform experiments in their own fields which HarvestPlus 14 demonstrate that insecticide can be eliminated and applications of nitrogen fertiliz- Kenya to Grow Insect- er (urea) reduced without lowering yields. And 4,000 more farmers are currently receiving training. What's more, if LITE continues on this positive trend, in less than Resistant Maize 15 a decade, most of Bangladesh's 11.8 million rice farmers--almost 1/12th of the country's population of 141 million, according to the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, a key project partner--will have eliminated insecticides and optimized their fertilizer use. Continued on page 14 AGM'04 ­ Mark your Calendars! The 2004 Annual General Meeting (AGM'04) will be hosted by the Government of Mexico and held at the Hotel Sheraton Centro Historico. The AGM and associated meetings will take place October 25­29, 2004. For registration and more information, visit: www.cgiar.org CGIAR C O N S U L T A T I V E G R O U P O N I N T E R N A T I O N A L A G R I C U L T U R A L R E S E A R C H Message from the Chairman CGIAR Chairman Ian Johnson CGIAR Director and Director Francisco Reifschneider CGIAR Members African Development Bank Dear Colleague: Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development Asian Development Bank Australia We are pleased to present the September edition of "CGIAR News." An e-version is Austria available at www.cgiar.org Bangladesh Belgium Brazil Since our last communication, the CGIAR's family of scientists have continued their Canada progress in delivering the benefits of modern science to poor farmers. The stories China Colombia reported offer a partial snapshot of those achievements, demonstrating the effec- Commission of the European Community tiveness of the CGIAR alliance. Côte d'Ivoire Denmark Arab Republic of Egypt It has been a busy summer. CGIAR featured prominently at the World Bank's Finland Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development European Forum 2004, Food and Agriculture Organization including a breakfast briefing where IFPRI staff briefed participants about the CGIAR of the United Nations Ford Foundation Global Open Agriculture and Food University initiative. Subsequently, we held a dia- France logue with new members of the European Union, hosted by the Government of Germany France and held at the French Ministry of Research. In London, a CGIAR briefing Gulf Cooperation Council India was held for the Science and Technology Committee of British Parliament in the Indonesia House of Commons. In July, the highlights were a launch of a new Japan-CGIAR Inter-American Development Bank Fellowship Program and the Japan Forum on International Agricultural Research for International Development Research Centre International Fund for Agricultural Development Sustainable Development (J-FARD). Taken together, these events have helped to Islamic Republic of Iran strengthen our partnership with member countries. Ireland Israel Italy The next meeting of the CGIAR Executive Council (ExCo) will be held during Japan September 13-14, 2004, and our co-sponsor, the International Fund for Agricultural Kellogg Foundation Development (IFAD) has graciously agreed to host the meeting at their headquarters Kenya Republic of Korea in Rome. Luxembourg Malaysia Planning for the Annual General Meeting 2004 is advancing well, and we are work- Mexico Morocco ing closely with our hosts in the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (known by its Netherlands Spanish acronym, SAGARPA) and with CIMMYT. A rich and substantive program is New Zealand developing, including field visits to CIMMYT and partner institutions. Nigeria Norway OPEC Fund for International Development We hope to see you in Mexico and that you enjoy this issue of CGIAR News. As Pakistan always, we welcome comments which can be sent to cgiar@cgiar.org. Peru Philippines Portugal Cordially, Rockefeller Foundation Romania Russian Federation South Africa Spain Ian Johnson Francisco Reifschneider Sweden CGIAR Chairman CGIAR Director Switzerland Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture Syrian Arab Republic Thailand Uganda United Kingdom United Nations Development Programme United Nations Environment Programme United States of America World Bank 2 cgiarNews Representatives of new member states of the EU at the dialogue "Agriculture in Change" CGIAR Dialogue with New hosted by the Government of France. Member States of European Union Announcements "Agriculture in Change" was the Of particular interest were presenta- theme of a dialogue held with repre- tions by delegates of Hungary, Poland, Alex McCalla, Chairman, CIMMYT Board of sentatives of ten new member states of and Slovenia summarizing the ARD sit- Trustees was recognized as a distinguished the European Union (EU) in Paris in uation in the new EU member states. scholar of the Western Agricultural June. Hosted by the Government of CGIAR representatives included Kanayo Economics Association during their Annual France, the dialogue provided a forum Nwanze (on behalf of Center Directors Meeting, July 1, 2004, in Honolulu, Hawaii. for new EU members to discuss their Committee), Jozef Turok (IPGRI), and perspectives on agricultural research Francisco Reifschneider (CGIAR), and G. Edward Schuh, of CIP's Board of Trustees and hear from the CGIAR the Group's their presentations focused on and Regents Professor at the University of agenda, priorities, and modus operandi. European partnerships, impacts of Minnesota was honored by the Brazilian CGIAR Center research, and State of Society of Agricultural Economics and named Denis Despréaux, Secretary General of CGIAR. "Legendary Member of the Society" in CRAI, and Adviser, Ministry of National recognition of lifetime contributions to the Education and Research; Alain Derevier, The meeting was instrumental in gen- profession. He was the first person to receive Adviser, Directorate General of erating interest in the research activi- this honor at a ceremony held in Cuiaba city, International Cooperation in the French ties of the CGIAR Centers and Mato Grosso, Brazil. