The nature of the issues around which Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) partnerships are formed requires a different way of conceptualizing and thinking to that commonly found in many agricultural professionals. This brief clarifies the components of a system of interest to an ARD partnership.

The success of multi-stakeholder ARD (Agricultural Research for Development) partnerships is often attributed to stakeholder interaction and knowledge exchange, collective learning and establishment of mutual trust between the partners involved. Achieving these outcomes depends very much on the leadership of the partnership, and how this leadership relates to partnership facilitation and also project coordination and/or management. This brief explores the different skills and attitudes required by leaders of ARD partnerships, and how these relate to different contexts.

Although it is not always acknowledged, power differences between partners fundamentally affect Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) partnerships. In referring to its African-European ARD partnerships, PAEPARD has often alluded to aspects of power without naming them as such. The project was established to create “equitable and balanced partnerships” between: a) researchers and research users, and b) African and European partners.

Inclusion is a key issue for Agricultural Research for Development (ARD). Development goals in and of themselves call for better livelihoods and opportunities for the less privileged actors working in agriculture. They also call for greater equity and balanced representation of the population at an institutional level. This brief focuses on how ARD processes can more sensitively address gender relations and youth issues. Women and young people have distinctive needs and interests which can be less visible within broader “Producer Organizations”, for example.

Networks and organizations need to find ways to be more effective in pursuing their objectives and thus seek to “learn” to be able to respond, innovate and adapt to complex, changing social and environmental conditions, thus bringing about social change. An essential capacity for ARD (Agricultural Research for Development) partnerships is therefore the ability to reflect and learn. Learning is not simply about increasing knowledge and skills or changing attitudes; it is about making sense of complexity to act more effectively.

This brief illustrates the different forms of knowledge, and the ways to create and manage it. 

FAO and the Centre de Cooperation Internationale pour la Recherche et le Developpement Agricole (CIRAD) organized an expert consultation workshop on developing a methodology for assessing agricultural innovation systems. The meeting was held on 13–15 June 2018 at CIRAD Headquarters in Paris. It brought together 30 experts from academia, research, extension, the private sector, development agencies and government representatives.

This situation analysis report provides a snapshot of the regional and subregional policies and frameworks that support biofortification and the organizations implementing various nutrition- sensitive initiatives. The report identifies some ongoing initiatives that are relevant to the The Building Nutritious Food Baskets (BNFB) Project mandate and that can be aligned to its activities to facilitate its starting up and scaling up. The report recommends the key actions necessary to facilitate increased investment in and scaling up of biofortified crops in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ante los inmensos retos institucionales que plantea la construcción de un nuevo sistema de extensionismo en México, el proceso de diseño de políticas públicas correspondiente requiere de esfuerzos multidisciplinarios, combinados con ejercicios de reflexión que rebasen el ámbito nacional para nutrirse de las experiencias, aprendizajes y propuestas creativas provenientes de otros horizontes.

Con base en las limitaciones analizadas en el extensionismo tradicional, este documento propone un Sistema Integral de Organizadores Comunitarios (SICOMUN) en el que los Organizadores sean seleccionados por procedimientos meritocráticos, se encuentren vinculados a un proceso de capacitación permanente que les permita escalar en posiciones e incentivos a la manera del Servicio Nacional de Investigación y sean apoyados por un arreglo institucional de acompañamiento.