Global Hunger - Food Security Initiative(Feed the Future)

Research Priorities by USAID & USDA

Whole of Government Approach to Initiative

OVERALL OBJECTIVE of GHFSI

Identify opportunities to impact agricultural production to:

• Increase incomes• Reduce poverty• Decrease under-nutrition (children

<5yrs)

OVERALL OBJECTIVE of GHFSI

• Without increasing climate change• With minimal environmental damage• With involvement of women

(‘cross-cutting themes’)

RESEARCH MANDATE

Define problem-focused agricultural research that:

•Has a global impact (>individual countries)

•But can be complemented by national &regional investments in the target countries

Sub-national poverty ca.

2005 ($1.25/day)

Prevalence

Number

Source: Stan Wood et al. (IFPRI) 2009.

Sectors relevant to food security

Which domains to include?

Biological --

Social --

Economic --

Policy --

Need to be able to produce enough food to feed 9 billion

BUT

Will children <5yrs have access to the most nutritious food: intrahousehold & community food distribution?

Is the food sold to improve living conditions or buy non-nutritious things?

Affect of women’s education on child nutrition

Changa’a (moonshine) victim

Sectors relevant to food security

Food from:Cultivated Naturally resourced

_______________________________ ______________________

Land Animals Crops Aquatic Agroforestry Fisheries Forests_________ ________ __________ __________ ____________ __________

Insects, fruit, plants, game meat

Policy & Management

+ SYSTEMS RESEARCH: BIOPHYSICAL SYSTEMS & SOCIAL SYSTEMS

Ruminants, swine, poultry

Biological Research, Management & Policy

Cereal,fruit,vegetables

Aquaculturefish,aquatic plants

Fish, shellfishLiving fences,livestock feed,soil fertility enhancement

6 Concept Notes

• Terrestrial animals (ruminants, swine & poultry)• Aquatic animals (aquaculture & fisheriers)• Cereal & vegetatively-propagated crops• Legumes• Biophysical systems: water, soil, crops, animals,

conservation ag, IPM etc• Social systems: economic, social, policy, governance

HOW DO YOU PRIORITIZE THE ‘CONSTRAINTS’WITHIN A SECTOR TO SET A ‘GLOBAL’RESEARCH AGENDA?

Top-down or Bottom-up?

Scientists = supply-driven

User/farmer

Scientists

Farmer = demand-driven

Will it be employed?

Is it relevant?

(To a scientist with a

hammer, all problems

look like nails)

Is the articulated

problem researchable or

should it be addressed by

a different sector?

Is the request to treat

symptoms rather than

solve the problem?

(Building a better iron-

lung will not solve

pulmonary disease )

Balance needed

Intuitively appealing to draw on knowledge of the farmer, but limitations are:

• Tend to be near-term outputs and less appreciation for long-term goals

• Research likely to be local• Will benefit the farmer but not necessarily the consumer

with price reduction & increased nutrition• As geographic area increases, difficulty in getting

comprehensive and unbiased view increases

Alternative methods to set priorities among constraints

• Scoring– Aggregated: Assign value & weight to the dimensions of the

problem (e.g., output, geographical distribution, women’s income)– Subjective: rating (1-10) based on expert judgment

• Congruence– Allocate resources proportionately to the importance of the problem

• Benefit : cost approach– How much it costs/yr for research; – How much is being lost/yr without a solution; – Economic surplus analysis adjustment for market changes from

productivity improvements

METHOD TO ESTABLISH PRIORITIES

• PRIORITY-SETTING LITERATURE• CONSULTATION WITH EXPERTS INFORMALLY• WORKSHOPS OF EXPERTS• INVENTORY OF CURRENTLY-FUNDED

PROJECTS

INVENTORY OF EXISTING PROJECTS

�USDA ARS Intramural�USDA NIFA Extramural Grants�USAID Biotechnology Contracts�CGIAR projects�USAID CRSP Grants�NSF Grants�Foundations (Gates, etc)

Livestock (cattle) researchable constraints

• Infectious diseases constellation• Feed and fodder• Improved genetics for increased production coupled

with disease resistance

East coast fever (theileriosis)

Cattle infectious diseases (problems in intensive and extensive systems; wildlife-livestock)

Zoonotic diseases that affect production in SSA:– Tb– Rift Valley Fever– African trypanosomiasis– Brucellosis

Nonzoonotic diseases that affect production:o CBPPo East Coast Fever – theileriosiso Foot and mouth disease

Example of entry points for livestock production

An example of a constraint in the livestock sector is Trypanosomiasis in cattle in Africa which has multiple entry points that fall largely within the

production domain ENTRY POINT “RESEARCH” APPROACH TIME LINE RISK FOR SUCCESS*

POLICY Raise cattle in tsetse-free

closed facility

Infrastructure issue – no

researchable issue

short Low

HUSBANDRY Dip cattle in arcaracide Develop less toxic dips ? ?

ENVIRONMENT Introduce sterile male

flies

Determine environmental

impact of tsetse loss

Short Low

MANAGEMENT Vale traps for tsetse Develop more sustainable

traps

Short Low

BREEDING Nat’ly resistant breeds

improved for productivity

Improve through better

feeds and cross-breeding

for phenotypic stability

Medium Medium to high

TRANSGENICS Make resistant cattle with

trans-genes for tryp

resistance

Insert boutique resistance

gene into cattle

Medium Medium to high

PROPHYLAXIS Generate vaccine Cellular and molecular

biology

Long high

VACCINES

• While value of livestock life is not equivalent to human life, it is just as expensive to produce a vaccine

• It is not enough to know some portion of the mammalian immune system, need to understand it all

• Similarities among vertebrate immune systems, but need tools and knowledge to study for each animal

• Some disease may not be ‘vaccinatable’ but need to identify natural resistance genes for breeding or transgenics