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and strengthening the EU-CGIAR partner- Upcoming events Christian Hoste, French Agricultural ship. Follow-up activities are being Research Centre for International planned for the next international con- Development (CIRAD) welcomed the ference "European Responses to African Celebrations, International Year of participants from Bulgaria, Czech Changing Global Needs," scheduled Rice 2004, hosted by Forum for Agricultural Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, for April 27­29, 2005 in Zurich, Research in Africa (FARA), Accra, Ghana, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Switzerland. September 28, 2004 (www.fara-africa.org) Slovenia. In addition, representatives of the Eastern and Central European 2004 World Food Prize Foundation states who are candidates for the sec- For more information on next year's International Symposium, "Rice, ond phase of enlargement in 2007+ conference, click Biofortification and Enhanced Nutrition," also attended the briefing. http://www.efard2005.org/ October 14­15, 2004, Des Moines, Iowa (www.worldfoodprize.org) September 2004 3 News & Views Future Harvest Alliance Innovations: Working Together Better The Center Directors Committee (CDC), along with representa- We believe these changes will benefit the whole CGIAR System, tives from the Center Board Chairs (CBC) and the CDC/Center allowing the Centers to deploy resources more strategically and Deputy Directors Committee (CDDC) Working Group for Sub- efficiently so as to better meet the articulated demands of our Saharan Africa met in Addis Ababa July 8­9, 2004 to review partners. In addition, the Centers will be able to make a stronger existing mechanisms and create, enhance and enforce a dynam- and more strategic contribution to the CGIAR Executive Council ic collaboration, both among Centers, and with the larger and CGIAR System Office. Collective actions by the Centers will CGIAR stakeholder community. The agenda focused on identify- lead to stronger common policy positions, and impact. ing deficiencies in existing arrangements and developing the collective means for addressing them proactively. Programmatically, the urgency is in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). New collective actions will begin immediately with pilot consoli- To capitalize on opportunities, key actions and recommenda- dated sub-regional efforts in Eastern Africa, in partnership with tions agreed at the retreat include: ASARECA, followed by other sub-regions. The pilots will align Centers representation, partnerships, programs and operational Formally establishing a Future Harvest Alliance, building on support at the sub-regional level. It will be a collaboration with the platform of existing collaboration in managerial, adminis- Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern trative and policy work and Central Africa (ASARECA), Forum for Agricultural Research Transforming the existing Center Directors Committee into in Africa (FARA), national research systems, civil society, region- a new Alliance Executive to strengthen strategic manage- al, sub-regional bodies and international bodies and investors as ment appropriate. A strategy process will be launched in 2005 for Constituting the Committee of Board Chairs (CBC) into an developing a coordinated SSA capacity-building plan for nation- Alliance Board with responsibility for exercising oversight on al agricultural research and extension system partners, largely Center contributions to System-wide issues and ensuring implemented at sub-regional organization level in SSA. We are Center compliance working closely with the two CGIAR System Task Forces to Adopting alliance mechanisms and processes to create fair develop solutions to ease current managerial burdens at the and independent means of mediation and arbitration to national program level. resolve conflicts among peers Adding capacity to the CGIAR System Office through a The new Alliance Executive plans to implement these changes in strengthened Centers' Secretariat that will be tasked with a consultative, professional and well-resourced manner that supporting more frequent and coordinated interactions with does not shy away from the complexity of the reforms that are the CGIAR Chairman and Director necessary. The next stage is to establish a common platform for Tasking the Center Deputy Directors Committee to map exist- moving forward, which we hope will be solidified during the ing standards and practices involved in Centers work, and CGIAR Annual General Meeting in October 2004. CGIAR under the direction of the Alliance Executive (ex-CDC) work- ing to set priorities and creating new system-wide working Kanayo F. Nwanze methods Chair, Center Directors Committee Encouraging greater use of contract mechanisms to add clari- ty, transparency and enforceability to existing and future col- Meryl J. Williams laborative arrangements. Executive Officer, Future Harvest Alliance Office 4 cgiarNews New Japan Forum to Strengthen Japan-CGIAR Links The Forum brings together more than 20 leading Japanese uni- versities and centers of scientific excellence (Universities of Kochi, Kyushu, Nagoya, Tokyo, Tottori, Tsukuba and others); the private sector and multilateral institutions such as FAO, World Bank, and civil society organizations (e.g. Sasakawa Africa Association). Mr. Hisao Azuma is President of J-FARD. "We see an urgent need to mobilize resources and recognize that these can be scientific, technical, intellectual property, Mr. Hisao Azuma, President of J-FARD addressed the more than and financial," said Francisco Reifschneider, CGIAR Director. 110 participants at the launch ceremony "The CGIAR family of scientists is committed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and the Forum represents an In a major development, a new "Japan Forum on International important, collective step forward in that direction." Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development (J-FARD)" was launched in July 2004. For more information (in Japanese and English abstracts) on the Forum, click http://www.infonavi.co.jp/~databox/j-fard/index.html Designed to boost the Japan-CGIAR partnership, the Forum will http://www.jircas.affrc.go.jp/index.html serve as a common platform for coordinating and fostering new partnerships among scientific organizations, promote the creation and dissemination of knowledge, and improve domes- tic and international information exchange. Mr. Kazuo Kodama, Deputy Director General, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke about the long-standing ties between Japan and the CGIAR, and the importance Japan assigns to agricultural research as a way of achieving sustainable agriculture and rural development. Mr. Koichi Nishikawa, Director General, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council Secretariat; Mr. Shinichi In a related event, Francisco Reifschneider, CGIAR Director present- Kawarada of the Ministry of Education; Mr. Tomoki Takamura of ed a scroll to Dr. Mutsuo Iwamoto, President, JIRCAS, acknowledg- Japanese Tropical Agriculture Academic Society, and Mr. Kenzo ing JIRCAS' long-standing support to international agricultural Hemmi, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo, addressed the research and the CGIAR system, and identifying JIRCAS as a "key gathering. partner of the CGIAR and a CGIAR focal point institution in Japan." New Japan-CGIAR Fellowship Program Launched The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Centers. Fellowships are open to Japanese nationals, under age (MAFF) has