This publication comprises four background papers on NRM research that were prepared and considered by TAC and iSC. The first two papers concern the topic of integrated natural resources management (INRM) and the next two papers concern the topic of water management. The four papers are:
1. Evolution of NRM Concepts and Activities in the CGIAR (SDR/TAC:IAR/01/18)
2. NRM Research in the CGIAR: A Framework for Programme Design and Evaluation (SDR/TAC:IAR/01/24)
3. Water and the CGIAR: A Discussion Paper (SDR/TAC:IAR/01/23A)
4. Water Productivity Research in the Context of the CGIAR (SDR/TAC:IAR/01/23B)
The work of TAC/iSC that led to the preparation and discussion of the papers covered the period from March 2001 to June 2003. The preparation of the papers was overseen by the TAC/iSC Standing Committee on Priorities and Strategies (SCOPAS), chaired by Alain de Janvry, with Amir Kassam as its technical secretary. SCOPAS members during the period included: Richard Harwood, Michael Cernea, Hans Gregersen, Usha Barwale Zehr, Hirofumi Uchimiya. They were supported by the TAC/iSC chair, Emil Javier and other TAC/iSC members, particularly Elias Fereres, Oumar Niangado and Joachim von Braun.
INRM
TAC has closely followed and participated in, the work of the Centre Directors Committee (CDC) on Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM). In partnership with TAC, a series of annual meetings of the CDC INRM Task Force brought together scientists and their partners from across the System to work out approaches and methodologies for INRM work. Those meetings are widely cited in INRM literature within the CGIAR System, and include INRM I, Bilderberg, Netherlands, September 1999; INRM II, Penang, Malaysia, August 2002; INRM III, Cali, Colombia, August 2001; and INRM IV, Aleppo, Syria, September 2002.
At TAC 80 (March 2001), TAC reviewed the advances in biophysical sciences that had implications for INRM research. The discussion was led by Elias Fereres who introduced the topic of INRM and stated that INRM's primary goal was greater productivity through improved management. There were two aspects, namely resource characterization and resource management, pertaining to which three central issues had to be addressed: how to extrapolate from point observations to higher scales; how to explore alternative scenarios; and how to predict impact on agricultural systems. He highlighted the point that the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) was pivotal to linking natural resources assessment to INRM. GIS and remote sensing were enabling extrapolation from farm, watershed, region to global scales while GPS technology was promoting improved management of resources by way of precision farming. Such improved management also resulted from the adoption of response farming, made possible by accurate weather forecasting and from advances in GEOSTAT that permitted spatial analysis and scenario assessments as part of simulation models and decision support systems.
Given that the CDC INRM Task Force meeting had been scheduled for August 2001 at CIAT, Cali, Colombia, the Committee decided at TAC 80 to inform the Task Force meeting about the historical developments in INRM concepts and activities in the CGIAR. It requested SCOPAS to prepare a state-of-the-art paper on INRM, tracking the evolution of NRM concepts and activities in the CGIAR, for presentation at the INRM Task Force meeting. Subsequently, the paper, entitled Evolution of NRM Concepts and Activities in the CGIAR (SDR/TAC:IAR/01/18), was prepared by Richard Harwood, Hans Gregersen, Elias Fereres and Amir Kassam and presented by Richard Harwood at the INRM Task Force meeting in Cali. The paper comprised a comprehensive summary of CGIAR's NRM activities prior to 1996, the TAC study on priorities and strategies for soil and water research, recent thinking on NRM and TAC's evolving perspective on INRM.
Although the TAC's contribution was well received at the Cali meeting, it became clear that a follow up paper on how to operationalize the TAC's INRM conceptual framework would be a useful follow-up contribution to the Task Force deliberations. Thus, at TAC 81 (September 2001), Richard Harwood introduced the paper NRM Research in the CGIAR: A Framework for Programme Design and Evaluation (SDR/TAC:IAR/01/24), prepared by Richard Harwood, Hans Gregersen, Elias Fereres and Amir Kassam. This paper focused on TAC's forward-looking thinking on CGIAR's priorities and strategies on INRM and covered the following ground: first, it lays out the context, including the priorities set out in the 2000 Vision and Strategy; second, these elements are translated into a set of propositions on operational strategy; third, the propositions are linked to considerations of implications for the System related to the various component NRM elements involved and dealt with by the CGIAR, putting forward a framework for designing and evaluating them. Both the above NRM papers were shared with the CGIAR stakeholders at AGM 01, as part of TAC Chair's report.
