Tracking CGIAR’s Reach: From Farm to National Scale
How do we know whether CGIAR innovations are actually reaching farmers who need them? Who is (and isn’t) adopting these innovations, and why? How are adoption patterns evolving over time? Which CGIAR innovations are scaling at the national level? Answering these questions requires more than ongoing MEL data, project reporting and occasional case studies. It demands periodic, ex-post, nationally representative evidence, collected through rigorous methods.
These are precisely the questions that the SPIA’s country studies aim to answer. The now-established methodology embeds the measurement of CGIAR innovation uptake into national statistical systems, helping build a robust, independent evidence base that goes far beyond one-off project monitoring and reporting.
How a SPIA Country Study is Set Up
Each country study follows a structured, multi-stage process designed to be ex-post, independent and using the national capacity:
Stage 1: Stocktake
Every study begins with a comprehensive mapping exercise. SPIA works with researchers and science leaders within CGIAR centers, the national agricultural systems, government counterparts, and other local partners to identify and map the full landscape of CGIAR-related innovations introduced in the country, ranging from improved crop varieties and livestock to natural resource management practices and policy innovations.
The stocktake answers a simple question: what is the universe of CGIAR innovations introduced within the country in the last 20-25 years? The result is a prioritized inventory of CGIAR innovations (both technical and policy), assessed for their potential scale, measurability, and relevance to national development priorities. This stage typically identifies dozens of ‘candidate innovations’, which are then narrowed to those that are thought to be at scale and can be credibly measured through a nationally representative survey in Stage 2.
Stage 2: Nationally Representative Survey
With the stocktake complete, SPIA partners with national statistics offices (such as the National Bureau of Statistics or the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study team) to integrate SPIA-specific modules into large-scale, nationally representative household surveys.
This is a deliberate design choice. Rather than running parallel, standalone surveys, SPIA piggybacks on existing data collection efforts wherever possible. This means that the results are nationally representative, the data collection is sustainable and repeatable across survey rounds, and the SPIA findings can be linked to broader development indicators already captured in these surveys.
Stage 3: DNA Fingerprinting and Spatial Methods
Self-reported data on varieties (and varietal identification broadly) is increasingly becoming complex as traditional monitoring methods fall short. DNA fingerprinting solves this issue by collecting samples directly from farmers’ fields and genotyping them in the laboratory to determine, with certainty, which varieties are actually being cultivated. Over the last decade, SPIA and the IMAGE Project (Institutionalizing Monitoring of Crop Variety Adoption Using Genotyping) have led a series of national-level DNA fingerprinting surveys to generate more accurate, objective data on varietal adoption, particularly in smallholder systems where farmer recall and visual ID are unreliable. Drawing on the pilot country studies, SPIA has produced dedicated methodological guidelines for agricultural researchers integrating genotyping into their research.
As with DNA fingerprinting, SPIA is also expanding its use of remote sensing methods within applicable country contexts to measure outcomes that were previously harder to capture in surveys. Satellite and geospatial data can help verify and complement survey responses, track landscape-level changes over time, anchor survey data to specific geographic locations and help measure environmental outcomes across CGIAR’s impact areas.
Thus, spatial methods and DNA fingerprinting may be integrated into Stage 2 (the nationally representative surveys) or undertaken concurrently as deemed most appropriate for a given country context.
Stage 4: Analysis, Synthesis, and Translation
Once the data collection is complete, the research team undertakes rigorous analysis to: a) Estimate national-level adoption rates and reach for priority CGIAR innovations, b) identify which populations are being reached and which are being missed, c) assess the association between innovation adoption and key development outcomes, and d) compare findings across countries to build system-level evidence of CGIAR’s reach.
Findings are synthesized into country reports, academic publications and briefing materials designed for multiple audiences: CGIAR leadership and governance bodies, national partners, funders, and the broader research community. The goal is not just to document reach of CGIAR innovations, but to generate actionable insights on which innovations are being adopted, what are the patterns of adoption and dis-adoption, where the gaps are, and what it means for future research investments.
Where We Are Now
SPIA designed and implemented the first wave of country studies in-house, building the methodology from the ground-up in four countries: Ethiopia (reports released in 2020 and 2024), Bangladesh (released in 2025), Viet Nam (released in 2024) and Uganda (released in 2025).
Following interest from the System Council to scale up the country studies and expand geographic coverage, SPIA commissioned the next round of country studies through competitive calls, with work carried out by partner institutions between 2025-2027. The country studies portfolio has now grown from 4 to 18 countries. These 18 countries are now in 3 categories, with each category varying in scope (ranging from stocktakes only to commencing and/or continuing the panel data in other countries). The breakdown is as follows:
- Category 1 countries (panel continues, includes Stage 1-2-3-4): Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Uganda
- Category 2 countries (first panel round, includes Stage 1-2-3-4): Colombia, Nigeria, India
- Category 3 countries (only Stage 1, i.e., Stocktake): Egypt, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Philippines, Nepal, Morocco, Peru
Webinar Series Overview - SPIA Country Studies Community of Practice 2025
SPIA Country Studies Community of Practice is a dynamic learning space where Principal Investigators, Co-PIs, and SPIA experts come together to explore cutting-edge methods like remote sensing, DNA fingerprinting, and data management.
Over four sessions, the SPIA Country Studies Community of Practice came together to build a shared foundation for Phase II.
