SPIA Side Event at 21st CGIAR System Council Meeting: Key Takeaways

During a half-day side event held in Berlin, SPIA marked the conclusion of their 2019-2024 work plan and shared valuable insights from their evidence portfolio with the System Council. On the agenda were two presentations on the evidence SPIA has gathered on the targeting of agricultural technologies, and on CGIAR’s climate mitigation and adaptation innovations, and two panel discussions with System Council members on future directions for the CGIAR in the light of this evidence. The event was chaired by SPIA Chair, Travis Lybbert.  Here are the highlights and key takeaways from the event.

Targeting Technologies: By Professor Kyle Emerick
PPT available here.
Related briefing document available here.

Summary: Professor Emerick presented recent rigorous evidence that shows how the same agricultural technology can have different benefits for different users. In turn this may explain the differential rate of adoption among different groups. He argued that an understanding of this heterogeneity can help to prioritize interventions. 

Takeaways:

• Vietnam: SPIA’s DNA fingerprinting of rice grown in farmers’ revealed widespread of salt tolerance trait in coastal areas, where it is likely to generate the greatest benefit.
• Bangladesh: Submergence tolerant rice (Swarna sub-1) generate much larger benefits for farmers in flood-prone areas. In experimental work, private partnerships with agrodealers were particularly effective at ensuring these farmers receive access.
• Ethiopia: research has shown that women-headed households, who are particularly labor constrained, are more likely to adopt two-wheeled tractors. Targeting this small-scale machine to these households has the added social benefit of reducing child labor.

Open discussion: Audience members raised important issues and directions following on from Professor Emerick’s work. This includes sustained efforts to collect data on seed sales to understand the long-term impacts of dissemination efforts, designing impact assessments to be gender-focused from the very outset instead of as an after-thought, and the value of wide and accessible dissemination of SPIA’s results so as to provide a bridge between research and national influence.

Discussion Panel on Poverty Reduction: Moderated by Professor Susan Godlonton  

Participants: Martien van Nieuw Koop, Director, Agricultural Development at BMGF - AnnaKarin Norling, Senior Research Advisor at SIDA RCU - Thomas Miethbauer, Agricultural Economist and SIMEC member for Germany.

Key points:

• SPIA's country-level studies showed a mixed picture regarding adoption of CGIAR technologies by the poorest of the poor: while some CGIAR innovations are more likely to be adopted by poor farmers, many others appear to be disproportionately used by higher-income farmers.
• Panelists reflected on the CGIAR's comparative advantage at reaching the poorest of the poor, and how the CG’s resources could be allocated to help ensure it impacts this target group.
• They highlighted the CGIAR’s long-term collaboration with national partners, ability to leverage organized farmer groups, and its track record of targeting the poor through nutrition-sensitive approaches.
• They emphasized the need for a focus on co-creating localized solutions in collaboration with partners and conducting long-term studies to assess sustainable impact.
• It was also suggested that CGIAR’s comparative advantage may lie in its efforts to increase agricultural productivity, which would lower food prices and thereby alleviate poverty.

Climate Change Adaptation: By Professor Sujata Visaria.
PPT available here.
Related briefing document available here.

Summary: Professor Visaria presented evidence from SPIA’s work on climate change innovations, focusing on the challenges of measuring and scaling them. Outside of small experimental studies, large-scale adoption requires both user demand and accessibility, with constraints often limiting progress on either side. 

Takeaways:

• Bangladesh: Farmers adopt Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) in rice when water savings lower costs under volumetric pricing, highlighting the importance of institutional pricing mechanisms. However, transitioning to this pricing faces resistance from farmers with higher water bills.
• Vietnam: Irrigation schedules controlled by rice cooperatives in theory, enable AWD implementation. Nonetheless, the study suggests adoption rates are low, emphasizing the need to understand private and public incentives. Adoption is also limited by farmers’ lack of opportunities to experience its benefits.
• Mozambique and Tanzania: Drought-tolerant maize was adopted at higher rates when it was bundled with an insurance product that induced early take-up, in turn allowing drought-affected adopters to experience the yield benefit of the variety.  
• Ethiopia and Kenya: Despite impressive long-term benefits of commercial livestock insurance , adoption has dropped due to private insurance companies facing human capital constraints in the insurance’s distribution.
• SPIA’s country study’s exploratory work has found limited adoption of CS-MAPs, a participatory approach to integrating climate-smart advisories into local planting and crop recommendations. The research underscores the complexity of the theory of change behind this innovation’s influence on farmer behavior.

Open discussion: Among the insights from the audience members, it was suggested that adoption of climate-smart practices might increase if private insurance provision was linked to farmers’ adherence to recommendations. It was recognized that considerations of supply-side incentives and capacity must be integrated early into the design of innovations. It was also suggested that qualitative research may shed light on farmers’ practical challenges when it comes to adoption. 
 

Discussion Panel on Country-Level Evidence: Moderated by James Stevenson
Briefing document available here.

Participants: Allan Tollervey, Senior Livelihoods Adviser at UK FCDO and SIMEC Chair - Pedro Machado, Deputy Head, Research and Development at EMBRAPA - Jerry Glover Senior Sustainable Agriculture Adviser at USAID - Yvonne Pinto, Director General at IRRI.

Summary: This panel explored how CGIAR stakeholders can use evidence from the SPIA country study portfolio to inform decision-making. Discussions included how scientists and management can utilize SPIA information and the connection to funding, and how the CGIAR can become an evidence-based organization.

Key points: 

• Importance of linking country studies and policy impact assessments to inform decision-making. Clear project objectives and understanding the policy landscape are crucial, emphasizing the use of rigorous evidence that goes beyond yields and income.
• It was suggested that the evidence that SPIA provides can support strategic decisions, highlight the benefits of innovations, and address challenges in adoption, by focusing on stakeholder engagement and understanding the role of institutions.
• Panelists also argued that the CGIAR could enhance its role as a learning institution by leveraging robust data and models to attract new investors and ensure sustained commitment to achieving poverty reduction and climate-change mitigation and adaptation, while addressing institutional constraints and policy lags.