Research focus of Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)

Presented by Fentahun Mengistu, EIAR, at the Ethiopia - CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) Country Collaboration and Site Integration Meeting, Addis Ababa, 11 December 2015

1. Research focus of Ethiopian Institute of
Agricultural Research (EIAR)

Fentahun Mengistu, EIAR
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Ethiopia - CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs)
Country Collaboration and Site Integration Meeting,
Addis Ababa, 11 December 2015

2. Research Priorities: guided by the Agricultural /agro-
industry Sector goals
Ethiopia’s Development trajectory
•Agricultural Development Led Industrialization
•Climate-Resilient Green Economy strategy
Ethiopia: 2025 low middle income country
Agriculture a major sources of growth:
Food security; employment, income
Raw materials for industry
Adequate supply for export
Macroeconomic stability
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3. Smallholder farmers'/herders’ central to
agriculture growth; increase contribution of
Private sector
NRM- based irrigated agriculture
Development Zone based agricultural
development
Basic directions of the Agriculture sector
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4. Ensure agricultural Development is aligned
and contributed to Green economy strategy
Scaling up of best practices
Increase income of growers; shifting towards
high value commodities
Ensure youth & women are benefited from
RD
Improve livelihood & resilience capacity of
people in the arid & semi-arid areas
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5. Rural socio-economic & environmental dynamics
affecting R&D activities
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•Aggressive NRM activity; Ecological restoration
•Agricultural productivity at increase; seen as a business
•Input use (fertilizer, seed) & management practices are at increase
•Technological/technical change - farm implements
•Technological demand increased
•Infrastructure(road, transportation, water, electricity, telephone, etc)
Education, health expansion
•Urbanization

6. Capacity improved:
•Farmers’, extensionists , policy makers, etc;- knowledge, skill,
awareness, planning & management and analytical capacity
improved
•Social capital and interaction improving
Development focus areas changed
•Agro-industry, export
•Nutrition
•Value addition, production/value chain
•market
•Specialization/diversification
•Social inclusiveness- women, youth
•Climate change
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7. Challenges related to agricultural technology supply
Knowledge and Technology availability related to:
•Yield stagnation/lack of improved varieties
•Improved animal breeds
•Biotic and abiotic constraints
•Irrigation technology
•Farm implements/ mechanization
•Technologies for Industrial and export commodities
•Product quality; Nutrition quality
•Post-harvest technologies; value addition
•Climate change
•AEZ complexity; too many priorities
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8. Challenges related to agricultural technology supply
•Less addressed
segments/customers:
•Commercial farmers
•Youth & women
•Herders
•Trade
•Industry
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•Less addressed AEZs:
•moisture stressed
•Dry lands
• Frost prone highlands
•Pastoral, semi-pastoral areas
•western humid-hot lowlands
•urban/ suburbs

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10. EIAR’s Key Functions
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19. Breeder
Crop protectionist
Agronomist
Economist
Etc.
Multidisciplinary team
Multi-institutional team
Research execution: Commodity as a planning unit
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20. •Food Security & Nutrition, income generation
•Agro-industry & Import substitution
•Market (Export market)
•Environmental & livelihood resilience;
Climate Change
Thematic areas
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21. •Horticulture
•Livestock
•Biotechnology
•Irrigation
•Mechanization
•Climate change
Relatively new commodities & areas of focus:
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22. Food Security & Nutrition
•Productivity with desirable
quality
•Vertical Yield enhancement
•Technological Change-
hybrids, GMOs
•Nutrition, processing, safety
Pests, diseases, weeds
•Agro-technics & practices
•Sustainable intensification
•post-harvest loss
•Farm mechanization
•Biotechnological methods
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23. Industrial raw materials/
Import substitution
•Wheat(DW)
•malt barley
•oil crops (soy, Noug, etc)
•energy crops, etc
•Hides and skins
•Meat, Dairy
•Fruits
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24. Market/export/
•Coffee
•livestock & L.
products
•Pulses (CB, CP, L)
•oil seeds (sesame,
etc)
•High value
commodities:
Fruits, veg., spices
•Value addition
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25. Natural Resource Management
Water management
•Irrigation, WUE
•Land and water conservation
•IWM, landscape re-
construction
•Integrated soil fertility
management
•Acidity, salinity, vertisol
management
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26. Research on:
•CSA: Adaptation,
Mitigation, productivity
•Conservation Agriculture
•Climate information
•resilient commodities
Climate Change
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27. Livestock:
•Breed improvement:
indigenous; exotic (milk,
beef)
•Feeds
•range land management
•Value addition; post-
harvest
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28. Farm implements
/mechanization
Pre-harvest:
•plough, row planters, weeders,
•Enhancing horse power- tractors,
tractor appendages, etc.
Harvest, Post-harvest :
•Harvesters, threshers, hullers,
driers
•Storage facilities
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29. Agricultural Economics & Extension Research
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•Farming Systems Dynamics
•Technological adoption, innovation and impacts
•Production economics
•Agricultural Value chains
•Sub-sector analysis of agro-industrial commodities
•Agricultural technology transfer
•Agricultural innovation through stakeholders' R&D platforms

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Comments on NARS-CGIAR partnership

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•Increased focus and commitment of the Government for
economic and agricultural R&D
•The country’s diverse AEZ, socio-economics dynamics
presenting diverse opportunities and challenges
•A relatively, strong, robust, responsible NARS/AKIS
•Existence of 11 CGs
•Successful experiences and impacts of CG-NARS
collaborations
Opportunities

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•Inadequate alignment to the national priorities
•Inadequate synergy among the different CGs Centers
•Lacking uniform working modalities with NARS
•Task overlaps between CGs and CG-NARS
•Less visibility; inadequate impact with some
•Inadequate focus on building the capacity of NARS
•Clear role at national, regional and global mandates
•Program organization differences with NARS
•Inadequate finance mobilization & allocation to NARS -
commensurating with the work
Bottlenecks

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Possible areas of NARS-CGIAR collaboration
1.Germplasm enhancement and exchange
2.Collaborative research; research alignment
3.Help adopt/adapt technologies, production techniques, practices
4.Capacity building: How can NARS make a catch up?
•Science capacity of NARS to catch up; contribute to the world
-Labs facilities, cold stores, vehicles, etc
-Technological infrastructure: Common use research facilities
e.g. Cutting edge sciences
- Getting NARS access to CG facilities
• Technical backstopping; training, mentoring, etc.
4. Research financing: adequate mobilization, transparent allocation

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•Non-research activities
•Visibility at higher layer institution
•Overlaps/ redundancies among CGs; CGs-NARS
•Short term objectives
•Piece-meal funding
What needs to be improved?