launched a Japan-CGIAR Fellowship Program 35, who hold a master's degree or equivalent, and have excel- designed to support Japanese scientists to expand their expert- lent academic records in agricultural development. ise in international agricultural research for development. "This new Japan-CGIAR Fellowship Program is one more exam- "This program will support some of our brightest and best sci- ple of the innovative ways in which the Japanese government entists in their efforts to expand their experience of cutting and the Japanese people support science and poverty allevia- edge science," said Ichirou Ishihara, Director General of the tion," said Ian Johnson, CGIAR Chairman and World Bank Vice Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council Secretariat. President for Sustainable Development. "As well, it will further strengthen Japan's ties with CGIAR." Ten Japanese scientists will receive fellowships for approximately For more information, click two months to continue their research work overseas at CGIAR http://www.jircas.affrc.go.jp/index.html September 2004 5 China's Timber Imports Raise Concerns Following the death in 1998 of ure will reach 100 million cubic fuel illegal logging, unsustainable more than 4,000 people due to meters by 2010, accounting for trade and poverty. Currently there floods blamed on excessive defor- half of the total annual demand is little knowledge of how to The project estation, China implemented a in the country. Such high demand influence policy in China. We are widespread ban on logging. The has serious implications for global missing the basic building blocks will ban may be good news for forestry conservation. to launch effective development China's forests but may be bad initiatives," says White. strengthen news for other forests in the "You have a country that is grow- regional region. It is now feared the ban ing at eight to nine percent, White says the project will will lead to an increase in China's where its own domestic supply of strengthen regional networks, networks, timber imports, exerting enor- forest products is decreasing, so it identify leverage points where mous pressure on the forests of has created a huge demand for advocates can effect change and identify South East Asia and eastern forest products from the region. develop policy frameworks. Key Russia, often in the form of illegal (This) will have a strong impact on partners in the project include: leverage logging. livelihoods, jobs and people trans- the Chinese Center for points forming forest products. We will Agricultural Policy, the Chinese In response to this international also see considerable impact on Academy of Forestry, the where concern, CIFOR and Washington- local and neighboring economies, International Tropical Timber based NGO, Forest Trends, have and on the environment," says Organization, World Agroforestry advocates launched a multi-partner project David Kaimowitz, CIFOR's Director Centre, Papua New Guinea's that will increase the level of General. Foundation for People and can effect information available about tim- Community Development, Bogor change and ber demand and trade in China Andy White, a Senior Director Agricultural University, and the impacts this will have on with Forest Trends, says there is Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry, develop conservation and livelihoods. no mechanism for monitoring University of British Colombia, how China's import of timber and Russia's Economic Research policy In 2002, China imported 16 mil- affects markets and the environ- Institute. lion cubic meters of round wood, ment. "China's booming imports frameworks. some 16 times more than the fig- ure for 1997. It is estimated this fig- A wood chips processing plant, Guangdong, China (Photo by: Christian Cossalter) 6 cgiarNews Meet Ruben G. Echeverría Position: Executive Director, CGIAR Science Council, based at FAO Headquarters, Rome Career highlights: Chief, Rural Development, Sustainable Development Department, Inter-American Development Bank, responsible for preparation and implementation of the Bank's agriculture and rural development strategies and national investment programs; Research Officer, International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR); Research Fellow, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIM- MYT), including doctoral thesis research on public-private sec- tor maize research and seed production systems in Guatemala and Mexico; Director, Technical Assistance Division, National Colonization Institute, Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Uruguay. Education: Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Agriculture, University of Uruguay (1981); Master of Science (MSc), 1985, and PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics, 1988, both from University of Minnesota. helps the Science Council to fulfill its mandate of ensuring the relevance and quality of CGIAR science. Personal: Married to Maria Eugenia Soldevila, two children, ages 25 and 22 Coming from Uruguay--a small nation where agriculture is very important and with a population of little more than 3 mil- Career pathways--thoughts on getting from there to lion people--has its advantages. I'm naturally inclined to work here: I'm delighted to be getting `back' in the CGIAR family. with others and to look at the big picture! My association with the CGIAR goes back to my pre-doctoral research, trudging maize fields in Mexico and Guatemala. My The CGIAR has a track record of success, producing interna- relations with CGIAR have been varied, as a student researcher, tional public goods that have benefited lots of people and scientist, and donor representative. Lately I have been involved complemented the work of many others. The national pro- with the CGIAR's Special Panel on Impact Assessment, and grams in developing countries focus on the production of with the Working Group on Performance Measurement. national public goods. It is the regional issues, the regional spillovers where the CGIAR and national partners can do much In the 13 years that I have been `outside' the CGIAR system, more to foster regional cooperation in promoting science and much has changed in the agriculture and rural development technology for development. Boosting cooperative agricultural landscape. The CGIAR has changed too. I am pleased that cur- research consortia will be key to capturing regional synergies. rent development thinking is back into agriculture and rural development. More importantly, agricultural science and tech- It is easy to dream. We should strive to connect CGIAR nology is being given its rightful place as a key factor in achiev- research more directly to the activities of other development ing a broad economic, environmental and social development agencies (particularly those that provide financial