Ce rapport présente les résultats d'une analyse des parties prenantes dont les objectifs étaient les suivants : - identifier les partenaires potentiels dans le processus de recherche, - identifier les organisations susceptibles d'utiliser les résultats des travaux de recherche dans leurs activités, et - cerner les implications pour mener la stratégie de communication et de sensibilisation du projet de recherche. En plus de l'examen des documents et des entretiens individuels, un atelier d'analyse des parties prenantes s'est tenu à Bamako le 16 août 2011. Un outil participatif de cartographie, appelé Net-Map, a été utilisé pour effectuer l'analyse des parties prenantes. Les résultats de cette analyse devraient être utiles non seulement pour le projet « Augmentation des actifs », mais également pour d'autres organisations et projets qui travaillent dans ce domaine politique. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1 ; DSGD
Irrigated agriculture can support food and nutrition security, increase rural employment and incomes and can act as a buffer against growing climate variability and change. However, irrigation development has been slow in Africa south of the Sahara and Ghana is no exception. Out of a total potential irrigated area of close to 2 million ha, less than 20,000 ha large-scale irrigation and less than 200,000 ha of small-scale irrigation have been developed; but the latter is only an estimate. To identify entry points for accelerating small-scale irrigation development in Ghana, a national and a regional stakeholder Net-Map workshop were held in Accra and Tamale, respectively. The workshops suggest that a wide variety of actors from government, the private sector, international organizations and funders, research organizations and NGOs are involved in the diffusion of small-scale irrigation technologies. However, there are important differences between actors perceived to be key at the national and at the regional levels in northern Ghana. At the national level, diffusion of small-scale irrigation technologies is considered to be largely influenced by the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority together with a series of private sector actors focused on importation, distribution and financing of technologies. Farmers are considered to have no influence over the diffusion of small-scale irrigation, suggesting that small-scale irrigation is largely considered a supply-driven process. In northern Ghana, on the other hand, farmers are considered to be key influencers, although participants noted that much of this was potential influence, together with a larger and more diversified set of government stakeholders that are seen as regulators and possibly gatekeepers. For irrigation diffusion to successfully move from importation to distribution to benefiting smallholder farmers, all of these actors have to come together to better understand farmers' needs and challenges. A multi-stakeholder platform could help to increase communication between farmers as the ultimate beneficiaries of small-scale irrigation technologies and the many other actors interested in supporting this process. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; DCA; Feed the Future Innovation Laboratory for Small-Scale Irrigation; CRP5; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; Capacity Strengthening ; DSGD; EPTD ; CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE)
The International Food Policy Research Institute is leading a three-year research program to assess the state of agricultural extension and advisory services provision in Malawi in order to inform the national extension policy review and reformation of government and donor processes and programming. This research program includes a series of studies undertaken in response to a request by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development to look closely at the state of extension services provision with the intent to further strengthen the contribution of these services to food security, economic growth, and the achievement of sustainable development goals. In this paper, we examine the role of gender in various pathways to food security in Malawi, emphasizing improved access to agriculture and nutrition information along these pathways and considering the implications of gender targeting for agriculture and nutrition extension services. We propose a gendered typology of households: those with both male and female adults, those with only adult males, and those with only adult females. We take a mixed-methods approach of sequential quantitative-qualitative data collection, consisting of focus group discussions in eight districts and nationally representative household and community surveys. The results show that food insecurity is highest in male-only households. In dual-adult households, in which women are frequently tasked with attending training and meetings but have little power to implement lessons, joint access to information is a more powerful driver of food security than women's access. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; CRP2; PIM 2.2 Tracking investments in agricultural research; D Transforming Agriculture; B Promoting healthy food systems; C Improving markets and trade ; DSGD; PIM ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)
