The document discusses Dryland Systems staffing and research methods testing at ICRISAT in West Africa. It outlines that the Dryland Systems team is composed of 9+ scientists from ICRISAT and partner institutions covering two action transects. It also describes testing of methods for biomass assessments, household surveys, and options for intensification pathways that were conducted in 2012 to establish baselines and protocols for the Dryland Systems research.

1. Traore
van Mourik
Falconnier
Weltzien
Ajeigbe
Fatondji
Gandah
Hash
Martinez-M.
Sissoko
Ollenburger
Savadogo
& al.

2. Dryland Systems staffing at
ICRISAT
• trans-disciplinary, system-oriented nature of DSCRP justifies
involvement of several scientists from the region
• regional ICRISAT/DSCRP team composed of 9 (+1) scientists:
– WBS action transect: G. Falconnier, T. van Mourik, P.C.S. Traore
(transect and overall coordinator), E. Weltzien, M. Ollenburger
– KKM action transect: H.A. Ajeigbe (transect coordinator), D.
Fatondji, M. Gandah, C.T. Hash, P. Savadogo
• 1 joint ICRAF-ICRISAT agro-forestry position filled in June 2013
• 1 joint ICRISAT-ILRI crop-livestock position to be filled shortly (est.
Sep. 2013)
• 1 joint IER-ICRISAT GIS/RS position to be filled shortly (est. Sep.
2013)
• Recruitment of support staff initiated in May 2012

3. Dryland Systems inception, PFI phases
@ ICRISAT (2012-13) – context
2012
• Need to execute a ~150K budget rapidly, 100% expended at Dec. 31
• Pulled out a set of mostly technical ‘activities’, not conceptually very well
articulated
• Investment emphasis put on technical training of partners, procurement
of equipment, pre-financing of associated projects (Africa RISING)
2013
• Operational budget increased to 500K (but not officially deployed before
DS approval in late April), 25% expended as of May 31
• 15 ‘activities’ now better embedded in the Dryland Systems set of (10)
activities – but some rushed or delayed due to DS approval delays
• Work on improving cross-center coordination at the action transect level
(e.g. through action transect scientific coordinators)
2014
• expected reconduction of 2013 operational budget

4. 2013: 15 ICRISAT ‘activities’ contributing
to Dryland Systems
organize STAKEHOLDER
CONSULTATIONS
develop a
PARTICIPATORY
EVALUATION
FRAMEWORK conduct FULL BIOMASS
ASSESSMENTS
test INTEGRATED SOIL
FERTILITY
MANAGEMENT
options
map RESOURCE
FLOWS
produce GENDER-
SMART MEDIA
TOOLS
build FARM
TYPOLOGIES
deploy TRAINING
TOOLS &
CURRICULA
test DUAL-PURPOSE
(INTER)-CROPS
model ENTRY
POINTS, SCENAR
IOS AND
TRADEOFFS
establish R4D /
INNOVATION
PLATFORMS systematize YIELD
VARIABILITY
MAPPING
target DEVELOPMENT
DOMAINS & SITES
administer BASELINE
HOUSEHOLD
SURVEYS
test WATER
HARVESTING
SOLUTIONS
100K
100K
100K
100K
100K

5. Proposed conceptual
schematic
• 2 = landscape
typologies
• 3 = farm
typologies
• 4 = typologies of
resource use
efficiency
• 1 = field
typologies
Land Use &
Management
Biomass
Stocks &
Flows
Household
Characteristics
2
1
34
Full Biomass
Assessment
Land Use
Prospection
Household
Surveys
Spatial
expliciteness
more
less
Very High
Resolution Imagery
(10 x 10 km)

6. N Figure 2a. Land use prospection and biomass assessment
approach: landscape scale
S
EW
Community Limits
(to be determined
with very high
resolution imagery
and through
interactions during
initial community
meetings)
Center
Village
Equidistant,
30-m radius
sampling
sites
Separation distance
function of transect range
to community boundary

7. Figure 2b. Land use prospection and biomass assessment
approach: sampling site level
30-m
Trees in farmer fields
(all trees within the 30-m
radius from the sampling site
center location will be
characterized for basic metrics:
DBH, height, crown size, etc.)
Towards
community
limits
Towards main village
centerplace
Annuals + Soils sampling
locations (randomly chosen
within selected fields)
Beyond tree litterfall
Area (5 per field) - may
fall beyond the 30-meter
radius limit
Within tree litterfall
Area (1 per field) - needs
to fall within the 30-meter
radius limit

8. Concept presentation, USAID-Mali, 06/03/2011

9. ICRISAT inception phase short notes
(2012) – research methods testing
• CGIAR & partners = variable legacy of systems
research, requiring critical stock taking from available
project literature and experiences
• successful deployment of a complex research program
in on-farm locations with variable degrees of R4D
exposure will require careful assembling of baseline
data and operation M&E systems
• biomass throughput and productivity a key entry point
in integrated crop-tree-livestock smallholder
systems, we organized DSCRP research methods
around three main nexii:

10. ICRISAT inception phase short notes
(2012) – research methods testing (1)
• Improving our understanding of
– (1) the pathways of induced and endogenous intensification and
– (2) the adoptability of different intensification options in West African
drylands smallholder farming
• desk-based study contracted to Wageningen U.R. (Ken Giller’s
research group)
• Purpose:
– provide analytical framework for assessing the adoptability of
intensification options (entry points + technologies + pathways), based
on a standardized set of indicators
– apply it to a contrasted sample of available options for selected DSCRP
sites in WAS&DS
• draft final report received from WUR, to be disseminated shortly as
a Dryland Systems publication (est. release Oct. 2013)

11. ICRISAT inception phase short notes
(2012) – research methods testing (2)
• Design, testing of biophysical sampling and monitoring methods organized
in a full biomass assessment protocol
• DSCRP Protocols Meeting organized at ICRISAT-Niamey, Niger Sept. 17-
20, 2012 involving ~ 30 resource persons (ICRISAT: 10, DSCRP iIRT:
10, national partners: 10
• During and after that meeting, a full biomass assessment protocol was
produced that includes rapid rural appraisal, land use
prospection, agronomic and biomass management data collection, and
destructive annuals and non-destructive perennials sampling procedures
• protocol testing contracted to SARI, Ghana and AMEDD, Mali for the
proposed sites of Dimabi, Ghana and Sukumba, Mali. These two sites
belong to the WBS transect and were chosen due to logistical constraints
linked with the collection of annuals samples before harvest
• annuals biomass component has been completed at both sites and a MS-
ACCESS database was developed for data entry (currently ongoing).
Perennials component is forthcoming (March 2013) with partners already
trained

12. ICRISAT inception phase short notes
(2012) – research methods testing (3)
• Development of DSCRP custom household survey
instruments for baselines and monitoring
• comparative study of 6 reference household survey
instruments was carried out by ICRISAT (M. Sissoko, A.
Butler)
• Particular attention given to linking of the biomass
assessment data (collected at a field scale throughout
target landscapes) with household level data (collected
at the community level)
– In that way farm endowment can be directly linked to
agronomic / field management practices leading to the
development of field typologies in addition to farm
typologies.

13. ICRISAT inception phase short notes
(2012) – capacity building (rationale)
• DSCRP will operate in a research environment
simultaneously defined by a general lack of
historical, long-term data but also by the new
availability of cheap, efficient digital data acquisition
systems
• DSCRP research will also be characterized by trans-
disciplinarity, will involve systems modeling and space-
time intensive coverage
• Capacity to capitalize on these opportunities is usually
in short supply in the region, and will remain
challenged by the region’s lack of international
attractiveness due to perceived or proven security
threats

14. ICRISAT bilateral projects mapped to
Dryland Systems (May 2013)
Donor Project Title Scientist Staffing Operations Total
Alliance for a Green
Revolution in Africa
(AGRA)
Backstopping and Coordinating the Fertilizer
Microdosing and Inventory Credit System Project
in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
MG 11,859 197,799 209,658
Netherlands Govt. Associate Experts Programme -Ms. Vera Lugutuah EWR 2,852 399 3,251
Denmark Domestication of Jatropha Curcus for oil produ DF 9,000 32,254 41,254
INRAN-
CORAF/WECARD(F
unded by AusAID)
An Integrated Cereal-livestock-tree system for
Sustainable Land Use and Improved Livelihoods of
Smallholder Farmers in the Sahel (CerLiveTreeS)
DF 39,500 109,011 148,511
Netherlands Govt. Associate Experts Programme - Mr. Balova Nebie. EWR 22,360 3,130 25,490
Netherlands Govt. Associate Experts Programme - Mr. Gatien
Falconnier
TVM 21,621 3,027 24,648
Solar Electric Light
Fund(SELF), USA
Scaling the Solar Market Garden: Solar-Powered
Drip Irrigation Enhances Food Security in Benin,
West Africa
RMM 18,000 75,288 93,288
Netherlands Govt. Associate Experts Programme -Mr. Mensah E
Romeo
JN 20,709 2,899 23,609
Alliance for a Green
Revolution in Africa
(AGRA)
Capacity Building for Soil and Plant Analysis
Laboratories for the Improvement of soil Health in
West Africa
MG - 129,986 129,986
Total 145,901 553,795 699,695
NB: + Africa RISING (USAID)

15. Dryland Systems leveraging thrusts at
ICRISAT
• New data systems for rapid appraisal, monitoring &
evaluation
– Mainstreaming VHR imagery (BMGF, Cosmogia)
– Upcoming training (Hyderabad, TE: Nov/Dec 2013)
– $ leveraged: 50K, targeted: 400K
• New participatory approaches at scale
– District-level scenario planning (upcoming workshops: Orodara, BF:
Dec 2013; Kofa, NG: Jan 2014)
– Co-production of farm/climate services (IDRC/DFID CARIAA, USAID)
– $ leveraged: 200K (AWS -> raingauges), targeted: 400K
• Improved trans-disciplinarity and CRP cross-fertilization
– E.g. CCAFS on downscaling the development scenarios
– E.g. AgMIP on standard methods for trade-offs analyses