Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement
In many developing countries, so-called “orphan” crops like millets and cassava provide essential nutrients but don’t get as much attention from agricultural researchers as staple grains like rice and wheat. To address this shortcoming, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement (ILCI) at Cornell University partners with national agricultural research institutes to assist with the improvement of orphan crops. TCI leads the lab’s institutional evaluation component, assessing and tracking how the capacities of partner institutions are built.
Underfunded but essential crops
The development of improved varieties of rice and wheat has allowed for significant reductions in hunger worldwide, but undernutrition and micronutrient malnutrition remain challenges across the developing world.
Locally important crops—typically coarse grains, tubers, and pulses—are cultivated by smallholder farmers because of the nutrients that they provide and their cultural significance. They often boast rich nutritional profiles and are adaptable to diverse agroecological landscapes. However, because such orphan crops are consumed locally, crop improvement research is typically limited and undertaken by public-sector breeding programs that often lack the resources of international or private institutions. As a result, improvements in yield and disease resistance have been slow compared to staple grains.
Strengthening national breeding programs
Led by Cornell University and supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, ILCI is an integrated research and delivery program that supports national agricultural research institutions in East and West Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and the Caribbean. The lab aims to empower national breeding programs to set targeted goals to enhance genetic improvement in crops, which will address the specific needs of vulnerable populations to advance economic growth, crop resilience, and food security.
The Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement is a 5-year initiative thanks to $25 million from the U.S. government’s Feed the Future. The team brings together experts from Cornell University, Clemson University, Kansas State, Cultural Practice LLC, RTI International, and Makerere University.
Evaluating institutional capacity
TCI is leading ILCI’s institutional evaluation component. TCI researchers evaluate the institutional capacities created by the Innovation Lab and study how those capacities lead to genetic gains and the introduction of new, economically relevant, and resilient crops that enable food and nutrition security in their respective regions.
The institutional capacity of research centers is defined as their capital endowment, human capital, management, and technical capacities that allow them to undertake activities that will allow for the diffusion of technology in breeding programs. Tracking the development of institutional capacity and diffusion of technology in breeding programs is essential for:
- assessing the success of agricultural research in new technology implementation and the adoption of new practices;
- understanding the multidimensional impact of research on productivity, farm incomes, nutrition, and social inclusivity; and
- revealing constraints, bottlenecks, and challenges of technology development and diffusion.
Understanding the factors that influence and drive the successful adoption of tools, technologies, and methods will be essential to recognizing how innovation labs and scientific support groups can be successfully initiated and sustained.
