From 24-28 March 2014, people working in or supporting the research themes of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish met in Kenya to plan out the coming 10 years of the program (including the 2015-2015 ‘extension’ phase). Linking the program’s work on research discovery and delivery and setting out flagship projects were also a key focus of the meeting.
A key organizational outcome was broad agreement on five flagship projects instead of the current six research themes. The two new flagships are: ‘systems analysis for sustainability’ comprising the gender, social science, targeting and environment dimensions of the program and the ‘enabling innovations for value chain transformation’ flagship which includes the multidisciplinary value chain teams, innovation, partnerships, capacity development, and communications and learning. These flagships will work together with the three existing discovery flagships focused around ‘animal health’, ‘genetics’, and ‘feeds and forages’. The flagship projects aim to better piece all the research aspects of the program together enabling outputs to be widely used and benefiting poor men and women in small- and medium-scale enterprises.
Participants reviewed activities and deliverables for 2015-2016 and defined the clusters of activities within each flagship, setting out a vision, outcomes, and objectives for each. The meeting also discussed how crosscutting issues such as gender, partnerships, communications and knowledge management, resource mobilization and capacity development best contribute to each of the flagship research projects.
‘This planning process gives the Livestock and Fish Program a clear working structure for the coming years and expresses our commitment to making our research work for and transform value chains in the target countries’ said Tom Randolph, director of the program.
CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish 