This book documents a study on the concept of Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) that was developed by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). The IAR4D concept forms the basis for the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme (SSA CP), which is the only CGIAR Challenge Programme limited geographically to a particular region of the world. The focus of SSA CP is to facilitate substantially greater impact from agricultural

This briefing considers the status, systems, instruments and institutions underpinning agricultural innovation and research for development (ARD) globally and in the ACP countires. It puts a strong emphasis on lessons learnt and opportunities for successful agricultural innovation, based on broad range of interventions at different levels of the agricultural value chain. It analyses participatory innovation processes to find more efficient and effective modes of agricultural research and technology development benefiting farmers and rural communities.

This paper, facilitated by FARA, is intended to contribute towards an understanding of ‘Integrated Agricultural Research for Development’ (IAR4D). The authors first review four ‘defining principles’ of IAR4D, the theories and experiences that have contributed to the formulation of these principles, and actions that can contribute to putting these principles into practice. The paper then summarizes the individual, organizational and institutional capacity that is needed to create the enabling environment for IAR4D.

This project report from Wageningen UR (as a contribution to the CGIAR Humid Tropics research program) examines critical issues for reflection when designing and implementing research for development in innovation platforms’. The current document therefore aims to increase awareness about the complexity of research in innovation. The underlying idea is that innovation platforms can facilitate institutional changes and support system innovations through increased interaction, negotiation and learning between stakeholders, including (new) roles of research(ers).  

This paper briefly reviews three conceptual frameworks: namely, the national agricultural research system (NARS), the agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS) and the agricultural innovation system (AIS) concepts. Next, the paper reviews the definition of ‘innovation’ and proposes that agricultural innovation can occur at four different but interlinked domains.

This review seeks to assess the usefulness of innovation systems approaches in the context of the Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) in guiding research agendas, generating knowledge and use in improving food security and nutrition, reducing poverty and generating cash incomes for resource-poor farmers. The report draws on a range of case studies across sub-Saharan Africa to compare and contrast the reasons for success from which lessons can be learned.

The USAID Bureau for Food Security (BFS) has made available this Technical Brief on USAID role in Supporting National Agricultural Research Systems. USAID has launched its Feed the Future (FTF) program, which aims to address the root causes of hunger and poverty and which recognizes the importance of agricultural research as a critical (although not sufficient) input towards the solution in the longer term. Moreover, it is an input that has been relatively under exploited.

This paper represents a guidance to USAID on elements to incorporate into a strategy to improve agricultural research, and a technical brief to guide USAID investments in NARS strengthening. The paper is the final output from a one-day Roundtable which was held on March 5, 2013 and that brought together some 30 specialists in agricultural research and agricultural research systems to discuss which USAID interventions would best strengthen NARS in developing countries.

This learning module on Applying innovation system concept in agricultural research for development has been prepared to serve as a tool in achieving the objective of strengthening the capacity of project staff and other researchers and actors who are believed to have a key role to play in ushering in market-led agricultural transformation. This includes national, regional, international and private sector agricultural researchers, university lecturers, and others engaged in biophysical as well as social science research.

The question of how agricultural research can best be used for developmental purposes is a topic of some debate in developmental circles. The idea that this is simply a question of better transfer of ideas from research to farmers has been largely discredited. Agricultural innovation is a process that takes a multitude of different forms, and, within this process, agricultural research and expertise are mobilised at different points in time for different purposes. This paper uses two key analytical principles in order to find how research is actually put into use.