In theory, under the federal structure agricultural extension services can serve communities better as it aims to be client responsive and accountable to its consumers at the village level. However, poor understanding of federalism that has only recently emerged from the persisting centralized and feudal conceptions, limited practices of democratic norms and values primarily due to the lack of understanding of local governance, and limited commitment of political actors and policy makers to federalism, may derail the good intentions behind federalism. The dividends of state restructuring take time to be realized, and state restructuring should be given sufficient time to deliver. Despite some limitations, Nepal’s considerable experience with local governance and decentralization will hopefully facilitate its adaptation to the new federal structure.
The author shares her experience of participating in a training that was organized by the Tropical Agriculture Platform – Agricultural Innovation Systems (TAP-AIS) project, ‘Developing Capacities in Agricultural Innovation Systems: Scaling up the Tropical Agriculture Platform Framework’, implemented by FAO’s Research & Extension Unit, funded by the European Union as a component of the ‘Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA): Towards Climate-relevant Agricultural and Knowledge Innovation Systems’ initiative. The project aims to strengthen AIS by promoting the Common Framework for capacity development of the TAP. The training focused on introducing AIS concepts, the TAP Common Framework for functional capacity development and its approaches and tools for practical use. It also provided a common space for participants to share and learn from their own experiences by guiding them through case studies and group activities.
CIAT is one of the 15 CGIAR Research Centers with the headquarter in Cali, Colombia. Its mission is to reduce hunger and poverty, and improve human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) is responsible for the regulation and implementation of all aspects of the country’s policies for the environmental, water and agricultural sectors. Because of its areas of responsibility H.E. the Minister Chairs the Boards of several vital organizations related to the Ministry’s fields of operation such as the Presidency for Meteorology and Environment, Saudi Wilde Life Authority, Saline Water Conversion Corporation, National Water Company, Saudi Arabian Grains Organization, Agriculture Development Fund and the Irrigation and Drainage Authority.
The Ministry implements environmental, water production and agricultural plans and programs across the Kingdom with a focus on sustainability and value creation. It has widened its contribution to the national economy through numerous programs especially in the areas of food security, water preservation and environmental protection. Within these vital industries, it has created millions of viable value adding sustainable jobs for the citizens of Saudi Arabia.
The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) was founded on April 26, 1973, and is under the aegis of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply. Since its foundation, and with partners from the National Agricultural Research System, Embrapa has taken on the challenge to develop a genuinely Brazilian model of tropical agriculture and livestock to overcome the barriers that limited the production of food, fiber, and fuel in the country.
Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization. It delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural and tree biodiversity to attain sustainable global food and nutrition security.
The World Vegetable Center, an international nonprofit vegetable research and development institute, believes a healthier, more resilient world is possible by creating greater diversity in what we grow and eat. WorldVeg strives to achieve faster, greater and lasting positive impact on the nutritional status, incomes, and well-being of people—particularly in Africa and Asia—through quality, long-term complementary partnerships in research and development to increase the production and consumption of safe, nutritious and health-promoting vegetables. Founded in 1971 in Taiwan, the WorldVeg global network now covers East and Southeast Asia, Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Central and West Asia. WorldVeg research provides small-scale farmers with the knowledge, skills, technologies and opportunities to boost their vegetable yields and increase their incomes. Activities aim to strengthen the entire vegetable value chain, from vegetable seed systems and breeding to market access and nutrition. The Center implements its science for development agenda through three outcome-oriented ‘flagship programs’: Safe and Sustainable Value Chains, Healthy Diets, and Vegetable Diversity and Improvement, and one cross-cutting flagship program: Enabling Impact. Flagships are gateways to achieving outcomes and impact and each is operationalized through two to four ‘innovation clusters’. Work focuses on research for discovery, piloting new practices and technologies, and scaling them for impact, with an emphasis on continuous improvement of a coherent set of products and services. The flagships interact with the World Vegetable Center Genebank, which holds the world’s largest public-sector collection of vegetable seed. WorldVeg advanced breeding lines with better pest and disease resistance that can tolerate extremes of flooding, drought, and heat are used throughout the world by plant breeders to develop improved vegetable varieties. By promoting sound research, good agricultural practices and safe production and postharvest methods through partnerships with national agricultural and research institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector, WorldVeg helps growers produce healthier harvests for themselves and consumers while protecting the environment. Integrated crop management strategies include improved vegetable lines, grafting, low-cost drip irrigation, safe pest management, and crop fertilization and rotation systems suited to smallholders. Protected cultivation in low-cost green- and screenhouses reduces risk and offers opportunities for farmers to intensify and diversify production, tap new markets, and provide the safe food consumers increasingly demand. Postharvest research in grading, transportation, processing, marketing, and distribution helps farmers add value to vegetables, increase their incomes, and provide a more steady supply of vegetables year-round for consumers. WorldVeg strategies for household and school gardens integrated with nutrition education diversify diets and build life-long habits for good health. WorldVeg works with traditional vegetables—underutilized species with the potential to provide sustenance and much-needed micronutrients to balance staple-heavy diets—and conducts research on the nutritional and nutraceutical qualities of all vegetables for their potential to improve health for individuals, families, and communities. Ongoing programs disseminate and extend these improved technologies to farmers, NGOs, and national agricultural research systems.
