2005 – 2010 Strategy Exploiting synergies in crop–livestock research CGIAR Systemwide Livestock Programme The CGIAR Systemwide Livestock Programme (SLP) P.O. Box 5689 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: + 251-1-460428 Fax: + 251-1-461252/464645 E-mail: ilri-ethiopia@cgiar.org (or s.fernandez-rivera@cgiar.org) Website: www.vslp.org Adding value to global crop–livestock research CGIAR Systemwide Livestock Programme 2005 – 2010 Strategy Exploiting synergies in crop–livestock research iii Contents Preface ......................................................................................................1 Rationale ....................................................................................................3 The livestock revolution .....................................................................3 Threats and constraints .....................................................................4 The opportunity ..................................................................................8 Strategic Plan ..........................................................................................15 Objectives ........................................................................................15 Research focus ................................................................................15 Indicators of success .......................................................................20 Business Plan ..........................................................................................23 Project portfolio ................................................................................23 Milestones ........................................................................................25 Programme review ...........................................................................25 Funding the plan ..............................................................................25 Governance and Management ...............................................................27 References ..............................................................................................29 Acronyms ................................................................................................31 1 Preface Poverty in developing countries is arguably the single greatest challenge facing the world today. Most of the developing world’s poor inhabit rural areas, earning a precarious living from land that is often barely able to support them. These small-scale farmers have few opportunities to improve their livelihoods, but there is one that is particularly attractive: to integrate their crop production with a new or existing livestock enterprise. Provided sound technologies and management practices are used, integrated crop–livestock pro- duction systems can not only increase farm productivity, thereby generating additional income, but also protect and enhance the natural resource base, ensuring an income for tomorrow’s farmers. It was to harness the synergies implicit in such crop–livestock systems that the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) established the Systemwide Livestock Programme (SLP) in 1994. The SLP contributes to the CGIAR’s goals of reducing poverty and protecting the environment by building and strengthening the links between the various centres and partners of the CGIAR system in order to plan and implement a coherent, integrated programme of strategic and applied research on animal feed development, natural resource management and associated policies. A decade on from the Programme’s foundation, the SLP’s objectives are today more rel- evant than ever. The setting of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the United Nations has sharpened the world’s focus on poverty –– and livestock production, because of the gathering strength of the livestock revolution, is increasingly seen as an effective means to this end. This has prompted the SLP to sharpen its own focus, concentrating more narrowly on those activities in its mandate field that are most likely to achieve a sizeable impact on poverty. Dual-purpose food–feed crops, by meeting both human and animal nutritional require- ments, hold exceptional promise as an instrument of poverty reduction. Farmers involved in early SLP projects promoting these crops, particularly in West Africa, have realised significant benefits in terms of income generation and food security and have demon- strated higher adoption rates than for interventions geared solely towards improving food grain yields. For some crops and in some circumstances, food–feed interventions can also replenish soil nutrients and protect against soil erosion, contributing to further poverty reduction tomorrow. Future SLP activities will therefore emphasise work on food–feed crops, concentrating on regions and areas with high levels of rural poverty. Recent years have seen the development of new tools that yield more accurate information to aid research planning and implementation. Poverty mapping – a tool that overlaps geospatial data on rural populations with a typology of livestock systems – has helped target the key areas where research by the SLP and its partners can benefit large num- bers of rural poor. While the major ruminant species – cattle, sheep and goats – should continue to receive the lion’s share of resources, the increasing importance of pigs and 2 poultry as a component of farmers’ livelihood strategies, particularly in Asia, also merit attention. The SLP’s 2001 external review emphasised the need for closer collaboration with other CGIAR systemwide programmes, particularly the Soil, Water and Nutrient Management Programme (SWNMP). These and other pointers should all serve to guide the SLP’s future activities, ensuring that it continues to contribute effectively to the CGIAR’s goals. Lastly, much of the SLP’s future work must be devoted to meeting the challenge of scaling up – a challenge the programme shares with virtually all its partners in the applied and adaptive part of the research spectrum. Many of the technologies that can increase the productivity and sustainability of small-scale farms are now well understood; what we do not know is how to spread knowledge of these technologies, and of their site-specific adaptation, in the diverse, risk-prone environments where the majority of the rural poor live. Efforts in this area are vital if the world is to meet the demanding poverty eradication goal set for 2015 by the United Nations – that of halving the number of people living in absolute poverty. The SLP will need to enter new partnerships – and to marshall more financial resources – if it is to play its part. We at International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the convening centre of the SLP, hope that this strategy, which sets out a coherent vision of the SLP’s work over the next 5 years, will elicit the support needed to turn that vision into a reality. Carlos Sere Director General International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) September 2004 3 Rationale An estimated 1.2 billion people in the world, the vast majority of them in developing countries, live on less than US$1 per day (World Bank, 2002). Although urbanisation is rapidly altering the balance between town and country, over half the poor in develop- ing countries still live in rural areas, often those of low potential for crop production. Opportunities for improving the livelihoods of such people are few – but livestock production is one of them. A relatively easy form of enterprise for poor people to enter, livestock offer increasing opportunities to escape poverty as the market demand for animal products rises with incomes and urbanisation. And when it is closely integrated with crop production, a livestock enterprise can benefit the whole farm, improving its sustainability and profitability in the longer term. The Systemwide Livestock Programme (SLP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) was established by the CGIAR’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) as part of its unified strategy for the CGIAR’s livestock research. The unified strategy included three