Impact assessment of the SAFGRAD [semi-arid food grain research and development] commodity networks

(1) The socioeconomic impact of maize and cowpea research has been substantial in West Africa, with estimated annual benefits ranging between $4.8-$84 million for maize and $0.8-$12.3 million for cowpeas. Achieving similar success with sorghum and millet will require much more applied agronomic research (and less emphasis on breeding). (2) SAFGRAD networks have been a major mover of technologies between national agricultural research systems (NARS), increasing the availability of new technology, improving research collaboration among countries, and allowing national programs to increase their responsibility for the networks. In the countries examined for this study, about half of the maize and sorghum varieties and almost three-fourths of the released cowpea varieties had been in SAFGRAD trials; a similar trend exists for maize. (3) By training researchers (30 to the M.Sc. or Ph.D. level, 400 via specialized courses) and using networks to pool research talents, SAFGRAD has significantly expanded the research capacities of the NARS and helped them to attain a critical mass of scientists. Observational tours for researchers and the biennial SAFGRAD conference have also boosted institutional capacity. Future prospects are conditioned on the availability of finances to sustain achieved gains and the need for attention to maintenance of the natural resource base.