assistance), so agenda. that national systems can benefit. Ultimately, science is a col- laborative activity, and there is little doubt that achieving In my new position, I hope to contribute to the new CGIAR impact will depend on our ability to forge strong partnerships. Science Council's mandate, forging links to partners outside the CGIAR system, with the Food and Agriculture Organization The CGIAR Science Council has an impressive set of challenges (FAO), and particularly with developing country research organ- and also a huge workload in the near future. I look forward to izations as well as working better with the diverse components contribute to this cause by hitting the ground running in of the CGIAR system. Focusing on complementarities and cap- Rome. turing synergies will be important words in my lexicon. I see the Science Council Secretariat as a small but strong unit that For more information, www.sciencecouncil.cgiar.org September 2004 7 Local Stewardship: Best Bet for Saving Java's Remaining Forest Reserves Survival of one of Java's last remaining "Before the Suharto era, the Park's pro- to local people and are being cut down biologically-rich natural forests will duction forests were managed reasonably illegally by villagers, often in collusion depend as much on incentives for com- well by local people. If you look carefully, with forest company guards. munity stewardship as it does on tradi- you can see where they once planted tea, tional government conservation pro- coffee and fruit trees," he says. Without an agreement between local grams, say CGIAR scientists working in communities and the Park's managers the Indonesian archipelago. Van Noordwijk fears, however, that unless that allows villagers to grow both food steps are taken soon to help farmers and tree crops, it is only a matter of time Java's largest remaining block of primary increase productivity within the Park's before people start moving from the pine forest, a 700-square kilometer reserve in production forest, and provide legal plantations into the forest reserve. the Gunung Halimun National Park, is con- access to the land so local people have sidered crucial to safeguarding drinking incentives to plant fruit and timber trees, "There are a number of things that can water supplies in nearby Jakarta. The area it's unlikely that the natural forest reserve be done to reverse the situation," says is under intense pressure from population can be maintained. Tree Domestication Specialist James growth and efforts to use the land for Roshetko. "The first is to develop exten- farming and government tree plantations. Incentives that lead to good stewardship, sion methods and technologies that help Van Noordwijk adds, are most likely to farmers improve the productivity of natu- "The well-being of the Park's biodiversity result from systematic negotiations ralized and indigenous tree species. The and watershed functions depend on the between local communities, park man- second is to demonstrate how better ability of local farmers to make effective agers, and local government. World management of trees translates into use of state-managed production forests Agroforestry Centre is working with a cash." that surround the reserve," says Meine variety of partners to identify the social van Noordwijk, regional coordinator of and biophysical causes of conflicts arising Roshetko, who holds a joint appointment the World Agroforestry Centre's over the Park's land tenure policies. with the World Agroforestry Centre and Southeast Asia office. Winrock International, is testing extension "Our objective is to use research results methods in a project with farmers in Research has shown that supporting local to help facilitate constructive dialogue Nangung, a sub-district of some 15,000 people to plant fruit and other productive based upon a scientific understanding of households that sits directly on the park's tree species in areas designated as pro- the problem," Van Noordwijk says. "For southern border. duction forests can provide the incentives example, by understanding both why and villagers lost when access to the land was how farmers plant their trees and man- "We look at the commodity chain all the taken by the government in the 1970. age the soil, we've been able to calculate way from production to the consumer," the positive impacts that agroforestry has Roshetko says. "The objective is to help on the Park's watershed functions." farmers understand the demands of the markets, avoid its pitfalls, and capitalize Non-Native Pine Forests on its strengths." The situation in the Park is extremely fluid Farmers in Nangung say they don't man- say officials from the Indonesian Institute age their trees intensively because they for Forest and Environment, and the NGO lack markets, Roshetko notes, a notion Forest Watch International--both of strongly seconded by local farm leaders. whom collaborate closely with World The project, which is financed by the Agroforestry Centre. United States Agency for International Development, includes training for farm Pine tree plantations planted during the leaders and NGO staff, identification of Suharto era and recently transferred to priority tree species, development of prof- the Park's jurisdiction have not only dis- it-boosting management practices, as placed native species, but have no value well rapid market appraisals. Children grafting. 8 cgiarNews Gunung Halimun National Park Studies conducted by aged to enter the process when all other World Agroforestry options have been exhausted. World Centre in Lampung Agroforestry Centre enriches the dia- demonstrated that the logue, he says, by providing research government's argu- result that target the social and biological ment that coffee pro- questions being addressed by the nego- duction leads to sedi- tiators. mentation and silting of nearby rivers were Indonesian Forests in Decline often without basis. As it turned out, farm- "The need to deepen the science of ers are willing to grow negotiation support and to scale-up its tree species accept- application is extremely urgent, adds able to the govern- Dennis Garrity, Director General, World ment, but would only Agroforestry Centre. do so if they had assurances that they Garrity, who spent more than a decade would not be evicted. Fay's research is working in Indonesia, notes that Deal Halts Evictions supported by the UK's Department for Indonesian and World Bank officials International Development (DfID). Fay recently reported that the health of the Questions remain, however, as to who adds that 15 similar efforts are now country's forests was far worse than pre- actually has the right to develop the underway and that he and his col- viously thought and that if deforestation Park's production areas. Farmers claim, leagues are working to reduce the time continues at current rates, Indonesia