complementary sets of activities: 1) those conducted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which has a global mandate for livestock research, 2) the research conducted by other centres, such as the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), which have programmes addressing specific problems related to livestock production, and 3) new research that could be conducted by fostering collabora- tion among relevant centres across the system, particularly in the areas of feed resources, natural resource management and policy analysis. It is these collaborative activities that the SLP was established to promote. The SLP catalyses and facilitates the efforts of centre- led consortia to identify research priorities in these areas, attract the necessary resources to conduct the research, and implement effective programmes. It also assesses the impact of research, either ex-ante, as an input to priority setting and resource allocation, or ex-post, to determine the returns to past investments and learn lessons to feed into future projects. The livestock revolution Put simply, the livestock revolution is a radical shift in the way people eat. This shift is taking place particularly rapidly in developing coun- tries. Human populations in these countries are ris- ing rapidly, increasing the demand for all kinds of food. But rising populations are also driving urbanisation: in West Africa, for example, it is estimated that 60% of the population will live 4 in urban areas by 2020, compared with 40% in 1990. Closely associated with urbanisa- tion is a rise in incomes, fuelled by factors such as higher education levels, more inward investment and increased business start-ups. The effect is a rapid increase in the demand for meat and milk, as people diversify away from their traditional diet that consists mainly of cereals. This shift into the consumption of milk and meat is providing new income- earning opportunities for large numbers of the rural poor, who can seek to meet demand by integrating and intensifying their crop and livestock enterprises (Delgado 2001). How demand evolves will vary according to the region. Pork, for instance, will figure prominently in China and Southeast Asia, whereas demand for ruminant meat will increase more significantly in Latin America and Africa. Demand for milk and poultry products will increase in all developing regions, albeit with varying intensity, with milk being a prominent commodity in South Asia. Threats and constraints Poor livestock keepers face various constraints in responding to the rising demand for meat and milk associated with the livestock revolution. Many are handicapped by a lack of feed for their animals, that may in turn be linked to shortages of land or labour. Many also have poor access to the markets where they need to buy inputs for their livestock enterprise or sell their produce. In addition, they face the threat of being shut out of these markets by large operations that can take advantage of economies of scale. In many countries pro-poor policies and effective institutions are still lacking, resulting in an environment that fails to reward the efforts of poor smallholders adequately and fails to provide them with the services they need. In many areas of the developing world various forms of environmental degradation threaten the ability of production systems to respond to the livestock revolution in the longer term. Without a judicious use of the natural resource base, the increasing demand for livestock products will be met at the cost of further degradation. Limited feed, limited land The inability to feed animals adequately throughout the year is the most widespread technical constraint to increased livestock productivity throughout the developing world. Poorly fed animals are more vulnerable to diseases and pests, cultivate the land less effi- ciently, produce less milk, meat and manure, and have a lower value in the market place. These problems become acute if farmers replace their traditional animals with improved breeds without at the same time increasing the quantity and quality of the feed they provide. Under constant pressure to feed their growing families adequately, few smallholders can afford to take land out of food crop production and use it to grow fodder. As human population density on the land rises, cropping expands into areas formerly used for graz- ing, reducing already limited feed supplies still further. These constraints on feed and 5 land availability point to the dual-purpose food–feed crop, designed to meet both human and animal nutritional requirements, as a pos- sible solution. Examples that are already gaining in popularity with farmers include dual-purpose sorghum and cowpea. There are important geographical differences in the nature of the feed constraint. In drier areas feed quantity is the major limiting fac- tor, especially during the long dry season, whereas in wetter climates it is the nutritional quality of feed that is more often the problem. Significant opportunities to improve ruminant feed supplies by enhancing the quality and utilisation of crop residues and other crop by-products exist across almost all agro-ecological zones. But the crops that should be the main focus of attention vary accord- ing to both region and zone. In Southeast Asia, for example, rice should receive priority – it is the major human food crop but its residues are generally poor in feed quality. In sub-Saharan Africa, maize, sorghum and pearl millet are the major cereals that should be targeted in the humid, sub-humid and semi-arid zones, but other crops, such as cassava, also offer opportunities to improve feed supplies in the marginal environments where poor people tend to live. Underdeveloped infrastructure for transporting, processing and marketing feedstuffs can contribute to the unavailability of feed in one place and its wastage in another. Levels of education and knowledge in the farming community play an important part in determin- ing farmers’ willingness to invest in improved feed, either on their own farms or from other sources. Access to markets Poor access to markets for both inputs and outputs constrain the smallholders’ ability to innovate in all regions of the developing world. Many of the poorest rural people are those most remote from major city markets. Mountainous regions – the high Andes and Himalayas – tend to have the longest and most tortuous routes to markets, frequently closed by bad weather. However, some upland or highland areas, notably in sub-Saharan Africa, are densely populated and have better-developed road networks with relatively easy access to major conurbations. In these areas – Nairobi and Addis Ababa are examples – smallholder dairy production has expanded rapidly in recent decades. Except for peri-urban areas, the sparsely populated semi-arid and arid zones of the Sahel and of West Asia – North Africa are also relatively badly served by roads. So too are some of the newly opened forest and savanna lands of the humid and subhumid zones in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Road construction in forested areas is controversial because it is strongly associated with accelerated deforestation. 