How research contributes to the policy process in developing countries in general, and in Nigeria more specifically, is not well understood. Yet such understanding is a critical part of doing effective policy research. This has become especially critical for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), which has set up a country office for policy research in Nigeria. A key challenge for IFPRI, and other research organizations in the country, is how to better integrate research results into policy and communicate research results to Nigerian policymakers. To gain some useful insights into how research does, or does not, influence policy in Nigeria, we examined a case involving the process leading up to the adoption in 2006 of Nigeria's National Fertilizer Policy. Rather than focusing on how research influences policy in general, examining a particular policy allowed us to trace the actual policy process that took place, the actors involved, and the types of links and interactions between them. A diverse group of stakeholders (government, donors, the research community, farmer organizations, and the private sector) undoubtedly debated the content of the fertilizer policy. Thus, its successful formulation and adoption offered a useful opportunity to examine how it came about in spite of competing vested interests (both for and against it) and what role, if any, research-based information played in developing it. The policy covered some highly contentious political issues, most prominently the issue of privatization of the fertilizer sector in place of the large-scale and long-standing subsidy program. How the actors engaged and appeased people with vested interests who would normally oppose the policy, and the degree to which research-based information played a role in policy development, is of interest to IFPRI and others engaged in policy research. To study the policy process that led to the formulation and adoption of the National Fertilizer Policy, we used a network-mapping tool, Net-Map. Drawing on social network approaches, the tool is particularly suitable since it can help highlight the actors and formal and informal interactions involved in the policy process, as well as examine the flows of information from researchers to help determine the pathways of research-based information. In support of the Net-Map method, we also undertook a content analysis of published and grey literature on fertilizer policies in Nigeria in the years prior to the passing of the fertilizer bill. This provided a context for the knowledge-based and policy discussions, who was involved in them, and who funded or drove them. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; GRP32 ; DSGD
How research can feed into the policy process in developing countries in general, and in Nigeria more specifically, is not very well understood. Yet, this understanding is a critical part of doing effective policy research. This has become especially critical for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), which has set up a country office for policy research in Nigeria. A key challenge for IFPRI, and other research organizations in the country, is how to better integrate research results into policy and communicate research results to Nigerian policymakers. To gain some useful insights into how research does, or does not, influence policy in Nigeria, we examined a case involving the process leading up to the adoption of the National Fertilizer Policy for Nigeria in 2006. Rather than focusing on how research influences policy in general, examining a particular policy allowed us to trace the actual policy process that took place, the actors involved, and the type of links and interactions between them. A diverse group of stakeholders (government, donors, research community, farmer organizations, and the private sector) undoubtedly debated the content of the fertilizer policy. Thus, its successful formulation and adoption offered a useful opportunity to examine how it came about in spite of competing vested interests (for or against it), and what role, if any, research-based information played in developing it. The policy covered some highly contentious political issues, most prominently the issue of privatization of the fertilizer sector in place of the large-scale and long-standing subsidy program. How the actors engaged and appeased people with vested interests who would normally oppose the policy, and the degree to which research-based information played a role in policy development, is of interest to IFPRI and others engaged in policy research. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; GRP37; GRP32; NSSP ; DSGD
There is vast literature on groups as a useful mechanism for rural development, especially for women. However, for group participation to fulfil on potential benefits to women, gender-specific constraints must be addressed. This study examines how to promote gender-inclusive governance of mixed-sex self-help groups in the African context, analysing twenty mixed-sex focus group discussions with 190 group members in rural western Kenya. Emphasizing group member perceptions and beliefs about participation and governance, we undertake an empirical assessment of institutional factors that explain and facilitate effective participation of female members. We find that group-member endowments impact the group's interpretation in terms of their understanding of gender issues and political processes, and that the pro-gender intentions behind governance structures are more important than the structures themselves. Furthermore, groups in this context serve as a distinct parallel institution to that of the home that enable them to push the boundaries of community gender norms. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; DCA; CRP2; G Cross-cutting gender theme; Capacity Strengthening ; EPTD; DSGD; PIM ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)
