Overview of the Nicaragua research for development platform

Overview of the Nicaragua research for development platform

Shadi Azadegan, Wendy Godek, Falguni Guharay, Martin Mena, Pablo Silas, Diego Valbuena, and Rein Van der Hoek

Context and platform

background Action Area: CAC

Action Site: Northern Nicaragua (Nicanorte), a small yet geographically and climatically diverse area that includes part of the departments of Jinotega and Matagalpa and the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN)

Opportunities and constraints Opportunities: • What’s going well…

> Convergence between the IDOs and ToCs of stakeholders and Humidtropics

> Strategic alignment between CRPs supports platforms

• Most innovative ideas to emerge… > Platforms convened to carry out a

mandate, meaning ideas are generated and implemented by the same orgs

> Role of CIAT is to support this process through research and debate

• Key opportunity: All the platforms, including R4D and IPs, already exist in some form

Constraints: • Issues obstructing the platform… too

many tools and a lack of clarity regarding the practical steps of the process

• Capacity development, M&E, and critical reflection aid in addressing constraints.

• Structural issues to be addressed… > R4D must address interests of all CRPs > R4D must be explicitly linked to IPs

Pictures

Conclusions and ways forward • So far so good…

• Support is needed to sustain or enhance

the effectiveness of the platform:

1. Small funds for quick wins

2.Capacity to develop proposals for

systems integrated research (SIR) and

funding for the mid-term

Platform progress • Nicanorte R4D initiated in 2013; IPs starting in 2014 • R4D meetings in May 2013, October 2013, and May 2014; IP meetings are more

frequent – one every two months. • Activities completed to date:

1. Situational Analysis of Nicanorte 2. Two quick wins – creation of two tools:

a. Decision making for improving soil fertility b. “Quesungual” system for promoting agroforestry

• Planned Activities for 2014: Entry point initiation, baseline studies/analyses, and general synthesis of resulting data.

Platform facilitation and

learning

• Key bottlenecks:

1. Questioning of the relevance of

platforms

2. Small country with a limited

number of good organizations

working on the ground

• Situational Analysis has been

documented and M&E is being

initiated.

• Many participating stakeholders have extensive experience and/ or have been actively involved in research, development, and policy agenda-setting and advocacy.

Team Humidtropics Nicarnorte

[email protected] ● [email protected] ● [email protected]

Managua, Nicaragua.

Prepared for a capacity development workshop of the

CGIAR Research Program on Humidtropics, Nairobi, 29 April – 2 May 2014

http://humidtropics.cgiar.org/

This document is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution –Non commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License Aprl l2014

April- May 2014

Platform characteristics • R4D Platform operates at the national level

with emphasis on Nicanorte. The R4D platform includes 3 geographically situated innovation platforms (IPs) based on existing smallholder land-use systems:

1. Coffee-Banana-Timber

2. Cacao-Banana-Timber

3. Grain-Livestock System

• 33 participating organizations representing a broad spectrum of stakeholders; emphasis on female leaders

• Collective leadership of the platform by stakeholders with support from CIAT

• CIAT is facilitating the platform with activities funded by Humidtropics as well as other CRPs