will for example, that they are the tradi- required to broker an agreement from soon cease to be a major supplier of tional stewards of the land and had the 18 months required in the Lampung wood products. access before the Suharto regime, but settlement, to just 2 or 3 were never given official title. months. Government foresters, however, are skeptical of the claims and are unsure if "Right now we're collabo- local communities can adequately care rating with the Indonesian for the land. Institute for Forest and Environment to docu- "What we've learned through research is ment the history of the that the interests of local people and the land in the Halimun government's need to maintain the reserve and reassure Park integrity of the watershed frequently officials that tree farming coincide," says Chip Fay, ICRAF Forest is not going to have an Policy Analyst. adverse affect on the watershed. Fay is an expert in "negotiation support." He helps equip local communities with Systematic support for the information to find common ground the negotiation process, with powerful government agencies. Fay adds, begins at the "One of the principals of negotiation local level to correct mis- support is to use science-based research conceptions and solve results to eliminate preconceptions and problems as close to the help the negotiating parties deal with the source as possible. social and biological reality on the Central government ground," Fay says. Simple grafting techniques that increase productivity and should only be encour- profits are needed to sustain family tree gardens. September 2004 9 Sticking together IITA scientists are not generally in the business of breaking up to rid itself partnerships, but they make an exception when the partnership of waste fluids, so much is between two insects that combine to destroy essential food it risks drowning in its own crops. secretions. Ants come to the rescue. The ants consume The African root and tuber scale is a small subterranean insect the honeydew as food, thus indigenous to Central Africa. It causes substantial crop yield sustaining the life of both The brown ant is a catalyst for losses by attacking the roots of host plants. Over the last 30 insects. But, there is more! The cassava production. years, this insect has evolved into a major pest threat in the ants actually move young scale Congo Basin for crops such as yam, cocoyam, and particularly insects from plant to plant--to cassava. IITA initiated a research program to investigate the situ- increase supplies and make sure they have enough to eat. This ation and the work has shed light on what turns out to be a leads to rapid infestations of crop fields. sticky problem. "Ultimately, the scale needs the ant to survive," says Rachid IITA researchers uncovered several reasons for the rise in scale Hanna, an IITA scientist. "Understanding the intricacies of this infestations. These included changes in land use such as the partnership helps us to develop sustainable tactics for reducing shift to short fallow periods and the way farmers handled crop scale infestations and protecting farmers' harvests." residues after harvest. Now that the enemies are better known, researchers are But the main culprit is an ant. The nests of this so-called working in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the "brown crazy ant" are regularly found alongside the scale. An Congo to develop management strategies to control the extremely close partnership has evolved between two, and this scale. They want to develop a greater understanding of the is the basis of the problem. behavior of both insects, while searching for natural enemies of the scale and possibly the ant, and identifying and develop- Their interaction is simple but wondrous. The scale produces ing resistant crop varieties and better cultural practices for large amounts of a sweet substance called honeydew in order farmers. Challenge Programs and Intellectual Property Rights Managing intellectual property rights (IPRs) will be a critical fac- ensuring that poor people have unfettered access to the bene- tor in the success of the new CGIAR Challenge Programs (CPs), fits of modern science. In June, the three pilot CPs (HarvestPlus, Generation, and Water and Food) sponsored a workshop at IPGRI to (a) develop effective management and dissemina- tion of Challenge Program products, (b) ensure com- pliance with agreements and laws pertaining to IPRs, and (c) implement forward-looking intellectual prop- erty management and technology transfer planning in CPs. The workshop was organized by CGIAR Central Advisory Service on Intellectual Property (CAS) and attracted 15 CP managers, 11 practition- ers specializing in intellectual property rights and technology transfer and four observers from CP part- ner institutions. Overall, the workshop succeeded in broadening and enhancing the understanding of IPRs and technology transfer practices. 10 cgiarNews From Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Science Council Chair One of the most important goals of the obtained, or some other easily measured progress achieved towards a clearly Science Council is to help assure that the result. This can then be compared to defined set of milestones for each Center, funds allocated to the CGIAR are well results from other toothpaste factories. on the relevancy and quality of the sci- spent. Given the funds available, we must Not so for research. Attempts to focus ence, and on the congruence of Center seek the greatest reduction in poverty performance measurements on what can goals with system priorities instead of the while improving food security, nutrition be counted and compared across pro- sum of a set of quantifiable indicators and natural resource management. We grams or Centers tend to give misleading that may be more or less irrelevant to the will never have enough money to do results, because those things that can be achievement of the goals. Those donors everything we want to do, so we must counted may not be good indicators of who wish to allocate funds on the basis prioritize and allocate funds to those progress towards achieving impact on of relative performance in moving Centers and programs we believe will poverty. For example, should a Center towards agreed upon goals, would be on have the greatest impact. But how do we that produces twice the number of refer- much firmer ground. Furthermore, every- identify these Centers and programs? eed journal articles produced by another body would benefit if donors would One way would be to evaluate past per- Center be allocated twice as much agree to a common performance meas- formance. In fact, during the last couple money? urement framework and share a common of years, increasing attention has been set of indicators. paid to performance measurement and If the final goal of the CGIAR