Systems Research in the Context of the new CGIAR SRF and 2nd

Cycle CRPs By

Dr. Kwesi Atta-Krah

Director, Humidtropics CGIAR Research Program

Excerpts from SRF in relation to Systems Research

• The ‘traditional’ mandate of CGIAR – to increase the productivity of crops, livestock, trees and fish and to improve the management of natural resources for the world’s poor and hungry – remains highly relevant in the 21st century.

• The backdrop to change is finite natural resources and continuing population growth, a combination that gives rise to increasingly evident pressures on the land and other resources used for productive purposes. (This supports the need for Sustainable Intensification)

– Land, Soil degradation, Water, Unsustainable harvests of fish and other aquatic resources, genetic resources.

Excerpts from SRF in relation to Systems Research

• A major new factor affecting natural resources and their use is climate change and the extreme weather events associated with it. These compound the pressures on agro-ecologies that are already struggling with the legacy of past environmental mismanagement. (important to explore how climate change can be incorporated into systems research)

– Foresight dimensions

• The policy and institutional dimensions of agri-food systems also take on increased importance as markets globalize and integrate, especially as agriculture links with the energy and water sectors. The growing threats posed by climate change call for bold new policy responses.

Excerpts from SRF in relation to Systems Research

• The objectives of a renewed and expanded research effort must therefore include not merely higher yields from improved varieties and practices, but also greater emphasis on new themes such as climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive agriculture, faster adoption of new technologies, higher profitability from the small farm and food processing sectors. – All these elements point to the centrality of systems approaches in

CGIAR research

The Results Framework

• The Strategy and Results Framework (SRF) presents a vision, mission and three strategic goals or system-level outcomes (SLOs) for the work of CGIAR and its partners over the 10-year period to 2025.

• SLO1 – Reduced poverty

• SLO 2 – Improved food and nutrition security

• SLO 3 – Improved natural resource systems and ecosystem services

• To accomplish the 3 SLOs, 10 Intermediate Development Outcomes (IDOs) are identified, each IDO having 2 – 5 sub-IDOs (32 sub-IDOs).

Cross-cutting issues

• Climate change. All research and development activities need to build in resilience to climate shocks and a focus on adaptation to and mitigation of climate change.

• Gender and youth.

• Policies and institutions.

• Capacity development.

Focus on Agricultural Systems

• Research in this area will target a limited number of regions and agro-ecologies that are home to high concentrations of the world’s poor and that offer significant agricultural potential in the sense that sizeable yield gaps both occur and can be addressed.

• The focus will be on the sustainable intensification of farming systems, including the improvement of social and ecological resilience, ecosystem services supporting agriculture, and the management of tradeoffs.

CGIAR Research and Systems

• Research will adopt a systems approach, encompassing the full range of intervention points from soil–plant–water relationships to markets and value chains. It will integrate social and biophysical sciences with the use of both local knowledge and big data to understand and solve the complex problems affecting lives and livelihoods in these systems.

Our Declarations

1. Systems research is the bedrock within which the expected changes in productivity, livelihoods and NRM can and should take place, in line with the goals and aspirations of the SRF.

2. Systems research is not the exclusive ‘right’ of Systems CRPs. Within the CGIAR, Systems Research must be seen as functioning at varying levels throughout the entire CGIAR chain, with built-in inter-connections. – This would require massive mindset change, competency

enhancement, as well as strengthened strategic partnerships, related to areas of systems research and analysis along the impact pathway – Research to Development and Scaling:

Systems thinking at all levels

Core functioning,

Place-based research: Systems CRPs

Broader integration - Systems Approaches:

Other CRPs

Across the Board Mindset Alignment - Systems Thinking

Entire System

CRP X

CRP C

Other CRPs

Systems CRPs

Communities

of Practice will

function within

this context

Primary Collaboration

– Linking systems

research components

of CRPs to the central

systems-CRP

Systems

components of

other CRPs

Inter CRP

meetings will

function within

this context

Secondary Collaboration –

Aggregation of entire CRPs

(systems, Commodity, NRM,

Policy) research within a

defined AEZ

How would the systems research entities across CRPs work together to ensure synergy?

Levels of Integration and Aggregation

This can play out at 3 different levels or scales in relation to SRF and GCARD

– Site Integration Plans (Systems research; total research activity)

– Regional (AEZ) Integration Plan (on Systems Research)

– Regional Aggregation (including mapping) Plan

GCARD Process Alignment

Systems Research in context of 2nd Cycle Portfolio of CRPs

• Within-Cluster aggregation options

• Inter-Cluster Aggregation Options

Within-Cluster Aggregation

Four Option Scenarios produced – Status quo: 3 separate CRPs

– Medium level of integration: Clustering with Efficiencies

– Medium level of integration: Land based Systems, and Aquatic (Water-based) System CRP

– High Aggregation: Merge all 3 S-CRPs into one ‘giant’ CRP

Status quo

Clustering with efficiencies

Full Merger

One Systems CRP

Partial Merger – 2 systems CRPs

Systems CRPs Aggregation Options

Mixed Cluster Aggregation Possibilities

• Commodities: Integration of commodity value chains in

system focal areas wherever possible (as per Research Capability – Agricultural Systems)

• Policy Institutions and Markets: Systems work needs to look at institutions and governance and therefore could incorporate some of micro-economic dimensions of PIM. Currently most social scientists in many Centers seem to aggregate into PIM, with less available for the systems-CRPs.

• Climate Smart Agriculture: Integration of climate smart agriculture research into systems research, to provide basis for foresight considerations.

Mixed Cluster Aggregation possibilities

• Nutrition / Nutrition Sensitive Landscapes: Dietary diversification element cuts across all Systems CRPs and A4NH.

• Dryland Cereals and Grain Legumes: Specific integration with dryland systems CRP to create a crop and production systems CRP for drylands.

• Roots, Tubers and Bananas: Humidtropics and RTB Integration as possible model. RTB commodities grow in the humid tropics AEZ. Strong need for some integration. The commodities are often grown within a systems context.

Mixed Cluster Aggregation possibilities

• Livestock and Fish: Fish value chains and technology dimensions could be integrated into AAS, and livestock integration and value chain dimensions into Humidtropics and Drylands.

• Research for Development Platforms and Innovation Platforms of Systems CRPs could be used in a wider context across CRPs as Mechanism for Collaboration and/or Integration. This could also be the basis upon which targeted research interventions are developed for particular sites or zones.

R4D Platforms Mechanism for Linking CRPs

Experimentation

•Technical •Institutional •Modeling

A B C D

• Synthesis • Learning • Scaling

• Situation Analysis • Tools and Methods • Climate Smart

Agriculture • Foresight

• Research for Development (R4D) Platforms • Joint CRP Intvn.

R4D/Innovation platforms

Scaling out Scaling out Scaling out

CRP Interventions

and Joint research

Conclusion: Looking Forward

Three key domains of work are highlighted below as part of the next step actions:

1. We need to develop indices that demonstrate changes in systems performance of dominant systems:

– Systems Productivity Index ($ and/or Food)

– Systems Innovation Index (% knowledge gain)

– Systems Resilience Index (%)

2. Providing a basis and support to other research initiatives such as commodity CRPs that test and experiment with social and technical interventions in relation to the SRF and related targets.

3. Developing partnership development and engagement platforms together with other CRPs.