ANNUAL REPORT - Global Development Network

GLOBAL RESEARCH
PROJECT (GRP):
Supporting Policy Research
to Inform Agricultural Policy
in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The project ‘Supporting Policy Research to Inform Agricultural
Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia’ works on the premise
that knowledge generation is not an end in itself. Mobilizing and
sharing knowledge through effective communication initiatives is a
must for enhancing research uptake. Keeping this as the governing
principle, the project is designed with outreach as an important
component. With an array of comprehensive project outputs, and
through its effective dissemination, the project attempts to bridge the
research-policy gap in connection with agricultural policies in Sub-Saharan Africa and
South Asia.
The project relies on locally and globally available repositories of knowledge and
stresses on cross-country research findings to arrive at important policy lessons. It also
seeks to bring forth Southern researchers’ voices in an effort to see development
through a Southern point of view and to add developing country perspectives to
agricultural policy debates.
PROJECT FACT FILE
Time frame: 2010-2013
Number of research
teams: 10 comprising
10 Team Leaders,
6 Senior Advisors,
5 Research Assistants,
20 Supporting
Researchers
THREE WAYS TO TELL THE AGRICULTURAL STORY
The project has identified three key methods of taking research findings to
the policymakers – 1) Policy Research Papers, 2) Policy Briefing Papers, and
3) Documentaries. Each method addresses five pressing agricultural development
challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia: Irrigation and Water Use Efficiency;
Agricultural Pricing and Public Procurement; Managing Agricultural Commercialization
for Inclusive Growth; Long-term Challenges to Food Security and Rural Livelihoods; and
Improving Effectiveness, Efficiency and Sustainability of Fertilizer Use.
GDN ANNUAL REPORT 2012
26
Spatial spread:
14 developing countries
in Sub-Saharan Africa
and South Asia
Research areas:
Agricultural Policy
Number of reports
produced in 2012: 10
Supported by:
Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation
www.gdn.int/agripolicy
Above: Official launch of the GDN Policy Briefing Papers by George Mavrotas, Project Director
and Chief Economist, GDN, at the project regional workshop in Nairobi.
Opposite page: H.E. Mr. Prasad Kariyawasam, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India and
Member, GDN Assembly, at the opening session of the workshop held in Colombo.