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Partnerships
for the
new millennium |
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When
CIP first opened its doors
more than 30 years ago,
partnership quickly became
a hallmark of its corporate
culture |
Unique in its time, CIP was
designed as a decentralized
organization with a minimum
of facilities—what might
now be called a center without
walls—and a philosophy
that placed a premium on teamwork
and collaboration. “Partnership
has always been a serious issue
at CIP,” says André
Devaux, coordinator of the Center’s
Papa Andina program.
“It’s the way we
do business and it’s an
important part of our vision
for the new millennium.”
In 2002, CIP scientists partnered
with colleagues working at more
than 500 agencies and organizations
in some 90 countries (see CIP’s
partners). |
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“Partnership is ingrained
in the CIP psyche, but it requires
special skills and extra effort
to do it right,” Devaux
adds. “For a partnership
to succeed you need to have
a culture of cooperation that
supports actors with diverse
interests and philosophies,
and your approaches need to
evolve over time.” Devaux
points out that when CIP was
established in 1971, Center
scientists and their partners
in national research and development
agencies focused primarily on
increasing food production.
Today, the issues they confront
are vastly more complex.
“Our agenda now includes
improving human health, combating
poverty, and helping farmers
to cope with global markets,”
Devaux says. “These are
not the issues that CIP was
set up to address, but they
are part of today’s reality
and must be part of the solutions
that we propose for the future.”
Devaux notes that to make progress
in these areas, an international
center such as CIP must find
innovative ways of helping its
national partners to evolve
institutionally.
Papa Andina: Markets and poverty
This emphasis on local institutional
development is one of the centerpieces
of the Papa Andina program,
in which CIP scientists join
forces with researchers from
Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru to
improve market access and income
for smallholder farmers. Building
on the success of three Swiss-sponsored
national research projects conducted
in the 1980s and 1990s, the
partners promote cross-border
technology and information exchange.
One immediate priority is to
help subsistence farmers—who
are normally unable to compete
in commercial markets—take
advantage of growing urban demand
for potatoes, especially traditional
varieties. Poor farmers who
grow potatoes above 3,500 meters
are currently the only source
of these varieties, almost all
of which are grown without pesticides.
“In the past, we thought
this was a disadvantage because
of the losses farmers incurred
from insect pests,” Devaux
says. “Market studies
conducted by Papa Andina, however,
showed the opposite was true.
Not only is there demand for
traditional varieties, but,
increasingly, for pesticide-free
potatoes.”
These are the types of findings
that are derived from what Papa
Andina refers to as “institutional
platforms,” or processes
set up to support the exchange
of views and experiences among
diverse actors in the food chain.
“One of their most important
contributions,” says Devaux,
“is that people who usually
have no voice in decision making—such
as subsistence farmers—are
able to enter into the dialog.”
Wide participation in the fora
helps producers and consumers,
for instance, to work back from
the known characteristics of
a variety or management practice
and develop strategies that
can boost farm profits and overcome
quality and delivery issues.
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The
platforms also help identify
the need to further improve
technology available to
farmers and to refine
program priorities. For
example, Bolivian and
Peruvian farm groups associated
with Papa Andina have
used information derived
from the platforms to
experiment with simple
postharvest techniques
that extend potato storage
life. With the new practices,
farmers can supply the
market over an extended
period of time and reserve
a portion of their harvest
until late in the season
when prices tend to peak.
“What Papa
Andina does is use “poverty
filters” or “lenses”
that help researchers
spotlight strategies that
build on whatever competitive
advantage farmers might
have,” adds Graham
Thiele, a Papa Andina
scientist based in Ecuador.
“Because potato
is such an important commodity
in the three countries
where we operate, we are
optimistic Papa Andina
will help create a regional
culture of cooperation
among all the organizations
that work within the agri-food
chain, whatever their
philosophy or specific
interest.” |
Papa
Andina is opening up market
opportunities for products
such
as chuño
and tunta, potatoes
processed using a traditional
freeze-drying
technique developed in
the
altiplano of Peru and
Bolivia. |
Papa Andina partners include
the Andean Products Research
and Promotion Foundation of
Bolivia (PROINPA), CIP, the
National Root and Tuber Program
of Ecuador (FORTIPAPA), the
Swiss Agency for Development
Cooperation (COSUDE), and the
Technical Innovation and Competitiveness
Project of Peru (INCOPA).
