Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Rod Lefroy

CIAT Asia StrategyCIAT Board Meeting #63

Nairobi, Kenya12 May 2011

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Functional Structure of CIAT Asia

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Current Activities in Asia

Activities / Projects

• Cassava

• Forages

• Linking Farmers to Markets (LFM)

• Land Use & Climate Change

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Current Status

Personnel /Offices

• Laos: Regional Office with 4 IRS & 10 NRS

Thailand: 1 IRS & 1.5 NRS

Vietnam: 1 NRS

Cambodia: 1 NRS

China: No staff at present

Funds

• Approx. US$2 million/yr mostly in special projects

• Main donors: ACIAR, IFAD, The Nippon Foundation, SDC

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Developments in 2011/12

Vietnam:

• VAAS has assigned one staff to the CIAT office in VAAS

• Relocate one IRS to CIAT office in VAAS

• Initiate regular short and long term visits/placements to VAAS institutes and exchanges to CIAT Cali

• Focus on VAAS and its institutions, but with links to the universities, to other parts of MARD, and to other ministries (MONRE, MOST, etc.)

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences• Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern

Vietnam

• Food Crops Research Institute

• Plant Protection Research Institute

• Soils and Fertilizers Research Institute

• Northern Mountainous Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute

• The Western highlands Agro-forestry Science & technical Institute

• Agricultural Genetics Institute

• Plant Resources Center

• Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute

• Maize Research Institute

• Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute

• Agricultural Science Institute of Northern Central Vietnam

• Agricultural Science Institute for Southern Coastal Central of Vietnam

• Institute for Agricultural Environment

• Southern Horticultural Research Institute

• Center for technology Development and Agricultural Extension

• Vietnam Sericulture Research Centre

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Developments in Vietnam• Expand current collaboration with the Vietnam Cassava

Network to develop a broad Cassava Research Center to focus on breeding, biotech, agronomy, pests and diseases, processing, and market linkages

• A national focus but with regional relevance and linkages:o Links to strong partners in China and Thailando Impacts in other countries (Cambodia, Laos, Burma ….)

• Continued and expanded focus on livestock development

• Expand work on NRM, Eco-efficiency, and Climate Change

• Continue LFM / Market Linkages for scaling up and target on marginalized poor and ethnic minorities

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Funding:

• Focus of €1 million project requested for cassava pests and diseases from EU, through IFAD

• Likely funding from the Japanese government for cassava biotech

• Proposal for medium term developments in cassava R&D in Vietnam and beyond to AusAID/ACIAR, to ADB, or others

Developments in Vietnam

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Developments in 2011/12

China:

• CATAS likely to assign one staff to the CIAT office in CATAS Haikou

• Initiate regular short and long term visits/placements to CATAS and other Chinese institutes and exchanges to CIAT Cali

• Focus on CATAS, but with vital links to GSCRI, GAAS, YAAS, and others

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Developments in China

• Collaboration on Cassava breeding and general R&D, with stronger links to CIAT Cali and to the region, especially to enhanced R&D in Vietnam and to other potential suppliers

• Forage germplasm evaluation and breeding, and forage utilization. Starting with a forage breeding and utilization course and exchanges between CATAS and CIAT

• Sustainable and eco-efficient cropping and farming systems. Initially on soybean/cassava intercropping, but expanding to other systems, and to broader land management and climate change issues

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Funding:

• The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) has indicated they want to fund collaboration between CIAT and China (primarily CATAS) in five research projects each of 5-year and RMB3 million

• NSFC proposes a meeting in Cali in August, followed by another in Nov/Dec in Guangxi to decide on the areas of collaboration. The meetings would include NSFC, CATAS, and CIAT

• Other proposals to be developed

Developments in China

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Other Developments in 2011/12• CIP-IFAD Root and Tuber Crops Research & Development

Programme for Food Security in Asia-Pacific Region

• Livestock development in the Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam Development Triangle submitted to IFAD following the successful forages and livestock project in Vietnam

• Possible joint project with SNV to IFAD on utilizing cassava R&D in market linkages to processors

• Land management issues in rainfed agriculture Current part in IWMI scoping study on rainfed agriculture in the GMS that should lead to a new project

• Proposal on Climate Change Adaptation-Mitigation Prioritization in parts of the Mekong Basin

Eco-Efficient Agriculture for the Poor

Consortium

1.2 Integrated systems for the humid tropics

2. Enabling Agricultural Income for the Poor

3.4 Roots & tubers

3.7 Livestock & fish

5. Water Scarcity and Land Degradation

7. Agriculture and Climate Change

Proposed involvement in CRPs