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Research

Research for Development

 

Phase 2 [2010-2015]

Research in CPWF’s Phase 2 is designed to contribute to solving an important and pressing Basin Development Challenge (BDC).

The CPWF is guided by core principles such as working in partnership, adaptive management, capacity building, gender & diversity, and multi-disciplinary working teams.  

Within our research teams, the CPWF fosters an evaluative culture that regularly questions assumptions, is self-critical, seeks to learn from experience and can adapt its program-of-work to emerging opportunities and threats.

Phase 1 [2003-2009]

At its broadest scale, the CPWF emphasized its Phase 1 research at thematic and basin levels. The Program’s Phase 1 Themes provided focus to ensure that research carried out addresses those disciplinary areas where CPWF believes it will achieve the greatest impact. The CPWF's 10 Benchmark Basins of Phase 1 served as real-life laboratories within which its research is conducted and where its outputs will eventually be applied and achieve impact.

What happens to all the projects and work done during Phase 1, now that it has ended?  
   

Sixty-eight projects were funded during Phase 1. They are comprised of 1st and 2nd call projects (34/8),  Basin Focal Projects (10), Small Grants projects (14), and two commissioned research projects on Impact Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis. 
 

Several activities have been initiated in regards to processing the projects work from Phase 1, including the extrapolation of lessons learnt and their relevance for Phase 2 research, financial and administrative management. We are learning lessons not only for our Phase 2 but also for other proceedings, such as for the CGIAR Mega Program design process. We are:
   

·     Closing projects – finalize activities and bringing all Phase 1 projects to an end.  

·     Marshalling Phase 1 projects – collecting all projects’ documents and data, systematizing them and making relevant documents available as public goods

·     Evaluating projects – checking for compliance of deliverables against contractual agreements and quality of deliverables

·     Processing and synthesizing Phase 1 research results – looking for key results and messages, defining and initiating what needs to be done to process them, e.g. publishing, marketing to researchers, implementers, and policy-makers and other change advocates.   
      

Contact: Information Manager, Tonya Schuetz, at t.schuetz[at]cgiar.org 

Research Priorities

The widely-respected Comprehensive Assessment (CA) of Water Management in Agriculture  delivered key input into the CPWF's research priority setting process. The research priorities identified by the CA can be found here. You can also visit the Comprehensive Assessment website.

Research Activities

Basin Focal Projects

The 10 Basin Focal Projects, and one BFP coordination project, add value to individual research projects' outputs, yielding deeper understanding of water poverty and water productivity at the basin level.

Competitive Call Projects 

CPWF's first competitive call for project proposals yielded a portfolio of 50 high quality projects, of which, 33 currently receive funding. In 2007, the Program issued a second call for competitive projects, resulting in an additional eight exciting new ventures. Phase 2 research - restructured to focus upon Basin Development Challenges - begin contracting projects in August 2009.

Small Grants for Impact Projects

These 14 projects aimed to identify existing local community water and/or agricultural management strategies or technologies that had the potential to improve agricultural water productivity at a higher, broader scale. Most projects concluded in 2007, with many encouraging results from the initiative successfully workshopped with small producers around the developing world.

Synthesis

The Challenge Program on Water and Food deals with complex, diverse and dynamic systems for which there are a growing number of stakeholders generating information. Synthesis research is needed to make sense of the large body of dispersed and disciplinary literature and data that accumulates over time, and to package it in ways that meet the needs of different users.

Knowledge Sharing in Research project

Appropriate and effective knowledge sharing is important across all the CGIAR centers and their partners, and the Challenge Program on Water and Food are working toward a better understanding and wider utilization of knowledge sytems, knowledge sharing approaches, and innovation mechanisms in research for development. Committed to the dissemination of research outputs from its projects, the CPWF is a strong contributor to the Knowledge Sharing and Innovation project.