VITAA: Child and maternal health
CIP’s partnership philosophy
is also evolving in sub-Saharan
Africa. Here, researchers from
seven countries are working
under the banner of the VITAA
partnership (Vitamin A for Africa)
to improve human health by reducing
vitamin A deficiency, one of
Africa’s most serious
public health problems.
“Until recently,
no one gave much thought to
using sweetpotatoes to achieve
a public health objective,”
says VITAA coordinator Regina
Kapinga. “Researchers
focused their work on things
like agronomy and plant heath,
and gave little consideration
to micronutrients,” she
says. All of that changed, however,
with the establishment of VITAA.
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During its first full
year of operations in
2002, VITAA began the
process of helping African
farmers replace white-fleshed
sweetpotatoes—which
are grown entirely for
their starch—with
a new series of orange-fleshed,
high-beta-carotene varieties.
The body uses beta-carotene
to synthesize the vitamin
A needed to maintain the
immune system. “Orange-fleshed
sweetpotatoes are a novelty
in this part of the world
and they are attracting
a lot of interest,”
Kapinga says. “Not
only are the health benefits
to children substantial,
food products made from
the new varieties are
helping farmers to earn
considerable cash income.”
VITAA partners, she notes,
include agricultural researchers,
nutrition experts, health
professionals, and private
sector food processors
from seven sub-Saharan
African countries.
VITAA donors include the
German Ministry for Technical
Cooperation (BMZ), the
Micronutrient Initiative,
the OPEC Fund for International
Development, the PRAPACE
and SARRNET regional networks
(see Neighbors
helping neighbors),
the Senior Family Fund
(see Donors
large and small),
and the United States
Agency for International
Development’s Micronutrient
Program (MOST) and Micronutrient
Global Leadership Project.
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Nutritionist
Bernadeth
Ekemu works through the
VITAA partnership to
promote the use of
orange-fleshed
sweetpotatoes among
small-scale processors,
particulary women. |
While the partnership also includes
a number of government ministries,
a growing percentage of VITAA
members are nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and community
groups that provide basic services
to the region’s poor (see
A
royal sweetpotato).
“What we are seeing
in VITAA,” Kapinga says,
“is the coming together
of agencies working in health
and agriculture and an acknowledgement
that difficult problems require
innovative solutions.”
Kapinga notes that in the past,
researchers looked upon farmers
as clients. “Increasingly,”
she says, “we see them
as important collaborators.”
Case in point: In 2002, farmers
from Uganda’s Lira District,
one of the first areas to benefit
from the new orange-fleshed
varieties, provided more than
800,000 sweetpotato vine cuttings
as planting material for distribution
to refugees in war-torn parts
of northern Uganda.
UPWARD: Emphasizing the users'
perspective
The nature of CIP partnerships
is likewise changing in Asia,
where agro-ecological and socio-economic
shifts are redefining the arena
in which agricultural research
takes place. “Government
decentralization in many Asian
countries and the mobilization
of stronger community-based
groups within civil society
are reshaping the way agricultural
researchers operate,”
says Dindo Campilan, coordinator
of the UPWARD network (Users’
Perspectives with Agricultural
Research and Development). “New
stakeholders need to be brought
into existing partnerships if
they are going to be effective
in such a dynamic environment,”
Campilan notes. The 42 organizations
currently involved in UPWARD
projects include traditional
partners—such as national
agricultural research organizations—as
well as NGOs, local government
units, and community-based organizations.
Although their perspectives
may vary, all contribute to
forging the network’s
collective vision of sustainable
development. Together, the partners
carry out projects, many with
strong gender components, which
involve farmers, processors,
and consumers in a range of
research and development ventures
focused on bringing the benefits
of research to marginalized
areas and to people who are
frequently overlooked by mainstream
development projects.
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| Industrialization
and urban migration
have also worked
to realign food
production priorities
in Asian societies,
once anchored
by cereal-based
food systems.
