RESEARCH FOR AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS

The Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation (PARI) brings together partners from Africa, India and Germany working to promote sustainable agricultural growth and secure the food supply in Africa and India within the framework of the "One World, No Hunger" initiative. The PARI consortium consists of Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung (ZEF; the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn), the University of Hohenheim (UHOH), the Technical University Munich (TUM), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and its partners in the African countries, The African Growth and Development Policy Modeling Consortium (AGRODEP), and research partners in India.

Our Goals are:

• to provide assistance for proven innovations in the agricultural and food sector and further disseminate them in cooperation and in partnership with relevant actors;
• to promote and optimize investments in green innovation centers through research
• to contribute to the development of the agricultural and food sector in Africa and India by identifying, evaluating and disseminating innovations.

The program's research priorities have been identified in accordance with the African Union's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) as part of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development).

Our areas of activity are

• Researching innovations and analyzing future impact
• Modeling and mapping the direct and indirect impact of promising innovations.A platform based on a Geographical Information System (GIS) was created for Ghana and Malawi (eAtlas). The platform provides policymakers, analysts and other users with the opportunity to prioritize different technologies and innovations based on specific productivity and efficiency gaps.
• Developing concepts and methods for analyzing strategic potential and forecasting.In an Africa-wide study, strategic opportunities for German development investments in African agricultural and food sectors were identified. In addition, 12 country studies provided an overview of the state of agricultural innovations in the individual PARI countries and the relevant value chains, and showed options for German cooperation in agricultural research and development.
• Institutional analysis of innovation centers within national agricultural research systems.Three comprehensive national studies were carried out by partners in Africa under the leadership of FARA to collect information about agricultural innovations, existing innovation platforms and relevant investments in the respective countries.
• Stimulating and identifying technological and institutional innovations

1. "Bottom-up": innovations developed by farmers and other actors in the agricultural and food sector.Preparations for the conduct of innovation competitions for farmers in 2016 have begun in the PARI countries
2. "Top-down": innovations developed by the research and innovation system.An online innovation database has been developed which will provide access to technological and institutional innovations of the German partner universities and leading research facilities in the PARI countries in the field of agriculture.

• Policy dialogue to promote innovative approaches for improving the security of the food supply

Coordination and participation of PARI consortium members in a number of events with the aim of involving high-level decision-makers, development partners and academics, discussing research activities and preparing a plan of action. The spread of innovations and cooperation is also facilitated by the newly developed PARI website.