6 Access to markets may be hindered by factors other than physical distance or lack of roads. Despite the spread of micro-credit schemes in recent years, cash for buying inputs is still a major constraint for many smallholders, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. There is also a lack of institutions that can organise the delivery of produce direct to markets, avoiding middlemen – an especially important consideration for perishable products such as milk. Particularly in Asia, but also in other regions as they develop, large-scale livestock opera- tions, often based in or near cities, may become the main providers of livestock products to urban markets, shutting out smaller enterprises. This may prove an increasingly severe constraint as quality standards are developed and imposed on livestock produce, since smallholders face high costs in meeting such standards. Barriers to trade may also prevent the export of live animals or livestock products. Shortage of labour Innovation takes time and energy to organise – and new technology may in itself demand more labour. Small-scale farming families may lack all these things. In some areas, particularly those close to major markets, the farming sector may be los- ing its pool of labour to other sectors of the economy that pay better. This is particularly the case in the more densely populated areas of Asia, where innovations that demand additional labour are unlikely to prove popular with farmers. In large parts of Africa, in contrast, the lack of off-farm income-earning opportunities means that there is surplus labour in agricultural areas, especially outside the main cropping season. Innovations that demand additional labour may be suitable for some of these areas. Environmental degradation Rising demand for staple food crops such as maize, coupled with persistent poverty in the farming community, leads farmers to grow these crops without spending money on chemical fertilisers. If farmers have no recourse to organic fertilisers, the result is a constant drain on nutrients in farmers’ fields, exerting a relentless downward pressure on yields. As yields fall, the struggle to feed the family intensifies, deepening the spiral of poverty and environmental degradation. And cropping is forced to expand still further, either into forested areas or onto fragile rangelands. Rising livestock numbers combined with shrinking land availability will place enormous pressure on the remaining areas used for grazing. These lands, already fragile, will be vulnerable to increased soil erosion and compaction, coupled with declining biodiversity and increased sensitivity to droughts, especially as global warming takes hold. Integrating crop and livestock production in mixed farming systems can be a powerful antidote to these forms of environmental degradation. Legumes provide animal feed while restoring soil fertility and breaking the cycle of pests and diseases that sets in when cereal mono-cropping is practised; the manure from better fed and hence more productive animals further replenishes soil nutrients; and the presence of more productive livestock 7 and more copious supplies of feed in cropping areas may help to reduce the grazing pres- sure on rangelands. Mixed crop–livestock systems are closely linked with surrounding ecosystems and what happens within them affects the resource base elsewhere. The development of feed resources must, therefore, consider natural vegetation, water and soil resources in addition to cultivated fodders, crop residues and other by-products. And analysis of the impact achieved by improving feed availability needs to build in measures of the effect on whole ecosystems – as well as on the different groups of people who inhabit them (see box). The move into more intensive agriculture incurs environmental problems of a different kind, mainly associated with pollution. In cropping systems, nitrates applied to crops as fertiliser may leach into watercourses, while the overuse of pesticides may have serious effects on biodiversity and human health. In industrialised livestock systems, pollution is associated with the disposal of slurry and manure, the release of gases and chemicals and the entry of antibiotics into the human food chain. Lessons from crop–livestock integration in Niger In Niger, farmers are responding to increasing population pressure by expand- ing the area devoted to food crops. Pure pastoralists, who do not grow crops, are finding that the area available for grazing is shrinking and becoming increas- ingly fragmented. Agropastoralists, who grow some crops on fields borrowed from farmers but have traditionally practised transhumance – taking their animals away from the homestead to distant grazing lands during the rainy season – are abandoning this practice in order to concentrate more on inte- grated crop–livestock production. They are realising significant benefits to their food security and livelihoods by applying manure to the fields they use and by selling surplus milk and animals in local markets. Meanwhile, neighbouring arable farmers, who traditionally have not kept livestock but have relied on manure contracts with agropastoralists to fertilise their fields, are increasingly investing in livestock and engaging in integrated crop–livestock production. Conflicts among these groups have intensified as competition for land and water has increased. Cases of this kind are not isolated. They demonstrate that, although integrating crop and livestock production can bring benefits within specific production systems, a broader analysis, taking into account neighbouring ecosystems and stakeholders, is essential to ensure equitable and sustainable outcomes from R&D. 8 Because of its focus on feed resources in mixed farming systems, the SLP will not be directly concerned with these problems during its work on technical interventions. This work may, however, have an indirect effect on such problems. For example, the increased availability of animal manure may help to offset over-reliance on chemical fertilisers. Policy and institutional issues Poor management of natural resources and limited or non-existent access to food–feed options may also be due, in part, to weak government policies. Studies of system evolution supported by the SLP have brought to light the dominant influence of the policy environment on technology adoption. Research has consistently shown that factors such as access to markets and credit are more important than agro- climatic factors in determining small-scale producers’ ability to innovate. Both these factors are susceptible to improvement when better policies are put in place. Indeed, in many areas, building a new road may be the single most important thing that policy makers can do to stimulate meat and milk production by smallholders. Other policy- related constraints include a lack of storage or processing facilities, price disincentives, insecure land tenure and/or inequitable distribution of land and water. Weak institutions can also constrain the smallholder-farming sector. This is especially the case at the grassroots level, where institutions such as farmers’ cooperatives are vital to such tasks as collecting and marketing milk. Given the continuing weakness of gov- ernment extension services, input supplies may be a constraining factor in countries or areas where the private sector has yet to take root. The opportunities The SLP strongly believes that, despite the constraints outlined above, livestock produc- tion offers many small-scale farmers in the developing world an opportunity to escape from poverty. Mixed crop–livestock farming, already practised to some degree in approximately 80% of sub-Saharan Africa, is the most efficient and sustainable means of increasing offtake from a finite land base in the early phases of agricultural development (McIntyre et al. 1992). Livestock can enhance and sustain crop production by providing draft power and manure, a critical benefit in countries where few farmers can afford commercial fertilisers. Ruminant ownership also encourages the planting of browse trees and shrubs, leguminous forages and grass contours, which help to conserve water, control soil ero- sion and increase soil fertility. Healthy, productive ruminants –– mainly cattle, sheep and goats –– translate into economic benefits through higher milk output and weight gain. And non-ruminants, by quickly converting their feed intake into saleable meat and other products, can rapidly deliver economic benefits while incurring relatively low opportunity costs. 