At iSC/TAC 82 (April 2002), SCOPAS proposed and iSC agreed, that in the context of the upcoming Challenge Programmes (CPs), it would be helpful to document cases of INRM research in the CGIAR to highlight the practical application of INRM approaches to address research problems. At iSC/TAC 83 (August 2002), Richard Harwood presented a progress report on INRM case studies. Following excellent expression of interest, 13 Centres submitted 18 case profiles from all continents encompassing forestry, integrated tree systems, livestock, fish and field crop systems, biodiversity, with many focusing on water. Thus, at iSC/TAC 83, the Council decided to prepare with CDC Task Force on INRM, a joint publication comprising a small set of illustrative case studies on successful operationalization of INRM principles in addressing natural resources problems in the context of CGIAR goals, on the basis of what Centres would submit. SCOPAS was requested to oversee the preparation of the joint publication. Richard Harwood attended the next INRM Task Force meeting at ICARDA in September 2002 where the joint publication proposal was further discussed and endorsed. At iSC/TAC 84 (June 2003), Richard Harwood and Amir Kassam were requested to take charge of the assignment to serve as editors for the publication entitled 'Research Towards Integrated Natural Resources Management: Examples of Research Problems, Approaches and Partnerships in Action in the CGIAR' for consideration at the INRM Task Force meeting at ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya in October 2003.
Water
At TAC 80 (March 2001), the Committee concluded that research on water issues had for too long been compartmentalized and focused on the short term, with little coordination among potential partners. Consequently, the social science aspects of water had lagged behind the biophysical and engineering aspects in spite of the recognized importance of economic, social, institutional and cultural dimensions governing water use and management. Besides, any analysis of water management had to simultaneously encompass the health component. There could be no stronger rationale for a multi-disciplinary approach to research as in the case of water. TAC decided that a clearly defined strategic framework for water management research in the CGIAR would benefit the System, particularly IWMI which had recently undergone external review and its new Director General was providing impetus to a review of Institute's priorities.
TAC requested SCOPAS to review the role of CGIAR in water management research, its future integration and strategic direction. Elias Fereres and Amir Kassam were requested to prepare a preliminary discussion paper, with the overall aim of developing a common strategy for water research in the context of CGIAR's evolving INRM framework, with a focus on IWMI and inter-Centre strategies. To facilitate discussion, a separate paper on water productivity research, to be prepared by a consultant, was planned. At TAC 81, Amir Kassam presented a paper Water and the CGIAR: A Discussion Paper (SDR/TAC:IAR/01/23A), prepared by Elias Fereres and Amir Kassam. It had three objectives: informing CGIAR stakeholders of the current status of water in CGIAR activities; identifying the most relevant needs, challenges and opportunities to pursue in the context of probable future scenarios and CGIAR Centres' comparative advantages; and concrete elements of a research agenda along with possible roles of various Centres. He noted that certain factors combined to create the right timing for TAC to produce such a discussion paper: strategic issues and concerns raised by the IWMI EPMR; a change in IWMI's mission and goals; the ongoing difficulty in mobilizing adequate resources for water-related research in the CGIAR; the proposed Systemwide Initiative on Water Management (SWIM II), and the upcoming Challenge Programme on water. To facilitate discussion, a background paper on Water Productivity Research in the Context of the CGIAR (SDR/TAC:IAR/01/23B), prepared by a consultant Jacob Kijne, was also made available to TAC.
The Water and the CGIAR paper proposed that water management research was to be conducted in a manner that would facilitate the integration of certain themes, using TAC's INRM framework. It proposed that water management research should focus on four broad areas: improving water use efficiency in agriculture; management of watersheds for multiple functions; management of aquatic ecosystems, particularly those with boundaries with terrestrial ecosystems; and policy and institutional aspects of water management. There was general consensus on the themes proposed and the need for cross thematic integration. The paper warranted improvement on the aspects of basin-level activities and scale and was to serve as a guide for resource allocation, highlighting CGIAR's comparative advantage. A revised version of the paper, integrating comments from CGIAR Centres, was requested by TAC for consideration at the next iSC/TAC meeting.
At TAC 82 (April 2002), Elias Fereres presented a revised version of the paper Water and the CGIAR: A Discussion Paper, taking into account Centre comments which related to a host of issues, for instance: equity, economic options for the poorest, property rights, multi-dimensionality, water and forests, fish production, watershed management and, above all, adoption of improved water management practices. Two additional issues highlighted were: policy regulations and water as food. It was also acknowledged that the CP pre-proposal on Water and Food had embodied all the four themes proposed in the TAC paper and the need for integration across the themes, as constituting the framework for water management research. Further, TAC's INRM guidelines recommended watershed management as a means of implementing INRM by way of linking water management to integrated land use management. Hence, the framework for water management research outlined in the revised paper was inherently linked to these guidelines. The final version of the paper was shared with the Group as part of the iSC Chair's Report to the AGM 2002.