The Agricultural Research Council is a premier science institution that conducts research with partners, develops human capital and fosters innovation to support and develop the agricultural sector.
The Agronomic Institute of Pernambuco (in Portuguese: Instituto Agronômico De Pernambuco)operates as an agricultural research company. It provides laboratory, technical assistance, and other related services to family-based farmers in Brazil. The company was founded in 1935 and is based in Recife, Brazil.
The Research Institute of Agricultural Economics (in Hungarian:Agrárgazdasági Kutató Intézet) - AKI - is one of the most important centre of agricultural economics research in Hungary. It bridges the gap between decision makers and farmers, processors, distributors and universities; it connects Hungary with the rest of the world and theory with practice. AKI collects and analyses information, performs research and distributes the results obtained through publications on its journal "Studies in Agricultural Economics".
CIPAV is a NGO with experience in research, training and divulgation aimed at sustainable agricultural systems.
As Australia’s specialist international agricultural research for development agency ACIAR’s purpose is to broker and fund research partnerships between Australian scientists and their counterparts in developing countries.
The National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP), is a premier agricultural economics research institution in India. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) established NIAP in 1991 with a view to strengthen agricultural economics research through integration of economics input in planning, designing, and evaluation of agricultural research programs and enhancing the competence in agricultural policy analysis within the National Agricultural Research System. NIAP undertakes and sponsors research in agricultural economics and policy analysis in technology policy, sustainable agriculture, market and trade, institutional change and growth and modeling in agriculture.
FONTAGRO is an alliance of Latin American and Caribbean countries that supports research and innovation in agriculture. FONTAGRO aims at reducing poverty, promoting competitiveness of agri-food chains and sustainably managing natural resources. The member countries are the following ones: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Brandon University established the Rural Development Institute (RDI) in 1989 as an academic research center and a leading source of information on issues affecting rural communities in Western Canada and beyond.
RDI functions as a not-for-profit research and development organization designed to promote, facilitate, coordinate, initiate and conduct multi-disciplinary academic and applied research on rural issues.
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), working in collaboration with hundreds of partners across the developing world, is dedicated to developing technologies, innovative methods, and new knowledge that better enable farmers, mainly smallholders, to improve their crop production, incomes, and management of natural resources.
WorldFish is an international, nonprofit research organization that harnesses the potential of fisheries and aquaculture to reduce hunger and poverty. In the developing world, more than one billion poor people obtain most of their animal protein from fish and 250 million depend on fishing and aquaculture for their livelihoods. WorldFish is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
The Centre for Research on Innovation and Science Policy (CRISP) is a non- profit research organization established in March 2004 to promote research in the area of innovation policy in relation to agriculture and rural development. The founding members of CRISP have been in the forefront of research on innovation policy internationally. This coalition of science policy researchers saw a need for a more holistic approach to innovation policy and CRISP was established mainly to promote policy relevant research on rural innovation.
The major objective of CRISP is in understanding the process of agricultural and rural innovation by exploring the innovation process through action research, case studies and mentoring organizations and networks involved in experimenting with new approaches for promoting rural innovation. CRISP has also been actively involved in lesson learning, capacity strengthening, organizing policy dialogues and promoting new perspectives on rural innovation through policy-relevant publications.
The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), established by ten Vice Chancellors in 2004, is a consortium of 55 African universities operating within 22 countries spanning the African continent. RUFORUM is coordinated by a Secretariat hosted by Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The organisation evolved from its predecessor, the Forum on Agricultural Resource Husbandry (FORUM) program of the Rockefeller Foundation. RUFORUM is registered as an International Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) and has mandate to oversee graduate training and networks of specialization in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