9 Integrated crop–livestock systems can be intensified in various ways, but one of the most universally applicable technologies is the dual-purpose food–feed crop that enables farmers to feed their animals bet- ter without endangering family food secu- rity. In Nigeria and India, for instance, research has shown that many more farm- ers are willing to adopt improved cowpea or pigeonpea varieties that have high for- age yields, rather than those which mere- ly yield grain for human consumption. Similar opportunities to boost adoption rates exist for several of the world’s other major food crops, including rice, cassava and sweet potato, and for a range of other crops that are regional or local in importance at present but would be more widely used if they were suitably improved for dual-pur- pose use. An example is the forage legume grasspea (Lathyrus sativus). At later stages of development, the opportunity – and the rationale – for integrating crop and livestock production may recede. This is because specialised enterprises, for example in fattening animals or in growing forage, become more attractive, especially in areas close to major urban markets. Such enterprises may be more profitable for both smallholders and large-scale producers, but in some cases they may also, as already indicated, incur new environmental hazards. The most significant of these is pollution through the overuse or misuse of chemicals. The expansion of the livestock sector, trade liberalization, other changes in national policies and rapid developments in agricultural science, technology and information create myriad opportunities to reduce rural poverty. These call for novel approaches to the business of informing decision makers on the best options for scaling research results up and out, translating the benefits realised on just a few farms into widespread economic growth in which poor people can participate. The SLP, with its multi-insti- tutional and multidisciplinary modes of operation, is well placed to develop and apply such approaches. Impact through partnership The most effective way of addressing poverty through livestock research at the global level is to combine the efforts of the international centres and their local partners in a consortium approach, with the knowledge and lessons emerging from such an approach being transferred across regions by the SLP and other transregional mechanisms (see box overleaf). 10 Eleven CGIAR centres participate in the SLP at present (see list on inside front cover). These centres form a powerful alliance, often taking a lead role in the consortia that form at the regional level. The SLP also collaborates with other CGIAR systemwide programmes, complementing their work. Like the SLP, these programmes can play a part in transferring research tools, methods, experiences and lessons across ecoregional boundaries. For instance, germplasm collection and dissemination are core activities of the Systemwide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP), convened by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). The SLP collaborates with SGRP projects to promote the transfer of suitable materials available in gene banks to poor farmers. Further collaboration with other systemwide programmes, such as the Soil, Water and Nutrient Management Programme (SWNMP), will enhance the CGIAR system’s capacity to arrest environmental degradation and design more sustainable production systems. Increasingly over the next 5 years, the SLP will also collaborate with the CGIAR’s recently established Global Challenge Programmes, By bringing together the critical mass of expertise needed to address complex issues, the SLP can help the CGIAR to operate as a single research system rather than a set of independent centres. The system’s crop-oriented centres have substantial expertise in developing improved cereal and legume varieties to meet human food needs. Other centres have expertise in improving food production through the best use of natural The role of consortia The SLP works through consortia involving CGIAR centres, national agri- cultural research groups, advanced research institutions, government policy bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the private sector to plan and implement effective collaborative research and disseminate its results. Consortia are a particularly powerful institutional mechanism for tackling complex research problems because they can: • Provide a forum for exploring and resolving differences in perspective between different stakeholder groups • Adopt a holistic approach to research –– working throughout the pro- duction–to–consumption value chain, integrating socio-economic and biophysical research and linking work in the field with laboratory research or policy analysis • Supply the critical mass of expertise and logistical support needed to con- duct effective on-farm research • Forge the multiple external partnerships needed to scale up and out. 11 resources, such as water and soil, whereas still others are leading institutions in such areas as food policy research, agroforestry and livestock production. Applying this comple- mentary expertise to boost the productivity and sustainability of mixed crop–livestock systems is central to the SLP’s mission and vital to overcoming the problems faced by smallholders in adapting and intensifying their enterprises to meet the new demands placed on them. Impact through synergy Collaborative research, combining the expertise of partners who may have worked from separate perspectives in the past, helps realise the synergies implicit in crop–livestock systems. Because synergy can multiply the beneficial impact of individual innovations, it is of special concern to the SLP in its mission to maximise the returns to international research on livestock production. The main sources of synergy in SLP-supported research are: • The common focus of all projects on the feed component of mixed farming systems. This allows strong cross-fertilisation between projects. For example, modelling tools developed through the virtual SLP (vSLP) can be used to improve the targeting of innovations and to predict their impact. And lessons drawn from studies on targeting can be fed into projects directly concerned with technology dissemination. • A focus on innovations that serve multiple objectives. The food–feed crop is readily adopted by farmers because it enables them to raise their incomes from livestock production without endangering family food security. Similarly, livestock produc- tion provides farmers with the economic rationale for adopting resource-conserving technologies such as browse shrubs or herbaceous legumes. • Use of the food–feed component in mixed farming systems to trigger further inno- vations in crop or livestock management. Examples are the switch to crop rotations or to stall-feeding, that lead to healthier agro-ecosystems through pest and disease control and manure application. • Re-deployment to new crops of the methods already used to analyse the feed value of traditional cereal varieties and develop new dual-purpose varieties. Rice and cassava are examples of major world food crops to which these methods will be applied over the next 5 years. Other crops, such as grasspea, are of local or regional importance at present, but could become more widespread if dual-purpose varieties were devel- oped. • The creation of a portfolio that sets up feedback loops between the technological, policy and institutional aspects of R&D. Studies on system evolution, the targeting of technology and the likely impact of different interventions provide donor agencies and policy makers with valuable guidance as to how they should invest in order to maximise payoff. 12 Making a difference The main achievements of the SLP and its partners to date include: • Enhanced systems: Improved productivity and sustainability of dairy farms in Eastern Africa and Latin America and of traditional crop–live- stock enterprises in West Africa and West Asia–North Africa through the adoption of forages that increase feed supply and enhance soil fertility • Germplasm development: Enhanced feed value of pearl millet, sorghum and cowpea in Nigeria and India • Impact assessment: Assessed the potential impacts of improved dual- purpose cowpea, sorghum and pigeonpea in South Asia and West Africa, and of improved maize as food, feed and fertiliser in Eastern and Southern Africa • Poverty mapping: Produced maps as aids for R&D, identifying the location of poor livestock keepers and their production systems • Needs assessment: Characterised crop–livestock systems in South, SoutheastSouth-East and Central Asia and identified development needs and opportunities • Cross-regional analysis: Determined the factors influencing the evolu- tion of crop–livestock systems and the opportunities for improving these systems across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America • Policy development: Developed policy options to improve the market access of small-scale livestock keepers in Bangladesh, Kenya and the Philippines • Modelling: Developed, validated and disseminated modelling tools for use in assessing the potential impact of interventions • Communication: Created the virtual SLP (vSLP), an internet-based platform from which to promote the development and use of research tools and the scaling up and out of research results through information sharing. 