The Nile Basin Development Challenge (Nile BDC) is funded by the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands through a landscape approach to rainwater management. The first project of the Program reviewed past research and development experiences with sustainable land and water management in Ethiopia. This brief summarizes key points from the study, which approached the subject from a broadly historical perspective, tracing changes in policies and strategies from the 1970s to the present.

The articles in the dossier present different approaches to supporting farmer-led research, ranging from partnerships between small-scale farmer organisations and research institutions, to alliances of farmer groups, nongovernmental organisations and researchers, to constellations in which farmer organisations directly contract researchers. The articles highlight some innovations that have emerged from these processes and – more important still – show new ways of organising research so that it strengthens innovative capacities at grassroots level.

The Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program, supported by the United States Agency for International Development, aims to create opportunities for smallholder farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition, and income security, particularly for women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base.

This innovation story narrates the experience of Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project on innovative banana value chain development in Metema district, Amhara, Ethiopia. The project introduced banana production systems in the district for the first time in 2005. IPMS together with the stakeholders provided support along the banana value chain on production, in put supply and marketing.

This film describes the role of capacity development in accelerating adoption of new technologies and innovations in the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics.

Improved Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian Farmers is a five‐year project funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and being implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The project focuses on the development of new approaches and processes for: development of market oriented agriculture emphasizing marketable commodities; knowledge management; and innovation capacity development.

This poster shows the ILRI and CGIAR activities to enhance Capacity development in the year of 2018

This article used thematic content analysis to assess the influence of IPs on the governance of the parboiled rice value chain. The findings reveal that local rice value chains are characterized by unequal access to resources and asymmetry of power, which generates inequalities within groups. Although their influence is less discernible, IPs have contributed to greater visibility for some emerging stakeholders and rebalanced stakeholders in terms of influence in value chains

in the context of the EU-funded JOLISAA (JOint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture) project, four local innovation processes involving smallholders in Benin were selected for in-depth assessment: innovation in hwedo agrofishing, integrated soil fertility management (ISFM), rice parboiling and soy value chains. Stakeholders directly involved in the innovation process were interviewed.