How to build research partnerships that benefits farmers

Agricultural research for development spans a broad
spectrum of activities - from 'upstream' research, generally
at universities or advanced research institutes, to much
more 'downstream' research by plant breeders to put better
crops in farmers' hands.
As a result of this spread, activities can become fragmented,
with little communication between specialised teams along
the research & development (R&D) chain. This is often
counterproductive, especially when researchers stretch
beyond their area of expertise.
In addition, broader and more diverse research portfolios
often compromise efficiency and create unhealthy
competition for funding. And resulting research projects
may never turn into products that improve farm
productivity.
True and effective partnerships - connecting the right
people from complementary teams - is one obvious way to
improve R&D effectiveness.
Linking innovation to application
Linking innovations in upstream research to downstream
applications of that research - often referred to as
translational science or translational biology - is not a new
challenge. But in the field of crop improvement at least, it is
easier said than done.
It is important to find the right people and teams, and to
have adequate financial and human resources to manage
partnerships effectively - keeping everybody moving in the
same direction and maximising synergy among teams while
keeping an eye on research quality and information sharing.
The CGIAR Challenge Programs are one model of how such
partnerships can work effectively. One of these programmes
is the Generation Challenge Programme, which I direct: a
global consortium of crop research institutions that, within a
decade, aimed to demonstrate that applying modern biology
and harnessing plant genetic diversity can create crop
varieties that meet the needs of resource-poor farmers.
To support collaborative initiatives by independent research
teams, the programme's first five-year phase (2004-2008)
featured several calls for grant bids. This created healthy
competition as winners were selected based on well-
defined criteria. A key criterion was 'integrative
partnership': each project needed to have at least one
partner from an advanced research institute, a CGIAR centre
and a developing-country research and/or educational
institution.