13 • The integration and application in future projects of lessons derived from experiences in scaling up the results of research. This is critical to the SLP’s mission to maximise the returns to investment in livestock research at the international level. For example, deriving and documenting such lessons is an explicit objective of the SLP-supported project on technology dissemination in Nigeria and India. • Use of a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to research, developed and applied through consortia. Such an approach allows multiple objectives to be pursued through research and for multiple perspectives to be taken into account when setting research priorities or evaluating the impact of research. The SLP’s achievements to date testify to the effectiveness of its pursuit of synergy as the key to maximising impact (see box). 15 Strategic Plan Objectives Within the context of the efforts of the international community to achieve the poverty eradication targets set by the United Nations through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the SLP seeks to contribute to the CGIAR’s goals of alleviating poverty and protecting natural resources in order to achieve sustainable food security. The Programme will contribute to these goals by: • Building and strengthening links between the crop-, agroforestry-, natural resource-, policy- and livestock-oriented CGIAR centres and programmes, their national part- ners and other stakeholders to develop integrated and coherent strategic and applied research together with other activities on livestock feed development and related natural resource management and policies. • Influencing the use of CGIAR resources invested in centres, ecoregional and other systemwide programmes as well as relevant global challenge programmes so as to enhance the conduct of development-oriented livestock research. Research focus As suggested by the title of this strategy document, the SLP will focus its work for the next 5 years on the improvement of crop–livestock systems. In developing its strategy, the Programme has made choices with respect to the systems and regions that should benefit from its research, the focus of this research, and how it should be conducted. Choice of systems and regions The choice of systems and regions for specific research activities will be determined by the extent of poverty, the importance of crop–livestock production as a liveli- hood strategy pursued by the poor, the unsatisfied demand for feed and the need for innovations expressed by smallholders. The SLP and its partners will use poverty mapping to identify specific areas where intervention in crop–livestock systems is likely to have the most impact. Efforts will focus largely on the poorest subregions of sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, West/Central Asia and North Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, with the emphasis on areas where market access is improving or is likely to improve within a reasonable time-frame (over the next decade). Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia will account for the lion’s share of resources allocated to improving feed supplies for ruminant production, while East and Southeast Asia will be the major focus of research designed to increase the role of non-ruminants in poverty reduction. 16 Previous analyses conducted by the Programme and others indicate that the following systems meet these criteria: • Cereal–legume–livestock systems, such as rice-based systems in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, sorghum–millet–legume–livestock systems in the semi-arid tropics of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, maize-based systems in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, and barley- and grasspea-based systems in West/Central Asia and North Africa. • Cassava–smallstock systems in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America • Sweet potato–pig systems in China and Southeast Asia • Poultry and pig systems based on cereal and legume grains in peri-urban areas of Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America Choice of research themes The SLP will choose its research themes according to the opportunities they provide to meet the demand for innovations expressed by poor crop–livestock producers by exploiting the potential for synergies among the centres of the CGIAR system and its partners and among the components of traditional crop—livestock systems. In the systems and regions indicated above, the following research themes appear to offer the greatest potential for impact on poverty through such synergies: Improvement of food–feed crops. SLP projects will focus on improved food–feed crops as a key entry point for increasing the productivity and sustainability of small-scale farming systems. To realise the opportunities to eradicate poverty that livestock production affords, small-scale farmers demand improved food–feed crops that not only make them more food-secure but also provide them with surpluses to sell in the market place. If genetic enhancement is combined with better crop management practices, such crops can meet the need for human food at the same time as they contribute to the bulk of the requirement for livestock feed. In the case of legumi- nous crops and trees, additional advantages are that they enhance soil fertility and provide a break against pests and diseases. Over the next 5 years the SLP will strengthen its focus on dual-purpose crops in which new varieties have already been developed. The emphasis here will be on scaling up the benefits to ensure more widespread impact. Research opportunities lie mainly in targeting the technology effectively, in adapting it to new loca- tions, in working out the most efficient dissemination strategies and in assessing the impact on livelihoods. 17 Opportunities for further genetic improvement in these crops will be identified and pursued, with the emphasis on building in resistance to a broader range of stresses (insect pests, drought, etc) and on enhancing the quantity or quality of the feed com- ponent. Work to improve crop management will emphasise options that will empower farmers to get the most out of the new varieties while still remaining within the limits imposed by their access to inputs and other resources. The SLP will also support new research to develop dual-purpose varieties for a number of crops that have so far not received much attention from this aspect. In addition to cereals such as rice, these new crops will include roots and tubers, such as cassava and sweet potato, and a number of legume species, such as pigeonpea. This research will ensure that the benefits of dual-purpose crops can be extended to mil- lions of additional farmers, often those in marginal environments. Because food–feed crops will be the major technical innovation to which the SLP will devote its resources, it is vital that careful attention be paid to all the factors affecting their development and dissemination. To this end, the SLP has developed a concep- tual framework to guide its work in this area (see box overleaf). Better use of natural resources.The SLP will also assess options for improving the pro- duction of food–feed crops by making better use of soil nutrients and water. These options will be pursued through collaboration with the SWNMP and the newly established Global Challenge Programmes. Special attention will be paid to situations where food–feed crops are