Maize CRP: extension proposal 2015-2016

Abstract

Together with rice and wheat, maize provides at least 30% of the food calories of more than 4.5 billion people in 94 developing countries. They include 900 million consumers whose income is less than US$ 2 per day and for whom maize is the preferred staple, including 120 -140 million poor farm families. Between now and 2050, the demand for maize in the developing world will double. Without appropriate interventions, harvests at current levels of productivity growth continue to fall short of demand, millions of farm families will remain in poverty, and inadequate productivity growth continues to trigger deforestation. These challenges are the main reason that the CGIAR centers engaged in maize research, together with a community of over 350 public- and private-sector partners worldwide, are implementing MAIZE. Its strategy is to ensure that publicly-funded international agricultural research helps most effectively to stabilize maize prices and double the productivity of maize-based farming systems, making them more resilient and sustainable and significantly increasing farmers’ income and livelihood opportunities, without using more land and as climates change and fertilizer, water, and labor costs rise. Theory of Change and impact pathway analysis define three Research Strategies (RSs) in MAIZE: 1) Sustainable intensification of maize-based cropping systems; 2) Stress resilient and nutritious maize and 3) Inclusive and profitable maize futures. Based on the current standardization of CRP structures, the three RSs are further broken down into 5 Flagship Projects (FPs), encompassing the nine Strategic Initiatives of the original MAIZE proposal. Currently, RS 1 and 3 contain one FP each; RS 2 contains three FPs (discovery, validation and delivery). In turn, each FP is comprised of between three and five Cluster of Activities (CoA); these are the aggregations of projects and work packages within a research thrust. Current investments are very much aligned with the original MAIZE proposal. New areas of research were taken up to combat Maize Lethal Necrotic Virus, a highly virulent disease that emerged in Africa in 2011. As MAIZE moves towards the extension phase, partners request higher investments in value addition and the capacity building of a new generation of researchers and professionals. The high proportion of bilateral and Window 3 funding in MAIZE determines how and where funds can be used. In spite of a healthy overall budget, several strategic research areas remain hence underfunded