Broadening access and strengthening input market systems (BASIS) : collaborative research support program (CRSP) -- BASIS [project] overview

The program will be implemented by the Consortium for Applied Research on Market Access (CARMA), a consortium comprising 16 U.S. research and training institutions and their host country partners. The University of Wisconsin-Madison"s Land Tenure Center will serve as management entity. The BASIS CRSP will strengthen researcher-to- researcher collaboration and institutional capacity through focused research and training on global factor market constraints in five regions, with one country in each region serving as the initial focus of activity: Greater Horn of Africa (Ethiopia); Southern Africa (South Africa); Central America (El Salvador); Central Asia (Uzbekistan); and Southeast Asia (Cambodia). Program research will be organized around four main themes: (1) targeting and sequencing market liberalization and development; (2) market organization and support under privatization and agrarian reform; (3) natural resource management, environmental protection, and common property; and (4) water rights and social conflict. Three additional themes will cross-cut these research foci: (1) market integration; (2) gender; and (3) household strategies under risk. Host country collaborators will be involved in all phases of research plan design and implementation, and will receive training through short courses and U.S. and regional workshops. A peer-reviewed and competitively funded grants program will enhance research quality and the research management capability of local institutions and broaden the pool of researchers working under BASIS.