“Over the
past two decades,
the demand for
roots and tubers
has grown steadily
throughout the
region,”
Campilan says.
The UPWARD agenda
has focused on
root crops since
the late 1980s,
but the network’s
systems approach
has helped it
to keep up with
these trends,
going beyond the
bounds of conventional
commodity research
to look at the
broader picture.
For example, UPWARD
facilitates the
activities of
the CGIAR Systemwide
Program on Urban
and Peri-urban
Agriculture in
the Philippines
(see Urban
agriculture initiative
gives Manila farmers
“flower
power”). |
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UPWARD partners in Indonesia
and Nepal use farmer field
schools to stimulate
discovery-learning and
technology dissemination.
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UPWARD’s dynamic, hands-on
approach to development allows
the network to make the most
of innovations developed elsewhere,
adapting them to local needs
and circumstances. In the Philippines,
UPWARD partners are helping
farmers take advantage of low-cost
systems for producing virus-free
sweetpotato planting materials.
The new “cleanup”
technology—which is already
used on a vast scale in China—greatly
increases production efficiency,
but requires farm groups to
acquire new knowledge and operating
systems (see Scientists
prepare for new era of CIP–China
cooperation).
To that end, UPWARD partners
are using farmer field schools—previously
adapted to sweetpotato production
by CIP researchers in indonesia—to
stimulate discovery-learning
and technology dissemination.
This not only helps local farmers
to acquire the skills they need,
it has also inspired researchers
to redesign equipment using
local materials to expand the
benefits. By the end of 2002,
more than 800 sweetpotato farmers
and extension workers from 11
municipalities had learned the
new virus cleanup techniques
through participation in field
schools and on-farm experiments.
In addition, local stakeholders
not only financed participatory
research activities, they also
established 46 community nethouses
for use in the cleanup process.
Preliminary economic analyses
indicate that the use of virus-free
planting materials has increased
farmers’ net income by
40 percent.
UPWARD’s participating
countries include China, Indonesia,
the Philippines, Nepal, and
Vietnam. The network is funded
by the Government of the Netherlands
through the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and its Directorate
General for International Cooperation.
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A royal
sweetpotato
In 2002, nearly 40,000
Ugandan farmers received
vine cuttings of improved
orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes
thanks to the personal
initiative of Her Royal
Highness the Queen of
Buganda, and the Buganda
Cultural and Development
Foundation (BUCADEF),
a royal NGO.
The Queen appealed to
her subjects to fight
malnutrition and poverty
by growing and consuming
the orange-fleshed varieties.
Known locally as the Nabagereka,
the Queen is the wife
of the Kabaka, Buganda’s
traditional ruler. She
is held in high esteem
by Ugandans and plays
a pivotal role in mobilizing
development efforts throughout
Buganda, Uganda’s
largest traditional kingdom.
Because of her support,
local officials have named
one of Uganda’s
most popular orange-fleshed
sweetpotato varieties
in her honor.
The Nabagereka’s
initiative builds on the
research and community
mobilization efforts of
the Child Health and Development
Center of the Makarere
University Health Department,
together with partner
agencies that include
CIP, the National Agricultural
Research Organization,
the US Agency for International
Development’s Micronutrient
Program (MOST) and Micronutrient
Global Leadership Project,
the Vitamin A for Africa
partnership (VITAA), and
a local NGO known as Volunteer
Efforts in Development
Concerns (VEDCO). In locations
where farmers have planted
improved varieties, on-farm
yields have reportedly
tripled.
The Ugandan school market
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In Uganda, schools
and universities
are major markets
for sweetpotato
roots and vines.
One peri-urban farmer,
Ruth Musoke, sells
more than one ton
of fresh roots to
primary schools
each week. Her net
profit over a 16-week
season is US$1,000,
far above the annual
per capita income
in Uganda, which
according to the
World Bank is just
US$310. |
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In Kampala, commercial
farmer Kakoza Mubirigi
earns more than
US$3,000 during
Uganda’s four-
to five-month sweetpotato
production season.
