The document summarizes the objectives and activities of a meeting to plan the orientation and next steps for CSISA Objective 1. The key points discussed were: 1. Familiarizing the team with CSISA's philosophy and focus areas and refining objectives and activities for targeted regions. 2. Coordinating activities around "impact pathways" to increase priority on kharif season activities. 3. Translating impact pathways into clear work plans with activities, milestones and responsibilities. 4. Reviewing strategy for monitoring and evaluation, data management, and communications. The overall goal of CSISA is to increase food security in South Asia through sustainable intensification of cereal crops.

1. CSISA Objective 1:
Orientation and Planning Meeting
Kathmandu, Nepal
January 23, 24, and 25th, 2013

2. Meeting Objectives
1. Familiarize team with CSISA philosophy, thematic focus,
and each other.
2. Bring forward new thinking and partnership opportunities
3. Refine key objectives and activities for Bihar / EUP +
Odisha
4. Coordinate activities around integrated ‘impact
pathways’ and set priorities accordingly (weighted now
towards kharif)
5. Translate impact pathway logic to achievable work plans
with clearly defined activities, milestones, and
responsibilities
6. Review strategy for M&E, data mng., and

3. Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia
Project Goal: To increase food, nutrition, and income security at
scale in South Asia through sustainable intensification of cereal-
based systems
Four countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan
Duration: Phase I: 2009-12; Phase II: 2012-15
•Donor-driven shift in priorities in Phase II to Bihar / EUP,
Odisha, and Bangladesh
•Transition support for Phase I hubs in Punjab, Haryana, and TN.

4. The I PA c ha lle ng e : c a ta ly z ing d ura ble
M CT
c ha ng e with m illio ns o f s m a ll a nd m e d ium -
s c a le fa rm e rs
CSISA’s 10-year vision of success aims to increase the incomes
of 6 million farm families by $350 pa by 2018 through widespread
adoption of efficient and productive agronomic practices, marked
increases in the cultivation of high-yielding and stress-tolerant
cereal cultivars, better access to information, and progressive
policies and strengthened markets that stimulate the same with
results-oriented public and private investments. In Phase II,
CSISA remains committed to its original 10-year target of
assisting millions of farmers to achieve a substantial increase in
yield and profitability. …the project endeavors to reach 2
million farm families by the end of Phase II.

5. CSISA: A ‘big tent’ initiative
I g ra ting d is c ip line s a nd o rg a niz a tio ns
nte
• Participatory development of sustainable, productive, and
profitable agricultural technologies + support services and
knowledge systems (Objective 1)
• Future-oriented process-based research (Objective 2)
• Breeding for high-yielding and stress-tolerant cereal varieties
(Objective 3 and 4)
• Policy analysis and evidence-based ‘road maps’ (Objective 5)
• Strategic partnerships (public + private sectors) to increase
the scale and longevity of interventions
• Strengthen markets and business development, especially
SMEs.
• Capacity development through training and mentorship

6. What distinguishes CSISA:
o c c up y ing the ‘m e s s y m id d le ’, s c ie nc e -le d + o utc o m e s
o rie nte d
Top-down focus on research + technologies
(little impact)
CSISA works to bridge the best of both approaches
Bottom-up focus on community engagement
(don’t scale + inappropriate tech)

7. Ag transformation can be accelerated…
Agronomic Revolution
The rice revolution in South America (management gain 2 t / ha, )
Variety revolution
(semi-dwarfs – 2 t / ha)
350 new varieties released
Yield ton/ha
Peter Jennings, FLAR, 2005
Creation of FLAR
.......................1968 1995 2002......................

8. Wide-spread resource degradation
Fragmented land-holdings
Erratic climate systems
Poor market linkages
Labor shortages
Diverse set of production challenges and drivers of
change.

9. CSISA technical Water Labor Soil Climate Yield Profitability
productivity scarcity degradation resilience
entry points
Conservation *** ** *** *** * ***
agriculture (CA)
Site-specific nutrient ** ** ** ***
management
Scale-appropriate *** ** ** ** ***
mechanization
Laser land leveling *** * * ***
Elite germplasm ** ** *** **
System intensification * ** *** ***
(more crops/yr)
Post-harvest storage ***
Improved livestock ** *** ***
feeding
Strengthened * * ** ** **
seed systems

10. NOVATION + DURABLE PRODUCTS + SUPPORT TO CHANGE AGEN
OPERATIONAL MODEL FOR GOING TO SCALE IN CSISA PHASE II

11. Axioms for success in Objective 1
•There is no universal template for
agricultural development
•Blending scientific rigor with participatory,
demand-lead approaches to technology
development is a must.
•Technologies alone are typically insufficient
(markets, capital, risk, communications
…).