rotated with conventional cereal crops. A sharper focus on livestock × environment interactions in these systems is also warranted, especially where land and water are scarce and manure is needed to replenish soil nutrients. Dual-purpose crops can promote a switch to natural resource-enhancing technologies such as the use of crop rotation and stall- feeding, in addition to contributing directly to the maintenance of soil fertility and, in some cases, to the control of erosion. These benefits need to be pursued in additional environments to those in which they have so far been observed. The use of forage trees and shrubs also deserves further exploration from the perspective of using these species to improve the natural resource base in addition to feeding livestock. For much of this research, a water- shed-based approach will be appropriate and can be pursued with a number of partners who are already well versed in this approach. Integrating non-ruminant species into crop-based systems. Although not well researched by the CGIAR system in the past, pigs and poultry are increasingly important in small-scale farmers’ livelihoods, particularly in Asia. 18 SLP framework for improving food–feed crops in key crop–livestock systems Assess demand • Target crop–livestock systems and populations in high-priority poverty areas • Determine needs and opportunities for innovations in food–feed systems • Identify drivers of adoption of improved food–feed systems • Establish priorities among opportunities • Ensure availability of partners to design innovations • Outline mechanisms for delivering innovations • Anticipate impact of innovations • Establish partnerships required Design innovations • Understand system dynamics at farm, community and area- wide levels. • Establish institutional and policy framework • Understand markets for food grain, livestock products, feed grain for monogastrics and fodder for ruminants • Assess tradeoffs among uses of crop residues • Develop efficient use of nutrients, water and land • Determine best crop management practices (intercropping, pest control, post-harvest handling and processing) • Screen existing cultivars of food–feed crops for fodder value • Assess genetic variability and identify sources of variation for further improvement • Model scenarios for potential interventions • Design policy and institutional innovations appropriate for target populations and systems and make them available to policy makers • Define interventions to improve access to markets • Identify and/or develop improved dual-purpose food–feed crops • Disseminate new varieties and monitor impact Plan scaling out • Identify populations for scaling out improved food-feed crops • Outline strategy and processes involved in scaling out • Establish institutional alliances required and define role of government agencies, NGOs, private agro-industry, local organisations • Establish dialogue among target communities, policy makers and other stakeholders • Outline plan for ex-post impact assessment 19 How the management of these species interacts with, and can benefit from, intensified crop–livestock systems that incorporate food–feed crops will feature prominently in future SLP-supported research in that region. Over the next few years the SLP will address the productivity and environmental chal- lenges imposed by sweet potato–pig systems in China and other parts of East Asia. As the livestock revolution gathers speed, the increasing use of cereal and legume grains as livestock feed, especially for intensive poultry and pig production but to a lesser extent for dairy production as well, will affect both the production and the importation of grain by developing countries. The SLP will investigate this trend in order to forecast its likely impact on smallholders and to devise policy options for dealing with it. Scaling up and out. This will receive major emphasis from both the SLP and its partners over the next 5 years. A key promoter of livestock research and development (R&D) in ecoregional consortia, the SLP will also continue to serve as a vehicle for transferring both technologies and research methods across ecoregions. The effective targeting of innovations will be essential if taxpayers’ money is to be used efficiently to achieve widespread impact. The SLP will draw on its past experience and studies in this area to guide the process. It will seek to derive and apply lessons on the most effective institutional mechanisms for scaling up – and on the policy measures that stimulate innovation in small-scale farming systems. Cross-fertilisation and dissemination will be fostered by including an ever-greater number of national and local partners in the development effort. The seed sector, both public and private, will be a key partner in spreading the SLP’s flagship technol- ogy, the food–feed crop. Farmer cooperatives will be needed both to procure inputs and to market outputs – and they too can be key partners in spreading knowledge of new technologies and practices. NGOs and extension services will also play their part, although both types of organisation may need strengthening if they are to contribute effectively. Successful efforts in capacity building are essential if the task of scaling up and out is to be adequately addressed. Additional funds will have to be raised to meet the need for capacity building that can be especially challenging when new technologies or manage- ment practices are knowledge-intensive. In the first stages of project implementation, activities will target relatively small groups of small-scale farmers in areas with high levels of rural poverty. As they work with these farmers to identify their needs and test options for meeting them, project scientists will begin identifying pathways for scaling up and inviting potential partners to become involved. Past experience has shown that it is vital to think about the scaling up challenge this early in the research process if the effort is not to lose momentum later on for want of sufficient engagement by partners. In this way, new partnerships 20 will be formed, including those with the private sector and other organisations outside the conventional ‘family’ of CGIAR centres and national research systems. The next 5 years will see growing use of the Internet for the dissemination of research tools and methods for use by the SLP’s immediate partners, but also of information about opportunities and constraints in livestock production generally. The creation of the vSLP has already added to the global fund of knowledge and expertise on livestock through the development of new software and modelling tools. In the coming decade the SLP will expand the use of the vSLP and explore how it and other web-based systems can further contribute not merely to the knowledge base, but also to multi-institutional scaling up and out. Building strategic alliances.The SLP will concentrate on identifying and supporting projects that offer the best opportunities to exploit synergies and add value to existing R&D efforts. As in the past, projects that adopt a consortium approach, including regional, national and local partners in planning and implementing research, will be more likely to receive support than those in which institutions propose to ‘go it alone’. Adaptive on-farm research that is well targeted, participatory in style and that provides a suitable platform for learning generic lessons on the effectiveness of scaling-up efforts will receive special emphasis. The concept of key learning sites, successfully used in some of the SLP’s exist- ing projects, will be further explored, with the emphasis on sharing the learning with all relevant partners, both at the site concerned and at other sites to which lessons can be transferred. The SLP will seek to play its part in the efforts now in progress to build more powerful coalitions at the grassroots level, including local cooperatives, farmers’ associations and NGOs, in addition to local research and extension groups and private- sector service providers. Besides empowering farmers, the aim will be to assemble the full spectrum of disciplines and expertise needed to produce real, replicable