From Food Production to Food Security - Global Environmental ...

communities (such as policy-makers) whose timescales are generally more immediate than those ofthe research community.Specific methods and tools suggested by the survey respondents to improve GECAFS’ outreach andstakeholder interaction included:Identify and stick to a few themes.Involve stakeholders in designing research projects to create ownership of results.Develop smaller, more marketable projects for donor funding and greater stakeholderparticipation.Develop simulation models on food security and its socioeconomic impacts.Work with collaborative institutes (like CARDI) who work directly with policy-makers.Become a strong player in the work of the European Science Foundation.Develop a research programme with the CGIAR.Determine who the real decision-makers are in government – those who advise the policy level.Piggyback with relevant regional outreach activities.Organize regional workshops using research and papers already developed, with decision andpolicy-makers in attendance.Finally, the following questions serve as a checklist to help researchers undertake an ex postanalysis of their interactions with the regional policy process (adapted from Bammer, 2008b):What was the purpose of providing research support to policy and who was intended tobenefit?What parts of the policy system were targeted and what research was relevant?Who provided the research support and how did they do it?What contextual (i.e. broader external context) factors were important in getting theresearch recognized or legitimated?What was the outcome?ConclusionsThe ultimate aim of many GEC–food security research projects is to help people adapt to theadditional problems GEC will bring to achieving food security – which is, for many, alreadya complex challenge. For instance, the stated goal of the GECAFS project was drafted as ‘Todetermine strategies to cope with the impacts of global environmental change on foodsystems and to assess the environmental and socioeconomic consequences of adaptiveresponses aimed at improving food security’. ‘Determining strategies’ involves more thanproducing science outputs – it requires very active engagement with stakeholders to discussviability – an unviable plan (albeit scientifically robust) is not a particularly valuablestrategy! So, in order to achieve ambitious goals of this nature it can be helpful to clearlydifferentiate between research outputs, research outcomes and research impacts. This helps85