is to pro- performance indicators. Such measure- duce the largest number of refereed jour- Performance should be measured on the ments and indicators may be a useful nal articles, the answer might be yes, but basis of achievement of outputs, out- input into judgments about future alloca- it is not. Refereed journal articles are at comes and, what we are ultimately inter- tions of funds but only if they relate best a means to an end, not an end in ested in, impact. However, we should rec- closely to what we in the CGIAR are try- themselves. It gets even more misleading ognize that Centers and research pro- ing to accomplish. In other words, which when we try to aggregate quantifiable grams have less control over impact and Centers, programs and projects achieved indicators such as number of visitors outcome than they have on output. The satisfactory progress towards meeting the coming to a particular Center, number of Science Council and other CGIAR stake- goals of the particular research and what improved lines released, number of peo- holders should work together to would be the impact of achieving each of ple trained, number of publications, etc. strengthen the pathways from research these goals? But to answer these ques- The program or Center with the largest output to impact on poverty. Judging the tions, Centers, programs and projects total gets the most money! We can obvi- performance of individual Centers and must have well defined goals, timelines, ously do better than that. A focus on research programs solely on impact might and annual milestones. If the goal is not what can easily be counted and com- be misleading because of so many other appropriately defined, we will not know pared across Centers and programs may factors influencing impact that the indi- if or when it is achieved and if we do not also reduce the incentive to take risks in vidual Center or program has little or no have clearly defined timelines and period- breaking new ground and seeking new control over. ic milestones, we will not know whether solutions, using a learning and feedback we are moving towards achieving the mode, which is so important in innovative The Science Council is fully involved with goal at an acceptable speed. This is the applied research. the Centers, the Working Group on logic behind the logframes now used by Performance Management and other all Centers. So what am I proposing? I am proposing stakeholders in moving towards the inte- that we measure progress towards gration of performance measurement in So, what's the problem? The problem is agreed upon goals by integrating per- the logframes of Centers and across that it is very difficult to measure progress formance measurement into the Center programs. Hopefully we will have towards achieving research goals. Unlike logframes. For this to work, we must the approach in place in time for the other production processes, one cannot strengthen the logframe presentations to Centers to strengthen next year's medi- simply count the research contributions include clearly defined goals, timelines, um-term plans and logframes so they can and compare them across programs. The annual milestones, and the extent to serve as the basis for future performance performance of a factory producing which the milestones were achieved. The measurement. toothpaste may be counted as the num- comparisons across Centers, programs, ber of tubes produced, the net profits and projects would then be based on the Per Pinstrup-Andersen September 2004 11 For Journalists, `Seeing is Believing' On a rainy afternoon earlier this year, 25 newspapers in numerous African coun- mosquitoes breed. "I was impressed with journalists gathered under makeshift tries, including Botswana, Ethiopia, the truly holistic approach of the project, tents on a banana farm near Masaka, a Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, and which involves communities, civic leaders, town about 80 miles southwest of Uganda. and extension workers." Kampala, to listen to farmers describe how agricultural science increased their During the tour, journalists had the In addition to farms, the group visited a prosperity. opportunity to meet sweet potato farm- clinic to see the connections between ers who are working with CIP. They also HIV/AIDS and nutrition, and a grain ware- Here in the Masaka area, researchers met community leaders and researchers house to understand how improved mar- from IITA and Uganda's National in Mbarara, in southwestern Uganda, to kets can increase the incomes of small- Agricultural Research Organization learn how IWMI and ILRI researchers are scale farmers. After the tour, journalists (NARO) have been collaborating with working to curb the spread of malaria participated in a 3-day IFPRI-organized local farmers to increase harvests through through the Systemwide Initiative on conference on food and nutrition security integrated pest management techniques. Malaria and Agriculture (SIMA). in Africa. The visit was part of media tour, organ- "The SIMA initiative is very innovative," "Field trips are very valuable to journal- ized by IFPRI to highlight the benefits of said Mildred Mulenga, Southern Africa ists," Mulenga noted. "These opportuni- CGIAR research in the region. The jour- Bureau Chief for the Pan African News ties help us understand the reality on the nalists represented media outlets such as Agency. She saw SIMA's efforts in improv- ground and depth of issues on which we the Wall Street Journal, major wire servic- ing irrigation management to prevent still report. As the saying goes, `seeing is es in Africa and Europe, and leading daily bodies of water from forming where believing'." Philippines develops Good News from the Field miracle peanut The Government of Côte d'Ivoire approved the return of the Africa Rice Center (WARDA) staff to Bouaké, and has estab- lished an Inter-Ministerial Commission to provide the conducive Using ICRISAT parental lines, Mariano Marcos State environment for scientists and staff to resume their research- University (MMSU) in the Philippines, has developed for-development activities in Bouaké and M'bé. its first high yielding peanut variety which can be grown in any of the country's seven regions any time "We are delighted with this development," said Kanayo of the year. Nwanze, Director General, WARDA. "It bodes well for WARDA's ability to continue delivering the benefits of modern science for The National Seed Industry Council of the Philippines improving agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa." recently approved the new variety for commercial planting. The variety matures in 95 to 100 days and The Ivorian crisis has exacted a heavy toll on WARDA staff and is drought tolerant. It is also resistant to leaf diseases their families. In September 2002, WARDA temporarily relocat- like cercospora leaf spot, rust, mosaic, bacterial wilt, ed its Headquarters to Abidjan with a sub-station in Bamako, and common cutworms. Mali. Now, with strong signals that the peace process in Côte d'Ivoire is taking a positive turn toward final resolution, The new variety is a selection from a number of WARDA management and Board of Trustees have developed a advance segregating lines from ICRISAT, and was progressive return plan to be implemented in phases. It is note- evaluated at the MMSU reserach farm for six consec- worthy that over 60 senior locally-recruited technical staff con- utive years and in national cooperative tests during tinued to maintain operations during 2003/04. Over 10 2000 and 2001. It was a consistent top yielder during hectares of experimental plots and trials are being conducted the evaluation, with an average of 1.5 tons per this year. The WARDA homecoming is well on its way. hectare in both seasons. 