impacts over large areas. Provided it is linked with suitable efforts to level the playing field through better policy making, the emphasis on smallholders in mixed farming systems should enhance their competitiveness and ensure that it is they, rather than large-scale enterprises, who drive the livestock revolution. Indicators of success Like other R&D institutions, the SLP will need indicators by which to measure the success of its work. These indicators are summarised in the following statements: • A 15% increase in the productivity of crops and livestock will have occurred at six pilot sites by 2010 • At least 10% of crop–livestock producers will have adopted improved food–feed crops and better nutrient management practices at six pilot sites by 2010 21 • At least one institution in each of five countries in targeted regions will have developed the capacity to improve crop–livestock systems by 2008 • Six national partners in at least three countries in different developing regions will be actively promoting improved food–feed technologies in key crop–livestock systems by 2010 • Four national partners in at least two countries in different developing regions will be actively promoting better strategies and practices for the use of soil, water and nutrients by 2010 • At least six improved varieties of key food-feed crops will have been developed and tested by national and other partners by 2007 • Decision makers and local communities in at least three countries in different developing regions will have put in place policies and institutions that lead to increased productivity and sustainability in key crop-livestock systems by 2010. 22 SLP strategy in a nutshell End Reduce poverty among small-scale crop–livestock producers and enhance the natural resource base by: • Increasing the productivity of food–feed crops and hence the incomes they generate • Developing and disseminating innovations that enrich and protect the soil and enhance biodiversity at the same time as they increase productivity • Strengthening the institutional capacity to improve crop–livestock systems • Creating a policy environment conducive to the adoption of food–feed crops and other technologies. Means Exploit the synergies implicit in crop–livestock systems and in the R&D sys- tems that deliver innovations by: • Focusing on the feed component of these systems • Adopting a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to R&D • Building the partnerships and alliances essential for success. Outputs Developed with and made available to partners, the outputs of the SLP’s work will include: • Better crops: Improved cultivars of food–feed crops with superior grain yields and feed value • Better management: Improved agronomy for food–feed crops and improved husbandry for livestock • Better resource use: Options for the integrated and sustainable use of soils, water, nutrients and livestock • Better policies: Measures that will lead to easier access to inputs and markets for small-scale farmers • Better institutions: Stronger farmers’ associations, national research groups and service providers • Better communications: Improved information sharing on the development of crop–livestock systems through the Internet. 23 Business Plan Project portfolio Three types of project proposal will be elicited from consortia: for small (seed) grants, medium-sized grants and large global public goods grants. Annual seed grants will be allocated on a competitive basis, their aim being to provide researchers and other partners with funding for the crucial initial planning and consultative phase needed to develop larger project proposals. Medium-sized grants are usually regional in scope and build on existing R&D efforts. Global grants, in contrast, cover major new livestock-related initiatives that address widespread problems falling within the remit of the global challenge programmes currently being launched by the CGIAR and its partners. Proposals submitted to the SLP will be scored according to the following criteria: • Conformity with the SLP’s goal, strategy and priorities • Importance and relevance to poor livestock keepers • Potential for impact on a large scale • Potential for partnerships and synergies • Scientific quality • Budget and funding strategy. Using these criteria, six proposals have been competitively selected on a competitive basis for support to develop larger proposals during 2004–2005. These are: • Improving water productivity in crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia • Enhancing sweet potato–pig systems in Southeast Asia • Fodder value improvement in rice–livestock systems in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa • Pigeonpea germplasm identification in crop–livestock systems in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean • Dual-purpose sorghum–livestock systems in West Africa • Grasspea as a food–feed crop in West/Central Asia–North Africa. Each of these projects involves at least two CGIAR centres, who will provide their own expertise to the collaborative effort. All will contribute significantly to CGIAR activities (Table 1). 24 Two further projects are at an early stage of development. A project proposal to improve maize–livestock systems in Eastern Africa has also been developed and submitted by two centres (CIMMYT and ILRI) for funding and plans have been advanced to expand an ongoing fodder dissemination project to a further three coun- tries (Ethiopia, Syria and Vietnam). Additional projects addressing other systems and components including agro-forestry, will be considered over the 5-year period. To ensure a coherent and integrated systemwide programme on food–feed crops, relevant activities conducted by individual centres will be coordinated by the SLP. T arget ar eas Ger mplasm enhancement Natural r esour ces management Policy analysis National par tner/ institutional development Enhancing sweet potato–pig systems in Asia Sichuan Province, China and northern Vietnam XX XX X XX Low-toxin grasspea for improved nutrition and health in Asia and Africa Syria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Bangladesh and Pakistan XX XX X XX Dual-purpose sorghum for the savanna zone of West Africa Niger and Mali XXX XX X Identification of forage-type pigeonpea germplasm Patancheru and Hyderabad, India; West African savanna, Nigeria; Cali, Colombia; Beijing, China XX XXX X Improvement of the fodder value of rice straw for ruminants Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, India, the Philippines XX XXX X Improving water productivity in crop–livestock systems in the semi-arid tropics Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India XX X XX Table 1. SLP project proposals and their hypothetical contribution to CGIAR activities 25 Milestones The milestones used to assess project progress over the next 5 years will include: • Identification of the genetic, environmental and management influences on fodder yield and nutritive quality for pearl millet, sorghum, maize, cowpea, rice, sweet potato and pigeonpea; assessment of their relationship with grain/tuber yield for human consumption • Identification and testing of three superior genotypes and associated crop-manage- ment options for maize, cowpea, sorghum, pearl millet, rice and pigeonpea • Identification of options for further genetic improvement of cowpea, pearl millet, pigeonpea, rice and sorghum; improved management options also identified • Assessment of options for improving water productivity in key watersheds for crop–livestock production in semi-arid South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa • Identification and use of pathways for scaling fodder technologies up and out, in Nigeria and India • Establishment of the factors driving the intensification of crop–livestock systems in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean • Identification and communication to decision makers of policy and institutional options for improving access to markets among small-scale farmers in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa • Sharing of information on crop–livestock development through an internet-based resource • Initiation of ex-post impact assessment studies for dual-purpose pearl millet and sorghum. Programme review The direction of the Programme will be assessed though an internally commissioned programme review in 2006. Its achievements will be evaluated through an external pro- gramme review in 2008. Funding the plan The SLP will harness donor support through three sources of funding: 1. Programme-attributed funds. These will be used primarily for a) programme coordination, monitoring and evaluation, b) project development, and c) funding strategic projects of broad relevance. 