In this paper, we apply a mixed-method multisectoral diagnostic to examine potential interventions in food systems to improve diets of rural smallholder farmers in Malawi. We examine the entry points for interventions involving public and nonprofit (including both government and development partners) and private-sector perspectives. In addition, we explore the methodological and theoretical requirements for undertaking this type of multisectoral analysis. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; DCA; CRP4; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; Capacity Strengthening; UNFSS ; PHND; DSGD; A4NH ; CGIAR Research Programs on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)
Governments and development partners looking to accelerate progress in addressing malnutrition have been examining how to use interventions in value-chains to improve diets. However, the links between interventions in value chains and diets involve a range of direct and indirect effects that are not yet well understood. We apply a mixed-method multisectoral diagnostic to examine potential interventions in food systems to improve diets of smallholder farmers in Malawi. We examine entry points for interventions involving public and private-sectors, and explore the methodological requirements for undertaking this type of multisectoral analysis. We find that although food consumption is dominated by maize, a range of nutritious foods are also being consumed; including leafy greens, fruits, chicken, dried fish, dried beans and peas, and groundnuts. Yet important deficits in nutrient intake remain prevalent in low-income households due to inadequate quantity of consumption. While increasing consumption through own-production is one potentially important channel to increase quantity of nutritious foods available (particularly fruits and leafy green vegetables), markets also play a potentially important role. Nutritious foods are available on markets year-round, although strong seasonality impacts the availability and price of perishable products. For beans, peas and groundnuts, supply appears to be available throughout the year, with price fluctuations relatively controlled due to storage capacity and imports. The capacity of markets to supply safe and nutritious food is limited by a number of issues, including poor hygiene; lack of infrastructure for storage and selling; limited information on nutrition, and weak coordination among sellers and producers. Other bottlenecks include: on-farm constraints for expanded production, consumers with limited purchasing capacity, intense competition among sellers and few services for sellers to increase volume of product sold during peak demand. The diagnostics identify the role of information-related interventions to optimize decisions related to food choices, involving a range of different foods and value-chains, that could potentially lead to short- and medium-term improvements in diets. Longer-term and more resource-intensive interventions are also identified, such as improving capacity for product differentiation, processing, storage, and market infrastructure across a different range of food chains, so as to maximise coherence between short- and long-term planning. The findings highlight the benefits of applying a strategic, food systems-based approach of identifying specific and complementary actions for both the public and private sectors that can improve the diets of low-income populations. ; IFPRI3; ISI; MaSSP; CRP4; DCA; UNFSS ; PHND; A4NH; DSGD ; PR ; CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)
Following poor harvests in the 2015/16 cropping season in Malawi, vulnerability assessments found that nearly 6.7 million people, primarily in the Southern and Central regions, were likely to suffer from food insecurity before the next harvest. The government of Malawi and its development partners designed the 2016/17 Food Insecurity Response Programme (FIRP) in Malawi to meet the food needs of many of the households affected, mobilizing approximately USD 265 million in resources to do so. In the wake of this intervention, a team led by the International Food Policy Research Institute was contracted to assess the quality of this humanitarian response along four primary dimension: Assess the quality of the national food security assessments which began the response; Investigate the accuracy of the geographical and beneficiary targeting within selected areas; conduct an operational assessment of the humanitarian response design and implementation; and Assess overall programme and draw technical, market, and methodological implications for the design of future humanitarian responses and their contribution to resilience building. This Discussion Paper provides considerable detail on which facets of the implementation of FIRP were successful and where implementation fell short in addressing the needs of the affected population, in ensuring that Malawi was better prepared for future food crises, and in laying a foundation for improved resilience in the face of such shocks for both the affected households and Malawi as a whole. The 2016/17 FIRP was largely successful in preventing disaster and saving lives and livelihoods. However, the assessment of the design and implementation of the FIRP highlighted the high level of dependency of the Malawi government on its development partners for resources to undertake such humanitarian responses and the significant deficiencies in the technical and institutional capacity of the institutions responsible for responding. Unless the cycle of food insecurity is broken and the resilience of Malawian food systems increased, the government of Malawi and its development partners will continue to depend on FIRP-type interventions to save people's lives and protect them from food insecurity and hunger. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; CRP2 ; DSGD; DGO; PIM ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)