12 cgiarNews Informal milk and dairy markets in Syria: ICARDA explores pathways out of poverty Milk and dairy products, particularly cheese, are an integral Small producers collectively process their milk through external component of diets in the Levant. High demand for these prod- cheese makers--or jabbans--composed of women and men of ucts, particularly in village markets, represents an important a single family. Jabbans are mobile entrepreneurs, settling down source of livelihoods for poor people. in villages where milk production is important, or where sheep are temporarily raised in significant numbers, or where flocks To gain a better understanding of how the informal, small-scale from the steppe settle for grazing during the spring season. The dairy industry works and the constraints poor dairy producers survey showed that these local cheese making institutions pro- face, ICARDA economists took a closer look at milk and dairy vide important services to the poor, such as loans and handling production in the Khanasser valley, near Aleppo, Syria. The small volumes of milk, which cannot be marketed otherwise, objective was to identify entry points for technology transfer, especially in the absence of a formal infrastructure and lack of while encouraging small-scale entrepreneurs to produce value- access to markets. added foodstuffs that help to increase rural incomes and reduce poverty. The study also found that milk and dairy production activities are gender specific. Dairy production and processing is mainly They studied 44 villages in Khanasser valley, and documented done by women, with men handling marketing and loan provi- local institutional arrangements and mechanisms relating to sions. This shows the need for gender-specific technological sheep milk production and processing. Using qualitative and improvements in the dairy sheep sector in order to have a posi- quantitative measures, they analyzed the terms of arrangements tive impact on women's well-being. between traders and dairy sheep producers covering the entire spectrum of milk collection, delivery, processing and marketing. Combining indigenous knowledge with mod- ern technology The results were instructive. To obtain farmers' perceptions and benefit from their knowl- edge, ICARDA organized a visit of the Khanasser valley farmers, both men and women, to its dairy processing laboratories. Farmers saw that using a milking ramp could ease their work- load, and witnessed the operation of a homestead milk process- ing plant that ensures hygienic and safe production of cheese and yogurt. Scientists demonstrated the use of commercial starters to improve the quality of yogurt and cheese products to meet consumer demand. The application of new feeding meth- ods has the potential to increase productivity per ewe and per flock, and farmers were very interested in the low-cost feeding trials involving optimum feed composition and urea-treated straw for fattening of Awassi lambs. Thanks to the study, potential entry points have been identified by ICARDA researchers for technological and development options to improve the dairy production and processing system in the valley and in similar marginal dry areas. The collaboration between ICARDA researchers, farmers and small-scale entrepre- neurs to combine indigenous knowledge with modern technol- ogy will help improve the income of the village communities and reduce poverty in the region. Woman selling cheese in Khanasser Valley, Syria. September 2004 13 HarvestPlus Challenge Program: Weaving Nutrition into Agriculture www.harvestplus.com Sometimes little things make all the dif- Bioavailability Effectiveness ference. Micronutrient malnutrition is Having nutrients present in the edible Once efficacy has been demonstrated now firmly on the agricultural research portion of crops does not necessarily and impact and policy analyses show new agenda as HarvestPlus weaves together mean the human body can absorb and varieties have the potential to improve agriculture and nutrition sciences as part use them. Sometimes micronutrients are nutritional status, effectiveness will be of its mission to biofortify staple foods. It simply not "bioavailable." HarvestPlus is measured in real-life settings. Prior to is a new way of doing business in the working to screen and rank germplasm doing this, studies will be carried out to CGIAR. for bioavailability using in vitro methods. determine what attributes in food affect The best lines will be validated in animal consumption behavior and whether bio- Screening germplasm for models, and finally tested in humans. fortification changes the sensory charac- nutrient-dense bioavailable teristics of food--the look or consistency. varieties Efficacy and acceptability Will attitudes have to change to make biofortified food acceptable at the indi- Nutritionists and plant breeders are work- HarvestPlus nutrition scientists are also vidual, community, and institutional level? ing to determine the composition of working to develop indicators that meas- micronutrients in the germplasm of target ure nutritional benefit through less inva- staple foods. Natural variability in sive techniques such as breath tests. Forging Partnerships micronutrient concentrations as well as Efficacy measures the biological effect of Nutrition and agriculture research are those of nutrient absorption inhibitors consuming a biofortified crop under con- being woven together in the lab, field, and promoters are being identified in tar- trolled conditions. It is a complex and and in the institutions that support geted staple crops to select the most lengthy process. Biofortified crops must HarvestPlus research efforts around the promising varieties. Global standards for be grown, harvested, milled, and pre- world. This new way of doing business micronutrient screening are being adapt- pared without micronutrient contamina- has required CGIAR scientists to address ed and established for HarvestPlus crops tion. The crop must be fed in measured new priorities, build new partnerships, in laboratories around the world. quantities to a minimal number of people and attract new donors. With the Moreover, because nutrient density must under controlled conditions for a speci- increased focus on nutrition, HarvestPlus be retained beyond the laboratory and fied period of time. Blood samples must has attracted over $30 million from pub- the field, the effects of storage, process- be taken to measure impact and the data lic health and nutrition donors. Moreover, ing, and cooking on promising must be analyzed. 