Contributions

f) Alignment with regional, country, industry and CGIAR priorities

In 2016, a 10-year research strategy for pulse crops was developed⁵⁸. This strategy called for research investment in the development of improved varieties and improved management and in fostering food system shifts that increase demand for and add value to pulse crops. It demanded the building of multi-disciplinary pulse research capacity and spatially-explicit data and models for guiding interventions and quantifying the impact of pulses on human well-being and agricultural sustainability. GLDC endorses and adopts these imperatives for the grain legumes for which it will undertake research.

GLDC will fulfill the CGIAR mandate of bringing benefits to end users through partnerships with Apex and Sub-Regional Organizations (SROs) and NARES by undertaking R4D and scaling-up initiatives in the target regions. In this regard, GLDC priorities have been cross-checked with SRO strategies and priorities⁵⁹. Alignment with SRO and National Strategies is critical as GLDC’s regional coverage is limited. SROs will be instrumental in scaling out benefits from CRP interventions within similar agroecological zones to neighboring countries. GLDC will work within these existing structures to accelerate benefits. Furthermore, the implementation phase of GLDC will encompass purposeful refinement of research priorities and approaches on a country basis to align with and reinforce national priorities and to complement national efforts. In this regard, ICRISAT has existing Country Strategies that serve such alignment.

The CGIAR has research facilities, operational breeding and agronomy programs and research staff resident across the full target ecologies and countries relevant to GLDC. The three CGIAR Centers with breeding mandates (ICRISAT, IITA, ICARDA) currently operate 22 crop improvement programs for the nine GLDC crops within the target agroecologies. CGIAR facilities and breeding programs represent local comparative advantage, although not all will be accorded the same priority in terms of GLDC investment.

1°, 2° order and spillover priorities

GLDC takes R4D responsibility for nine crops grown within the target agroecologies. Weight of such responsibility is ordered into first-degree (1°), second-degree (2°), and spillover priorities that will largely drive access to CRP resources and fund-raising efforts. In GLDC, 1° order priorities are supported by all funding windows and have precedence in proactive pursuit of grant applications. Thereafter, 2° order priorities, while important contributors to GLDC objectives and beneficial of CRP cross-cutting investments, need to be largely supported by bilateral grants mapped to GLDC. It is also recognized that dryland cereals and grain legumes are grown worldwide and spill-in/out opportunities exist which should not be ignored. Spillovers will result from collaborations within the CGIAR CRP portfolio and with global partners. Already referenced are the maize and rice-based systems that produce GLDC crops. Further spillovers are anticipated for GLDC crops, especially those grown in MENA countries⁶⁰, a number of which were part of Phase I CRPs and where the CGIAR continues to contribute. ICARDA will particularly seek to ensure GLDC research outputs are leveraged within the MENA region.

Prioritization for GLDC provided metrics on poverty prevalence, agroecological statistics, value of crop production, foresight projections of significant demand and/or deficit in supply, ex-ante return on research investment, consideration of quality, market and environmental traits and alignment with stakeholder priorities. For investments in crop improvement, an incomplete matrix of ‘region x ecology x country x crop x breeding trait’ resulted in nominated 1° order priorities for 9 crops grown in 13 countries (Table 4). Research on sorghum and groundnut is 1° order in all regions, in seven and six countries respectively. Pearl millet research will be targeted to WCA and India (five countries), cowpea to WCA and ESA (four countries), and chickpea and pigeonpea both to three countries in ESA and SA. Soybean and finger millet research investment will concentrate on two countries, while lentil research is only targeted for India. These priorities will feed directly into the crop improvement imperatives for GLDC.

The research agenda of GLDC is broader than the priorities listed in Table 4. Some quality, market and environmental traits will also be 1° order, but for the same crops and countries in Table 4. Likewise, 1° order interventions in agronomy, integrated pest management (IPM), soil conservation or fertility management, and value chain innovations need to be aligned with the crops and countries nominated in Table 4 – the ex-ante analyses returned high BCR in a number of these cases⁶¹. However, beyond Table 4, GLDC includes mapped bilateral projects that are closely aligned to the GLDC agenda and target agroecologies, but in different countries (e.g. Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe) or for alternative traits and practices. These 2° order priorities contribute to the GLDC impact targets and will benefit from and contribute to the GLDC R4D portfolio. Ongoing prioritization and feedbacks may shift priorities during the life of the program.

Table 4: Incomplete matrix of ‘region x country x crop x breeding trait’ 1° order priorities and the range in their prospective return on investment; regional breakdown can be found in ex-ante economic report^41.