Innovation Works

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Research beyond borders: Five cases of ILRI research outputs contributing to outcomes
(Working Paper, 2006-10-30) Nyangaga, J.; Romney, Dannie L.; Smutylo, T.
Bridging the Gap: Translating Livestock Research Knowledge into Action for Sustainable Development - Report of a Workshop, Nairobi, 16-17 November 2006
(Report, 2006-11) Kristjanson, Patricia M.
Enhancing food security in an era of global climate change
(Working Paper, 2010-07-15) Clark, W.C.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Campbell, Bruce M.; Juma, C.; Holbrook, N.M.; Nelson, Gerald C.; Dickson, N.
The goal of the workshop was to build a more strategic and integrated perspective on the threats and opportunities latent in the food / climate issue, and to discuss the hard challenges of moving forward toward common goals in a private, off-the-record setting. An executive session convened by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Venice International University on June 6-9, 2010 attracted more than 25 of the world’s leading experts from the fields of policy, science, and business to San Servolo Island for an intensive three day session (see text for a list of the participants). The discussions were off-the-record, with each participant present in his or her own capacity, rather than representing an organization. The session was one in a series on Grand Challenges of the Sustainability Transition organized by the Sustainability Science Program at Harvard University with the generous support of the Italy’s Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea. This particular session was held in cooperation with the new Mega Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security being developed by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Earth System Science Partnership. This summary report of the session is our synthesis of the main points and arguments that emerged from the discussions. It does not represent a consensus document, since no effort was made at the Session to arrive at a single consensus view. Rather, we report here on what we heard to be the major themes discussed at the session. Any errors or misrepresentations remain solely our responsibility.
Do community members share development priorities? Results of a ranking exercise in East African rangelands
(Journal Article, 2009-11) McPeak, J.G.; Doss, C.R.; Barrett, Christopher B.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.
This study investigates development priorities of individuals living in 11 communities in the arid and semi-arid rangelands of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. We first asked individuals to describe development efforts that have been implemented in their community. People were then asked to rank the usefulness of these different interventions. Finally, we asked them to rank their priorities for future development activities in their community. Econometric analysis of their responses indicates that variation in rankings of future priorities is primarily driven by variation across communities rather than across households within communities, lending support to community-based approaches to priority setting.
Genetically improved dual-purpose cowpea. Assessment of adoption and impact in the dry savannah of West Africa
(Report, 2002) Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Tarawali, Shirley A.; Okike, Iheanacho; Singh, B.B.; Thornton, Philip K.; Manyong, Victor M.; Kruska, Russell L.; Hoogenboom, Gerrit
The research reported here has the potential for contributing to a real improvement in the livelihoods of mixed crop-livestock farming households in the dry savannah zone of West Africa through widespread uptake of improved dual-purpose cowpea (IDPC). This technology offers opportunities for the production of more, higher-quality food for poor people and fodder for animals, along with soil-fertility improvement and other social benefits. The study examines issues surrounding the adoption and impact of the new varieties and associated management strategies. A novel approach was taken, combining GIS, a crop model, and household, community and participatory research approaches in northern Nigeria in order to address the following questions: `What types of impact are expected and their magnitude, where is the impact most likely to be felt, and by whom?'. The results suggest that the research investment has been beneficial, and the expected returns are high. Furthermore, the steps taken in order to quantify the benefits versus the costs of this research have identified for researchers, policy makers and development practitioners important considerations and possibilities for speeding up and widening the impact of this technology. First, it is a flexible technology that is appreciated by, and will have the greatest impact on, farming households that are usually poor and living in remoter areas where improved crop and livestock production are especially critical to livelihood strategies. Although the wealthiest households are more likely to be adopters, poorer households have also taken up IDPC. As it is the poorer households that cultivate 75% of the arable land, the potential impact of extending the technology to these more rural, less market-oriented households is huge. Uptake to date has been more likely to occur near wholesale markets in the most densely