CIP's decentralized organization enables researchers to develop technologies where they will be most readily used, and with the people who will most quickly adopt them. Increasingly, this includes farmers, communities, and local nongovernmental organizations.

The potential of CIP research is magnified by the posting of scientists in four regional and five liaison offices throughout the developing world. Working side by side with developing country research partners and keeping a users' perspective in mind enables new technologies to be user driven and quickly adopted, decreasing the time lag for impact to be seen, felt, and measured. It also allows priority setting to be a dynamic and participatory process reflecting local needs and constraints.

Potatoes and sweetpotatoes are grown in many developing countries of the world. Ecosystems, production systems, and food systems vary tremendously, however, making the adaptation of technology to local conditions both necessary and valuable. Additionally, in its natural resource management work, CIP researchers work on a scale that encompasses a wide range of site specificities. Characterizing these systems and specificities and understanding underlying mechanisms is a necessary part of technology development and implementing change. However, the impact of new management technologies for this resource base will only be realized through working with communities and local agencies who can bring about the large-scale and inter-related changes necessary to protect and conserve these vary fragile production zones. This would not be possible without regional- and liaison office-based researchers.

CIP's decentralized organization enables researchers to develop technologies where they will be most readily used, and with the people who will most quickly adopt them. Increasingly, this includes farmers, communities, and local nongovernmental organizations. However, interchange of technologies also occurs across regions. The new team-oriented project structure creates an environment for rapid spillover to share success.