Because of his success
he was dubbed “Mr
Sweetpotato”
by residents of
Nabyewanga, his
home village. But
Mubirigi was not
content with simply
supplying schools
with orange-fleshed
sweetpotatoes. He
has used his earnings
to build a modern
boarding school,
the Bwaise Parents’
School, which is
now home to over
600 students. |
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Urban
agriculture
initiative gives
Manila
farmers "flower
power"
Researchers in
the Philippines
are helping improve
the country’s
flower garland
industry, a key
income-generating
activity for the
urban and peri-urban
poor, by incorporating
production mechanisms
that will enhance
flower productivity
and cut pesticide
use. In the capital
city of Manila
and surrounding
communities, it
is estimated that
over 100,000 households—from
flower producers
and traders to
garland makers
and street vendors—are
involved in the
sampaguita
flower garland
industry. Sampaguita,
or local jasmine
(Jasminum
sambac),
is the Philippines’
national flower.
A sophisticated
yet informal garland
production system
operates on a
daily basis with
great efficiency
and coordination:
in just 15 hours
the highly perishable
flowers are harvested,
transported, sold
to wholesalers/retailers,
made into garlands
at the household
level, passed
on to garland
wholesalers/retailers,
and finally sold
by street vendors
to the local population—who
value them for
use in ceremonies,
celebrations,
and as bearers
of good fortune—and
to tourists. Though
this complex production
process—passed
down from generation
to generation—works
quite well, the
industry is beset
by declining flower
yield and excessive
pesticide use.
Working with scientists
from the University
of the Philippines,
farmers’
groups, and traders’
associations,
the CIP-coordinated
Strategic Initiative
on Urban and Peri-urban
Agriculture (SIUPA)
launched a project
in 2001 to analyze
the industry and
determine research
needs and opportunities.
Only one sampaguita
variety is traditionally
grown in the area.
This limited genetic
base has led to
a drop in plant
productivity and
flower quality.
The project has
initiated on-farm
trials to introduce
new varieties,
which offer a
greater range
of colors and
sizes of flowers,
in the hope of
improving productivity
while stimulating
the market to
put premium prices
on these exotic
alternatives.
Meanwhile, studies
undertaken by
the project detected
pesticide residues
in flower samples
provided by farmers,
garland markers,
and even traders.
Pesticide residues
can have serious
human health consequences.
Industry workers
reported symptoms
of chemical poisoning
such as skin allergies,
vomiting, and
dizziness. And
the effects are
probably much
more widespread,
since there is
usually less than
24 hours from
spraying to the
time a customer
inhales the fragrance
of the flowers.
In order to curb
farmers’
extremely high
pesticide use,
the project is
developing low-cost
integrated pest
management mechanisms.
The first step,
already underway,
is to determine
seasonal occurrence
and abundance
of major pests.
SIUPA was launched
by the CGIAR in
1999 in response
to growing urbanization
and increasing
dependence of
city dwellers
on farming. It
directs knowledge
and technologies
to urban and peri-urban
issues though
collaboration
with many national
and international
efforts. |
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Donors
large and small
The Senior Family Fund
is not only CIP’s
newest donor, it is also
the Center’s smallest.
In 2002 the Fund, a small
New England philanthropy,
provided CIP’s Vitamin
A for Africa program (VITAA)
with two grants totaling
US$3,000, about 0.001
percent of the Center’s
budget.
“You
can’t always judge
a donor’s importance
against the dollar amount
of a contribution,”
says Hubert Zandstra,
CIP’s Director General
and a former donor representative
of Canada’s International
Development Research Center
(IDRC). In 2002, the Senior
family financed two field
days in Uganda, including
events in two war-torn
provinces that are bringing
improved sweetpotato planting
materials to hundreds
of refugee families.
“The amounts
are small, but the money
is being used in ways
that support our collaborators
and provide them with
greater latitude to operate,”
Zandstra says. “The
NGOs and community organizations
that have received the
Fund’s support have
expressed not only a feeling
of gratitude, but also
a sense of encouragement
from the fact that people
overseas are aware of
the situation in rural
Uganda and are willing
to help.”
Zandstra adds that contributions
from private investors
are likely to play an
increasingly significant
role at CIP in the years
ahead. He notes that the
CIP Board of Trustees
recently approved a US$32
million fund-raising initiative
for genetic conservation
that will, in part, target
smaller donors. |
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