Establishing World Class Research Institutions in Africa: ILRI Experience and Implications for the A

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Establishing World Class Research Institutions in
Africa ILRI Experience and Implications for the
African Capacity Building Foundation
www.ilri.org
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Overview

• Drivers of change in the livestock sector
• Two contentious issues What is the role of
  smallholders ? Is livestock intensification
  sustainable?
• Example of successful sustainable
  intensification Small scale dairy sector
  in East Africa
• Lessons from ILRIs Experience for successful
  efforts to link knowledge to action
• Implications for ACBF
• Conclusions

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Drivers of livestock system change Demand

• Booming demand for livestock and livestock
  products
• almost exclusively in developing countries
• greater increase relative to cereals and other
  staple crops

Demand for livestock products 1993-2020 (Delgado
et al.)
increase in demand
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Drivers of livestock system change Demand

• Need to double livestock production in developing
  world by 2020 to meet rising demand for livestock
  products.
• Doubling livestock production puts pressure on
  natural resources water, land, biodiversity.
• A supermarket revolution is setting higher
  standards for food quality and safety, especially
  for livestock products
• Market chains are lengthening, making it more
  difficult for small-scale producers to
  participate in markets

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Drivers of livestock system change Production

• Previous expansion of agricultural and livestock
  productivity by expansion of the natural base
  used (land, water, .) no longer possible.
• Intensification and efficiency improvements
  possible

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Drivers of livestock system change Production

• No consolidation of small into larger farms
  (Africa)
• Livelihoods will require high-value products and
  diversification

Cultivated land per agricultural person (ha)
(FAO)
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Two Contentious Issues
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What role for smallholders?

• Livestock demand will be met by a variety of
  sectors
• Currently a significant role for smallholders
  (30 of milk, 15-18 of poultry)
• Could smallholders be able to exploit expanding
  opportunities in local and regional markets in
  SSA?

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What role for smallholders?

• No strong evidence of significant economies of
  scale in primary production of ruminant livestock
  and livestock feeds in the tropical developing
  country context
• Economies of scale are much more important for
  processing and distribution than primary
  production

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What role for smallholders?
What is needed for smallholders to succeed
Enabling public policy and institutions Useful
knowledge, input and financial services Innovatio
n and adaptation capacity and private
entrepreneurship
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Can livestock be sustainable? Livestock for
poverty reduction

• Securing assets of the poor to reduce
  vulnerability
• Increasing productivity of systems to improve
  livelihoods
• Market opportunities to increase incomes of the
  poor as producers, employees, market agents

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One example of sustainable intensification
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Smallholder dairy systems East Africa and
South Asia
Key challenges 1. Policies and regulations to
support the role of the poor in dairy production
and marketing systems 2. Increase market
success of the poor 3. Increase production
efficiency and sustainability in households and
systems
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Smallholder dairy systems East Africa and South
Asia
Supportive Policies and Regulations Evidence
for policy making on - Risk analysis of
informal milk marketing - Employment and income
benefits for the poor in dairy production
and marketing (producers, labourers, input
suppliers, and market agents) Requirements
- capacity for analysis and innovation -
advocacy and pro-poor policy environment
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Lessons from ILRIs research Linking knowledge
with action
What approaches and institutions are most
effective for harnessing scientific knowledge in
support of strategies for environmentally
sustainable development and poverty alleviation?
Kristjanson et al. 2007, ILRI Innovation Works.
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Lessons from ILRIs Research Linking knowledge
with action

• Problem definition
• Stakeholders engagement process to bring
  together divers partners and agree upon outputs,
  outcomes and impacts
• What are the outcomes sought by each partner and
  collectively?
• What outputs should support desired outcomes?
• Outcome mapping powerful tool

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Lessons from ILRIs Research Linking knowledge
with action

• Research management strategies
• Adopt a project orientation and
  organization, with dynamic leaders accountable
  for achieving user-driven goals and targets.
• Logical framework more useful in
  monitoring progress in producing outputs
• Outcome mapping more useful in making
  sure research is user-driven, more focussed on
  creating outcomes and behavioural change

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Lessons from ILRIs Research Linking knowledge
with action

• Program organization
• Need for mechanisms which enables
  partners to come together to solve problem and to
  create joint outputs and networks that allow
  interactions between different users and
  producers

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Lessons from ILRIs research Linking knowledge
with action

• Learning orientation
• Design research efforts as systems for learning
  rather than systems for knowing only.
• Programs are experimental, expecting and
  embracing failures that should form the basis for
  learning quickly.
• Success requires
• appropriate reward and incentive
  systems for
• risk-taking managers
• funding mechanisms that enable risk
  taking and
• periodic external review

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Other lessons from ILRIs research

New ways of working two innovative approaches
Shift in R4D paradigm from linear models
to Innovation systems Operational
research platforms (Example
Bioscience eastern and central Africa, BecA
hub) Build research capacity of
partners Improve management skills
(institutional learning and adaptive management)
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Implications for ACBF research

• Understand changing context in which research is
  conducted
• Think carefully about how research can support
  operational/ development work
• Research results based on analytical rigour but
  are operationally useful (or relevant for timely
  decision making)
• Develop networks and partnership strategies using
  appropriate tools and frameworks for scientists,
  decision makers and all stakeholders engagement
  leading to sound definition of problems and
  co-production of outputs facilitated by bridging
  organisations.
• Resources (Financial resources changing funding
  sources)

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4. Conclusions
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Conclusions

• In Africa livestock are key to sustainable
  livelihoods of the poor
• No silver bullets but need to integrate
  technologies, improved institutions, and
  conducive policies to increase the probability of
  successful research with positive impact
• Need integrated set of actions involving key
  actors for the co-creation of outputs building
  on core competencies of a wide range of actors
  along the knowledge to action continuum
• Learn quickly - Use lessons to improve strategy
  and sharpen operations to maximize sustainable
  impact

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