Program for applied development research in the Sahel

INSAH, the regional agricultural research coordinating institution, will implement the project, which complements the Policy, Analysis, Research and Technical Support (PARTS) project (6980478). The project will finance and support four senior INSAH staff positions (one in each of the three technical areas, along with a scientific editor) and supporting staff; and will finance seminars, training programs, and research mini-grants for Sahelian scientists, as well as fora to strengthen linkages between researchers and research users. Under the agricultural research component, INSAH will implement the Framework for Action (FFA) outlined by the Special Program for African Agricultural Research (SPAAR). Efforts will fall under three categories. (1) INSAH will improve the quality of NARS" research outputs, through implementation of the SPAAR concept of lead research poles, which will reduce duplication across national systems, and concentrate resources in the fields of each country"s comparative advantage. INSAH will help to set up the three pilot research poles proposed in the FFA (one on sorghum varieties in Mali, one on small ruminants in Senegal, and one on village-based soil and water conservation in Burkina Faso). Institutional networking mechanisms will be included in these efforts. INSAH will also strengthen the NARS in other Sahelian countries. (2) INSAH will publish research papers, literature reviews, and policy analyses which meet international standards; most of the works will originate with the NARS. INSAH will also begin developing a database on agricultural research in the Sahel. (3) The project will also support INSAH"s integrated pest management research unit, with funds to commission literature reviews and other studies, organize technical conferences, maintain an international plant protection database, and purchase journals and other literature. The food security component will support continuation of the Program for Institutional Reinforcement of Sahelian Research Capacities on Food Security (PRISAS), a USAID-supported pilot project which INSAH has implemented since 1990. Efforts will focus on generating policy research and promoting working relationships between policy makers and researchers. Annual regional and national workshops will be held to establish research policy and agendas, and regional-level analyses of food security issues will be published. PRISAS has identified several regional research priorities: macro-micro linkages; income growth; intensification of maize production; the legal and institutional environment for markets; markets for factors of production; and food consumption. The natural resource management (NRM) component will comprise two separate but collaborative parts. The UN Sahel Office (UNSO) will fund a review of NRM research and recommend areas for further research, while A.I.D. will support the use of spatial analysis and geographic information systems (GISs) in NRM research. INSAH will inventory the use of spatial data and analysis tools in conjunction with a SAGE (Programme Sahelien d"Appui a la Gestion de l"Environnement) study in environmental information systems. Based on the inventory, INSAH will identify areas to support national GIS use, e.g., meetings on software or data problems, and the development of user groups. INSAH will also develop a forum (e.g., occasional annals or a journal) for the publication of NRM research. Finally, the project will finance a research associate to work with the interdisciplinary team conducting the Sahel Ecology, Economy, and Demography (SEED) study.