populated areas. Thus, finding innovative ways to increase access to markets and provide improved seeds and information for farmers in low-population density areas may have potentially large payoffs. The benefit from investment in rural market infrastructure and roads will be reflected in increased uptake of natural-resource-enhancing technologies such as IDPC. Farmer-impact workshops were held and the results pointed towards environmental- and poverty-impact indicators that can be monitored as people experiment with, and adapt, the new varieties and associated management techniques. The study has highlighted opportunities relating to the identification of the benefits of IDPC for livestock which are likely to emerge when data from several years of ongoing integrated crop-livestock trials become available. Given the population, climatic and land-use changes that are likely to occur in West Africa in the coming decades, there is an onus on researchers to streamline the effectiveness of R&D activities so that they benefit the rapidly increasing numbers of poor people in the region. The lessons learnt from the impact assessment study reported here will have much broader applicability in the future than to cowpea research alone. It is hoped that this analysis provides a research and impact-assessment strategy that will be useful for other crops and technologies, and in particular that it provides guidelines for assessments of more integrated natural resource management strategies (including livestock) and technologies. Most importantly, the novel multidisciplinary, multicentre and participatory approaches taken by the cowpea research team are helping to close the researcher-farmer feedback loop. Ultimately this is what will lead to faster and more widespread adoption and impact of new technologies.
Valuing alternative land-use options in the Kitengela wildlife dispersal area of Kenya. A joint International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and African Conservation Centre (ACC) report undertaken for the Kitengela community
(Report, 2002) Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Radeny, Maren A.O.; Nkedianye, D.; Kruska, Russell L.; Reid, Robin S.; Gichohi, H.; Atieno, F.; Sanford, R.
Using the economic surplus model to measure potential returns to international livestock research. The case of trypanosomosis vaccine research
(Report, 1999) Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Rowlands, G.J.; Swallow, B.M.; Kruska, Russell L.; Leeuw, P.N. de; Nagda, S.M.
This study illustrates how productivity impacts resulting from livestock research can be measured using a herd simulation model, how the results of this model can be extended spatially using geographic information systems (GIS) to determine the potential increase in livestock production that would result from adoption of a new technology, and how an economic surplus model can be used to value the estimated productivity impacts. The particular problem examined is trypanosomosis in cattle in Africa, and the potential research product is a multi-component vaccine. The results suggest that the potential benefits of trypanosomiasis control, in terms of meat and milk productivity alone are worth over US$ 700 million per year in Africa. The methodology developed in this study can be used to measure the benefits of alleviating constraints to livestock production and the potential returns to research and development approaches addressing those constraints. The results of this study will assist in research priority setting and have highlighted the need for further research aimed at better understanding who the beneficiaries of the vaccine will be, and how it will reach them.
Genetic enhancement of sorghum and millet residues fed to ruminants. An ex ante assessment of returns to research
(Report, 1999) Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Zerbini, E.; Rao, K.P.C.; Kiresur, V.; Hofs, P.
This ex ante impact assessment measures the potential economic impact of and returns to investment in a proposed collaborative ILRI-ICRISAT-NARS (International Livestock Research Institute-International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics-national agricultural research systems) project on genetic improvement of dual-purpose (i.e. grain and fodder) sorghum and pearl millet in India. The approach taken links three methodologies to measure how much impact, where, and how to value it. A feed simulation model is used to measure the potential productivity gains from more, higher-quality crop residues in terms of meat and milk output. Primary survey data and geographic information systems (GIS) analyses of secondary data are used to assess where these gains are likely to be made. An economic surplus model that links the results of the GIS analysis with the output from the feed model is used to value the potential benefits versus the costs of the research. One hundred and four Districts of India were identified (using GIS) as the recommendation domain (RD) or zone targeted for likely adoption of improved dual-purpose genotypes. Breeders and animal nutritionists estimate that this research could potentially lead to increases in digestibility of sorghum and millet-residues ranging from 1 % to 15 %. The estimated returns to this research are attractive, even when the scope of the benefits is limited to milk and meat production in buffalo and cattle in India.
