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 ®ional 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
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