25 nutrition research institutions around germplasm is also being tested. the world are members of the HarvestPlus alliance. Bangladeshi farmers take on role of scientists (continued) The LITE project, funded by UK's "when people stopped spraying, yields "We've already trained 2,000 farmers. Department for International didn't drop--and this was across 600 We've reduced insecticide use among Development, set out to discover the fields in two different districts over 4 participating farmers by 99%, and by exact cause of an assumed drop in rice seasons. I'm convinced that the vast 90% among nonparticipating farmers in yield when farmers stop spraying insecti- majority of insecticides that rice farmers the same villages. Even in the control vil- cide. The ultimate aim, explains LITE prin- use are a complete waste of time and lages, where no farmers conducted the cipal investigator and IRRI senior entomol- money. experiments, insecticide use dropped ogist Gary C. Jahn, was to identify safe from 80% to 55%, and much of this alternatives to insecticides. "We quickly realized the most important beneficial drop is attributable to farmer- thing to focus on was scaling up the suc- to-farmer interactions." "To my surprise," reported Dr. Jahn, cesses of the LITE project," he explained. 14 cgiarNews Kenya Prepares to Grow Insect-Resistant Maize Every year, stem borers voraciously con- improve economic perform- sume 400,000 tons of maize, causing an ance, reduce poverty, and estimated $72 million in losses for enhance food security. The Kenya. That sum represents over 12 per- Hon. Kipruto arap Kirwa, cent of the farmers' annual harvest. The Kenyan Minister of Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) Agriculture, attended the cer- project is working to identify convention- emony. al and novel sources of stem borer resist- ance and incorporating them into maize A biosafety greenhouse has varieties that are well suited to Kenyan special features to prevent the growing conditions and to farmer and transfer of pollen, seed, or consumer preferences. The project is other plant material from jointly implemented by the Kenya genetically modified plants to Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the outside environment. CIMMYT, with support from the Located at the KARI National Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agricultural Research His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya (second Agriculture. Laboratory (NARL) in Nairobi, from left) and Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT Director General (far right) view Kenya's new biosafety green- the new greenhouse will be house complex. Looking on is Romano Kiome (center) If trials are successful, seed of Bt maize used among other things to Director General, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute inbred lines and of crosses to locally determine the level of resist- (KARI). The inauguration of the facility highlighted adapted maize will eventually be made ance to insect pests in maize Kenya's interest in taking a lead role in biotechnology available to develop new, insect resistant developed by IRMA. The to benefit farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. varieties for farmers To support this resistance is based partly on effort, IRMA has mounted a major effort genes from the soil bacteri- to inform and consult Kenyan um, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). researchers, academics, farmers, and the general public about the project. As one The Nairobi facility is the first biosafety result, IRMA varieties are being improved greenhouse complex in sub-Saharan for additional traits that farmers value Africa, and the only other facility is in "We in Kenya have such as drought tolerance and resistance South Africa. resolved to apply to storage pests. "An important output of the project and biotechnology in line "We in Kenya have resolved to apply the greenhouse will be the generation of biotechnology in line with the existing knowledge and experience," said Masa with the existing biosafety frameworks, national statutes, Iwanaga, Director General, CIMMYT, in and international obligations," said H.E. remarks made at the inauguration of the biosafety frameworks, Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya, while facility. Partners have already received national statutes, and inaugurating the first biosafety green- extensive training on biosafety green- house complex in eastern Africa on June house operation, and are conducting international obligations," 23, 2004. "The newly constructed studies on practices the enable farmers biosafety greenhouse complex symbolizes to use Bt maize productively and on how H.E. Mwai Kibaki, that effort." The President referred to the varieties will fit into the environ- agricultural biotechnology as a tool to ment. President of Kenya. September 2004 15 cgiarNews Editor Sarwat Hussain e s.hussain@cgiar.org Editorial coordination M. Caryl Jones-Swahn e m.jonesswahn@cgiar.org Published by the CGIAR Secretariat A Unit of the CGIAR System Office t 1 202 473 8951 f 1 202 473 8110 e cgiar@cgiar.org CGIAR-supported Future Harvest Centers International Center for Tropical Agriculture International Crops Research Institute for International Water Management Institute (CIAT) the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) (IWMI) www.ciat.cgiar.org www.icrisat.org www.iwmi.cgiar.org Center for International Forestry Research International Food Policy Research Institute West Africa Rice Development Association­ (CIFOR) (IFPRI) The Africa Rice Center (WARDA) www.cifor.org www.ifpri.org www.warda.org International Maize and Wheat International Institute of Tropical World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Agriculture (IITA) www.worldagroforestrycentre.org www.cimmyt.org www.iita.org WorldFish Center International Potato Center (CIP) International Livestock Research Institute www.worldfishcenter.org www.cipotato.org (ILRI) www.ilri.org International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) International Plant Genetic Resources www.icarda.org Institute (IPGRI) www.ipgri.org International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) www.irri.org 16 cgiarNews