East Africa

Sharing lessons in translating research results into impact for food security, nutrition and human health

Conference Questions

• How can the results of basic science and inter-disciplinary research lead to increased impact on food security and human health?
• How can partnerships between research and development organisations deliver innovation and impact?

This workshop has been organized to both introduce CCAFS, its interests and potential contributions related to food security management in the face of climate fluctuations, and the process CCAFS envision for shaping the research agenda in this area. As well as initiate a collaborative process of identifying priority issues, gaps (e.g., knowledge, methods, tools, evidence) and opportunities, where CCAFS research might make a valued contribution. The workshop is conducted within CCAFS Theme 2: Adaptation through Managing Climate Risk.

Within our work on Adaptation to Progressive Climate Change, one of the objectives is to generate comprehensive strategies for crop improvement through a combination of modeling, expert consultation and stakeholder dialogue, and translating these insights into coordinated global, regional and national research and technology investment policies.

The Adaptation Learning Program (ALP) implemented by CARE International and the Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security, CCAFS-EA programme recently discussed the number of adaptation programmes in Kenya and the East Africa region which have a focus on learning at national to regional levels.  We recognized that agreeing on a more strategic approach on how we engage as national to regional adaptation learning actors (practitioners, scientists and policy makers) over the coming two years or so would enable a greater collective impact and added value in terms of effective adaptation knowledge and practice than each programme alone. Through sharing plans and objectives for learning and policy engagement this group of programmes could develop a collective/common impact pathway for learning activities in the region to be better focused, coordinated and purposeful. The aim is for coordinated shared learning and more collaborative work through a series of learning activities, events and products with a longer term purpose, avoiding potential duplication and overload of actors with too many ad hoc learning events.  An idea arose to discuss this issue further and develop a common framework, outputs and outcomes of a collective learning process.