2. Special project funding. This will be sought for proposals developed in the ways explained above. 26 3. Matching funds. Consortia implementing projects will contribute matching funds or other resources in varying proportions and amounts. Table 2 shows indicative funding requirements for different Programme components over the next 5 years. Table 2. Indicative funding required to implement this plan over the next 5 years (US$ ’000). Item 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Programme management 220 230 240 240 250 250 Project development 120 120 100 50 Cereal-based systems 800 850 900 1000 1100 1200 Food–feed legume crops 400 450 500 550 650 700 Roots and tubers 400 450 500 550 650 700 Grains for monogastrics 200 200 200 Water and nutrients in crop–livestock systems 300 350 700 750 400 400 Targeting and scaling out food–feed crops and other fodder technologies 1000 1100 1200 1200 1200 800 Policy and capacity building 250 250 300 300 300 300 Crop–livestock models and ex post assessment 100 100 50 60 300 300 Total 3590 4100 4690 4900 4850 4650 27 Governance and management Principles The SLP’s guiding principles are derived from those agreed by the CGIAR in 1994 for the management of all its systemwide and ecoregional programmes. They are to: • Have a clear system of accountability • Maintain clear responsibility and reporting lines • Promote collective decision making • Delegate decision making to the lowest possible operational level • Ensure transparency in decision making • Identify transaction costs and ensure that they are met • Minimise transaction costs, to the degree consistent with effective coordination • Maximise cost/benefit ratios • Provide incentives for entrepreneurship • Promote full participation and ownership among the various partners • Maintain flexibility in problem emphasis and institutional capacity • Foster compatibility with the management procedures of partners • Specify full-cost budgets for funding by partners and donors. Membership Implementation of the SLP requires clear and agreed delineation of responsibilities for inputs and outputs and the sharing of credit accordingly. This must be achieved by pre- serving the primacy of the roles of participating centres. The following centres are members of the SLP at present: • Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) • Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT) • Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) • International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) • World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) • International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) • International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) • International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) • International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) 28 • International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) • International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Organisation ILRI’s Board of Trustees has overall responsibility for the SLP. A specially consti- tuted inter-centre Livestock Programme Group (LPG) serves as the SLP’s Steering Committee and oversees the Programme’s coordination and implementation. The responsibilities of the LPG are to: • Serve as an advisory body and clearing house for research proposals • Determine the SLP’s priority research areas • Evaluate, approve and allocate available resources to SLP projects • Agree on which centres or other partners are best placed to lead in priority research thrusts, and allocate responsibility for convening consortia to support such lead institutions • Ensure the global coherence of SLP research investments and their efficient use • Promote awareness of the importance of crop–livestock systems research. The LPG consists of a senior management representative from each of the partici- pating centres, with the representative from ILRI, the convening centre, serving as the Chair. To support the Programme’s implementation, the LPG has an Executive Committee, with one member rotating every year. The LPG meets once annually to review progress and approve work plans and budgets. The Science Council of the CGIAR oversees the LPG’s operations. The SLP has a full-time Coordinator whose job is to facilitate the implementation of the Programme’s strategy and research activities. The Coordinator’s responsibilities are to: • Lead the implementation of the Programme’s business plan • Compile and review proposals and make recommendations to the LPG • Prepare annual work plans and budgets for the Programme • Lead and coordinate the preparation of Programme reports • Promote the SLP and its achievements through public awareness efforts • Submit contracts for the disbursement of funds • Ensure that reports are prepared and submitted to the CGIAR and donors as required • Facilitate information sharing among project partners and between them and the LPG 29 • Inform the LPG on Programme developments • Maintain and expand relationships with the donor community • Facilitate Programme reviews and assist in setting up an internal performance monitoring system • Provide support to implement any needed change in organisational culture. References Delgado C., Rosegrant M., Steinfeld H., Ehui S. and Courbois C. 1999. Livestock to 2020: The next food revolution. International Food Policy Research Institute, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and International Livestock Research Institute. IFPRI Food, Agriculture and the Environment Discussion Paper 28, Washington, DC, USA. McIntire J., Bourzat D. and Pingali P. 1992. Crop–livestock interaction in sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank Regional and Sectorial Studies. World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Ole Nielsen N. (ed) 1994. Agroecosystem health: Proceedings of an International Workshop held 19 th June 1994 at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. University of Guelph, Canada. TAC (Technical Advisory Committee). (1994). Review of Proposals for System-wide and Ecoregional Initiatives.CGIAR Secretariat, The World Bank, Washington DC, USA. 31 Acronyms CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CIAT Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical CIMMYT Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo CIP Centro Internacional de la Papa ICARDA International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas ICRAF World Agroforestry Centre (formerly known as the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry) ICRISAT International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute IITA International Institute of Tropical Agriculture ILRI International Livestock Research Institute IRRI International Rice Research Institute IWMI International Water Management Institute LAC Latin America and the Caribbean LPG Livestock Programme Group MDG Millennium Development Goals (United Nations) NGO non-governmental organisation R&D research and development SLP CGIAR Systemwide Livestock Programme SSA sub-Saharan Africa SWNMP Soil, Water and Nutrient Management Programme (CGIAR) TAC Technical Advisory Committee (CGIAR) vSLP virtual Systemwide Livestock Programme WANA West Africa / North Asia WARDA The Africa Rice Center (formerly known as the West Africa Rice Development Association) 32 Credits Compilation, editing: Andrew Robinson, Jen Gristock, Sue Hainsworth and Simon Chater, Green Ink (www.greenink.co.uk) Design and layout: Paul Philpot, Green Ink Photos: No idea Printing and binding: Pragati Offset Pvt. Ltd, in collaboration with Sue Hainsworth