Download - Maize

Knowledge of the structure and function of seed systems and complementary input systems in a
changing global environment.
Effective scaling out approaches to reach millions of poor and malnourished children in maizebased
farming systems.
Strategies for enhancing the different but complementary roles of the public and private sectors
in delivering technologies and inputs to smallholder farmers.
Gender equitable and pro‐poor institutional innovations to strengthen seed systems and for the
cost‐effective and timely delivery of fertilizer, information, credit, and other services.
Alternative frameworks for regulating seed and grain, including GM and bio‐fortified maize, and
policies that enhance equitable and accelerated access to seed and other inputs.
Capacity for analysis of seed systems and input value chains.
3. More efficient markets and value chains that enhance market access and competitiveness, stabilize
prices, and benefit farmers and poor consumers locally.
Knowledge on the demand for alternative uses of maize and the degree of differentiation in
markets.
Key traits preferred by actors (including quality) in the maize value chains identified to enhance
value chain integration of small producers and to guide breeding programs.
Knowledge and information on the economic importance of post‐harvest losses, nutritional
impacts of contaminated maize, and trade‐offs faced by the poor.
Cost‐effective innovations that enhance food quality, improve health and nutrition, and reduce
maize grain losses and health risks.
Policy options and institutional innovations that reduce transaction costs, improve market
access, stabilize food prices, and enhance the competitiveness of agro‐enterprises.
Capacity for analysis of maize markets and improved utilization.
4. In collaboration with CRP2, knowledge on socioeconomic dynamics and drivers of agrarian change in
maize farming systems.
Strategic knowledge on the regional and global situation and future outlooks for maize and
investment opportunities to ensure regional and global food security.
Pioneer methods that iteratively improve the maize market outlook and forecasts at both
national and international levels and link them with energy markets, policy monitoring, price
transmission from world to domestic markets and food security assessments.
Explore the relations between biofuel and food production, the resilience of agriculture to price
increase and volatility, and the sustainability of agriculture production.
Provide guidance to policy makers that influence domestic, regional and international responses
to food security threats.
Disseminate market outlook information products to the domestic agricultural sector.
5. Knowledge on climate change vulnerability and options that enhance adaptation / mitigation in
maize systems.
Mapping and characterization of climate‐related risk; a survey of current formal and informal
risk management strategies and existing policy approaches to manage food crises and price
volatility for maize as a major food staple.
Diagnosis of production variability and risk of crop failure, vulnerabilities of communities and
maize farming systems under current climatic variability and progressive climate change.
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