This publication comprises 24 full papers/abstracts presented at the “High Level Policy Dialogue on Investment in Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific” (Bangkok, 8-9 December 2015).

In Mexico there are public programs that promote the improvement of the technical and productive conditions of the agriculture sector through organisations such as Produce Foundation Puebla (FUPPUE). This organisation has implemented diverse mechanisms oriented to promoting farmers' technological and productive capabilities. However in some cases when the FUPPUE leaves them, farmers' capabilities and performance decrease within a short period of time.

To meet multiple environmental objectives, integrated programming is becoming increasingly important for the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Integration of multiple environmental, social and economic objectives also contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a timely and cost-effective way. However, integration is often not well defined. This report therefore focuses on identifying key aspects of integration and assessing their implementation in natural resources management projects.

Until recently, little attention has been paid to local innovation capacity as well as management practices and institutions developed by communities and other local actors based on their traditional knowledge. This paper doesn't focus on the results of scientific research into innovation systems, but rather on how local communities, in a network of supportive partnerships, draw knowledge for others, combine it with their own knowledge and then innovate in their local practices.

This presentation is on AgriVIVO, a project aimed at facilitating better networking of individual researchers and the organizations they belong to for better collaborations and less duplication of efforts.

The Nile Story is one of immense challenges and remarkable achievements for the economic development of the region. It begins in 1999, when the ministers in charge of water affairs in the Nile countries agreed to form the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). Between 2003 and 2015, the Nile Basin Trust Fund (NBTF) supported and coordinated cooperative work in the region, which has been delivered mainly through the NBI.

The objective of this report is to assess the usefulness of providing guidance for scaling up good practices in core ARD business lines, and to test the prospects for doing so. The output of the document is a guide for a systematic discussion on scaling up of Competitive Grant Schemes (CGSs) for agricultural research and extension at key decision points during the life of an ARD project. This report addresses the other end of the state-of-practice spectrum - good practices and beyond.

Policy makers and development practitioners who are responsible for developing investment strategies to promote economic growth find many challenges in the changing face of agriculture in the twenty-first century. In addition to its productive role of providing food, clothing, fuel, and housing for a growing world population, agriculture assumes other roles, the importance of which has more recently been recognized. In addition to its essential role in food security, agricultural development is now seen as a vital and high-impact source of poverty reduction.

Background: Opportunities to use data and information to address challenges in international agricultural research and development are expanding rapidly. The use of agricultural trial and evaluation data has enormous potential to improve crops and management practices. However, for a number of reasons, this potential has yet to be realized.

This paper presents a case study of the work carried out by CIAT to facilitate the creation of a community of practice, using Dgroups and taking advantage of this virtual space to apply a qualitative monitoring technique called Most Significant Change. The experience reported here mixed key ingredients to create and facilitate a community of practice to facilitate knowledge sharing and communication flow among 14 learning and knowledge sharing centres in Latin America and the Caribbean.