Assessment of priorities to 2010 for the poor and the environment
(Report, 2000) Thornton, Philip K.; Randolph, Thomas F.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Omamo, Steven Were; Odero, A.N.; Ryan, J.G.
This report describes the development and application of a quantitative priority assessment framework that allows the linking of agreed research priorities and resultant resource allocations. The five primary criteria by which priorities are assessed in the framework reflecting the vision , mission and mandate of ILRI and the priorities and strategies of the CGIAR are presented and discussed in this report. These are contribution to poverty reduction; expected economic impact using an economic surplus framework; environmental impact; internationality of the problem; and contribution to capacity building, development of new research tools, and improved research efficiency. Results of the priority assessment are discussed in relation to seven broad research and related areas.
Evolution of models to support community and policy action with science: Balancing pastoral livelihoods and wildlife conservation in savannas of East Africa
(Journal Article, 2016-04-26) Reid, Robin S.; Nkedianye, D.; Said, Mohammed Yahya; Kaelo, D.; Neselle, M.O.; Makui, O.; Onetu, L.; Kiruswa, S.; Ole Kamuaroa, N.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Ogutu, J.; BurnSilver, S.B.; Goldman, M.J.; Boone, Randall B.; Galvin, K.A.; Dickson, N.M.; Clark, W.C.
We developed a “continual engagement” model to better integrate knowledge from policy makers, communities, and researchers with the goal of promoting more effective action to balance poverty alleviation and wildlife conservation in 4 pastoral ecosystems of East Africa. The model involved the creation of a core boundary-spanning team, including community facilitators, a policy facilitator, and transdisciplinary researchers, responsible for linking with a wide range of actors from local to global scales. Collaborative researcher–facilitator community teams integrated local and scientific knowledge to help communities and policy makers improve herd quality and health, expand biodiversity payment schemes, develop land-use plans, and fully engage together in pastoral and wildlife policy development. This model focused on the creation of hybrid scientific–local knowledge highly relevant to community and policy maker needs. The facilitation team learned to be more effective by focusing on noncontroversial livelihood issues before addressing more difficult wildlife issues, using strategic and periodic engagement with most partners instead of continual engagement, and reducing costs by providing new scientific information only when deemed essential. We conclude by examining the role of facilitation in redressing asymmetries in power in researcher–community–policy maker teams, the role of individual values and character in establishing trust, and how to sustain knowledge-action links when project funding ends.
Empirical forecasting of slow-onset disasters for improved emergency response: An application to Kenya’s arid north
(Journal Article, 2009-08) Mude, Andrew G.; Barrett, Christopher B.; McPeak, J.G.; Kaitho, R.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.
Mitigating the negative welfare consequences of crises such as droughts, floods, and disease outbreaks, is a major challenge in many areas of the world, especially in highly vulnerable areas insufficiently equipped to prevent food and livelihood security crisis in the face of adverse shocks. Given the finite resources allocated for emergency response, and the expected increase in incidences of humanitarian catastrophe due to changing climate patterns, there is a need for rigorous and efficient methods of early warning and emergency needs assessment. In this paper we develop an empirical model, based on a relatively parsimonious set of regularly measured variables from communities in Kenya’s arid north, that generates remarkably accurate forecasts of the likelihood of famine with at least 3 months lead time. Such a forecasting model is a potentially valuable tool for enhancing early warning capacity.
Understanding poverty dynamics in Kenya
(Journal Article, 2010-10) Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Mango, Nelson; Krishna, A.; Radeny, Maren A.O.; Johnson, Nancy L.
Combining qualitative-quantitative approaches, we examined the reasons behind household movements into and out of poverty across Kenya, and how they differ by livelihood zones. Among the 4773 households studied, 42 per cent were poor 15 years ago and 50 per cent are poor at the present time. Over the same period, 12 per cent of the households escaped poverty, while another 20 per cent fell into poverty. While some national trends were evident - such as the role of health problems in driving people into poverty and the importance of off-farm income in getting them out - many reasons differ across livelihood zones, thus this paper provides an example of how regionally differentiated anti-poverty policies can be investigated and designed.