12. What’s CSISA isn’t
• An asset transfer scheme
• A competitor with the national research programs
• A substitute for the formal extension system
CSISA works to complement partners and to unite them
towards common goals… a ‘catalyst’ for change.

13. Introductions and (brief) Q&A

14. Constituents of change
to catalzye the adoption of innovative
technologies

15. How do technologies move?
sResearcher
developed
’
technologies e ry
e liv
‘d Farmer adoption
The status quo isn’t good enough….

16. 1. Non-technological barriers
Laser land leveling and needs-based irrigation can reduce
irrigation water use for rice…..
or =
BUT…
Current market signals and business models are often not
aligned with conservation and constrain adoption of

17. 2. Supporting innovation with commercially-
available tools
Out-migration, difficult Seeder for mobile
terrain in Nepal hills ‘garden-type’ roto-tiller
Public-private
partnerships
Excess rice residue and ‘Turbo happy seeder’ for
air pollution in Punjab heavy residues

18. 3. Getting the message right
Increase net profitability of $100 - $250 ha -1 for wheat.
Courtesy Dr. Kamboj, Haryana
Sustainability’ doesn’t sell (fortunately, it doesn’t have to)

19. 4. Taking cues from the private sector: raising
awareness with social marketing and media
campaigns

20. 5. Utilizing modern ICTs
fo r e ffic ie nt kno wle d g e d is s e m ina tio n a nd s ite -s p e c ific
m a na g e m e nt
1. Acquire field-specific
information from
Web Smartphon
farmers
e
2. Compute field- Model hosted
specific guideline on the cloud
3. Provide customized
field-specific Multi-
guidelines in local format
language output
Courtesy of Roland Buresh, IRR

21. 6. Making polices ‘smart’ to spur investment
Rice-wheat yield (t ha-1)
12.0
Laser Tradition al
11.8
11.6
11.4 Source: H. Sidhu, CSISA/Ludhiana
11.2
11.0
10.8
10.6
10.4
10.2
10.0
Yr - 1 Yr - 2
Yield gains with significant savings of water (~20%) and diesel for pumping
($25 ha-1) under gravity-controlled irrigation management
Market segmentation / willingness to pay studies to
improve the design and efficacy of policies programs….

22. 7. Understanding how farmers innovate
What information and services are valued, actionable, and profitable?
Literacy / numeracy: how must information be conveyed?
When must it be provided?
Opportunity costs?
Uncertainty?
Risk?
…..

23. 8. Value chain interventions for strengthening
input and output markets (when needed)
Great crop, but where
does he sell it?

24. 9. Strengthening the capacity of change
agents
that already reach large numbers of
farmers
ti’
ak
‘Sh
ler
Dea
miting the role of project-based social mobilization, and increasing the
icacy of government investments through PPPs (and public-public to

25. 10. Democratizing technology access
through custom services and new
entrepreneurs
Service providers are the primary
training target for many CSISA-
supported technologies, not
famers directly.
Simplifies training burden (reaching
thousands to affect millions)
Reduces $ barriers to innovation

26. 11. Aligning with other initiatives
We can’t ‘go it alone’
But, one strong
partnership
is worth 100 mediocre
ones
And, dysfunctional
partnerships
are negative equity….
aking advantage of the investments, community presence, and socia
mobilization of other programs. Including our own (e.g. STRASA)

27. Iterative prioritization
of strategic entry points

28. Theory of change (aka ‘impact pathways’)
After establishing goals, how do we achieve them?
Steps to Create a Theory of Change (adapted from www.theoryofchange.org)
1. Identify a long-term goal.
2. Conduct ‘backwards mapping’ to identify the preconditions
necessary to achieve that goal.
3. Identify the interventions required to create these preconditions.
4. Develop indicators for each precondition that will be used to
assess the performance of the interventions.
5. Write a narrative that integrates the various moving parts in your
theory.
**If a plausible theory of change for specific goals cannot be identified and
executed within the timeframe of the project, those goals should be dropped or
given low priority.

29. Innovative and adapted
technologies as starting, not end
points…
Release of elite seeds
?
Wide-spread cultivation of elite seeds

30. Change typically
requires not one
thing, but

31. IMPACT PATHWAY EXERCISE:
1.Choose a primary outcome that supports CSISA’s goals
2.Identify three or four intermediate outcomes that contribute to
the primary outcome
1.Define project-supported activities that support the
intermediate outcome
Example primary outcomes:
•Rice-fallows are brought into winter cultivation in flood-prone
areas
•Smallholders gain access and employ laser land leveling
•Farmers transition to ZT wheat or directly-sown rice

32. Thank You
MANY ROADBLOCKS…. BUT PLENTY OF INGENUITY