Assessing returns to land and changing livelihood strategies in Kitengela
(Book Chapter, 2009) Nkedianye, D.; Radeny, Maren A.O.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Herrero, Mario
Staying Maasai? Pastoral Livelihoods, Diversification and the Role of Wildlife in Development
(Book Chapter, 2009) Homewood, K.; Chenevix Trench, P.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.
Changing Land Use, Livelihoods and Wildlife Conservation in Maasailand
(Book Chapter, 2009) Homewood, K.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Chenevix Trench, P.
Staying Maasai? Livelihoods, Conservation and Development in East African Rangelands
(Book, 2009) Homewood, K.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Chenevix Trench, P.
People, livestock and wildlife have lived together on the savannas of East Africa for millennia. Their coexistence has declined as conservation policies increasingly exclude people and livestock from national wildlife parks, and fast-growing human populations and development push wildlife and pastoralists onto ever more marginal lands. The result has been less wildlife, and more pastoral people struggling to diversify their livelihoods as access to pasture and water becomes harder to find. This book examines those livelihood and land use strategies in detail. In an integrated research effort that involved researchers, local communities and policy analysts, surveys were carried out across a wide range of Maasai communities providing contrasting land tenure and national policies and varying degrees of intensification of agriculture, tourism and other activities. The aim was to create a better understanding of current livelihood patterns and the decisions facing Maasai at the start of the 21st Century in the context of ongoing environmental, political, and societal change. With a research design that linked quantitative and qualitative methods and research teams across multiple pastoral sites for the first time, a comparison of livelihood strategies and returns to livestock, crops, wildlife tourism, and other activities across Kenyan and Tanzanian Maasailand was possible. While livestock remains the critical anchor for most Maasai households, many are obtaining income from a variety of alternative sources. Unfortunately, income from wildlife/tourism, an option seen as most desirable by many because of its potential to provide economically and environmentally ‘win-win’ situations, still benefits relatively few Maasai. Similarly, although governments favor agricultural intensification, significant crop income or enhanced food security from subsistence cropping elude most. This book provides a rich source of new data from across Maasailand and its unparallelled multi-site comparative analyses give valuable lessons of broader applicability. It is a valuable resource for anyone, researchers, development workers and policy makers, who is concerned with improving environmental as well as economic security on the wildlife-rich Maasai pastoral lands in Kenya and Tanzania.
Measuring the potential impacts of improved food-feed crops: methods for ex ante assessment
(Journal Article, 2003-10) Thornton, Philip K.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Thorne, Peter J.
The recent increased emphasis on impact assessment is due in part to the rapidly changing nature of funding for agricultural research and the shifts that have occurred in what is expected of the agricultural research community. The reasons for doing impact assessment are relatively clear: ex post studies can determine the impact of past investment in research on target beneficiaries and are a way to learn some of the lessons of the past. Ex ante studies can provide information to assist in the allocation of scarce research resources to activities that best match donors’ development objectives. In practice, impact assessment is often contentious and almost always difficult, particularly when livestock are involved. In this paper, we outline methods that can be used in ex ante impact assessment, and illustrate some of these in relation to three recent studies on improved food-feed crops in different places: improving the quality of millet and sorghum stover in India, using dual-purpose cowpea in West Africa, and alternatives for utilizing maize stover in the mixed systems of East and Southern Africa. Such impact assessments are neither cheap nor quick, and the methods that are most appropriate in any situation will depend not only on the resources and expertise available but most importantly on the exact nature of the questions being asked and the end-users of the results. Much remains to be done to maximize the utility of such assessments, particularly in the areas of quantitative model development, rapid qualitative method development, more effective integration of biophysical and socio-cultural indicators and approaches, and provision of baseline data against which to measure progress. Research resource allocation may well retain its somewhat haphazard nature in the future, but given the challenges facing agriculture in developing countries, a mechanism for attempting to ensure that research and extension really do contribute to widely held development goals has to be based on more than trial and error.
Influence pathways and economic impacts of policy change in the Kenyan dairy sector
(Report, 2009-02-19) Kaitibie, S.; Omore, Amos O.; Rich, Karl M.; Salasya, B.; Hooton, N.; Mwero, D.; Kristjanson, Patricia M.
This study is an ex post assessment of the impact of the revised Kenya dairy policy. It outlines the policy change process, investigates induced behavioral changes at the levels of field regulators and SSMVs (small-scale milk vendors), and estimates economic impacts on producers, SSMVs and consumers. It also provides a strategic assessment of the research and coordinating roles played by ILRI, recognizing that ILRI was only one partner in a complex project with many people and organizations involved, and estimates how much of the overall gains can be attributed to this research/coordination component. It was designed to evaluate the impact of a revised Kenyan dairy policy that encouraged relevant government agencies to engage with SSMVs and, in particular, to explore and analyse the role that research/coordination played in contributing to the policy change and the net benefits to the investment in the policy research component. The study describes the policy, institutional (in the broad sense of ‘rules of the game’) and behavioral changes that have occurred in Kenya’s dairy sector and how they occurred and what role the research and coordination component of SDP (Smallholder Dairy Project) played. It quantifies transaction costs and evaluates how reduced transaction costs have impacted the prices paid by consumers and those received by producers. It measures the overall economic benefits of the policy change to consumers, producers and SSMVs, and presents a counterfactual situation, depicting what might have happened if SDP had not been implemented and the dairy policy had not changed.
Linking international agricultural research knowledge with action for sustainable development
(Journal Article, 2009-03-31) Kristjanson, Patricia M.; Reid, Robin S.; Dickson, N.; Clark, W.C.; Romney, Dannie L.; Puskur, Ranjitha; MacMillan, Susan; Grace, Delia
We applied an innovation framework to sustainable livestock development research projects in Africa and Asia. The focus of these projects ranged from pastoral systems to poverty and ecosystems services mapping to market access by the poor to fodder and natural resource management to livestock parasite drug resistance. We found that these projects closed gaps between knowledge and action by combining different kinds of knowledge, learning, and boundary spanning approaches; by providing all partners with the same opportunities; and by building the capacity of all partners to innovate and communicate.
Mapping a better future: how spatial analysis can benefit wetlands and reduce poverty in Uganda
(Book, 2009-05-25) Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda; Bureau of Statistics, Uganda; International Livestock Research Institute; World Resources Institute
This publication presents study carried on Ugandan abundant natural wealth. Its varied wetlands, including grass swamps, mountain bogs, seasonal floodplains, and swamp forests, provide services and products worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year, making them a vital contributor to the national economy. Ugandans use wetlands-;often called the country';s ";granaries for water";-;to sustain their lives and livelihoods. They rely on them for water, construction material, and fuel, and use them for farming, fishing, and to graze livestock. Wetlands supply direct or subsistence employment for 2.7 million people, almost 10 percent of the population. In many parts of the country, wetland products and services are the sole source for livelihoods and the main safety net for the poorest households. Sustainable management of Uganda';s wetlands is thus not only sound economic policy, it is also a potent strategy for poverty reduction. Recognizing this, Uganda';s Government was the first to create a national wetlands policy in Africa. Over the past decade, Uganda has also instituted the National Wetlands Information System, a rich database on the use and health of Uganda';s wetlands which in its coverage and detail is unique in Africa. This publication builds on those initiatives by combining information from the wetlands database with pioneering poverty location maps developed by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. The new maps and accompanying analyses will help policy-makers classify wetlands by their main uses, conditions, and poverty profile and identify areas with the greatest need of pro-poor wetland management interventions. The information generated can also be fed into national poverty reduction strategies and resource management plans. This is an innovative, pragmatic approach to integrating efforts to reduce poverty while sustaining ecosystems which has implications for improving policy-making in Uganda and beyond.

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