Partners

This research theme’s partnership strategy involves three main types: donors, upstream research providers, and the users of FTA’s research outputs. Partnerships with the private sector cut across these as they may involve funding, collaboration in cutting-edge science and the use of research outputs. By engaging with development partners, the private sector and policymakers from the outset, FTA ensures that its outputs address important issues in a form suitable for uptake and maximize the likelihood of generating outcomes and impact.

Upstream partners include: Simulistics on livelihood trajectory modelling; Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) on incorporating trees within its Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) suite of globally calibrated crop models; Bangor University in the UK on genomics to understand the functional profiles of soil biota; as well as many other universities — the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU); Cornell, Columbia, Colorado and Montana in the United States; Adelaide and Southern Cross in Australia; Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Kenya; Makerere in Uganda; and Mekele, Hawassa and Wondo Genet in Ethiopia.

Private sector partners include Mars Inc. on cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire; Natura on oil palm diversification in Brazil; and small and medium enterprises that codevelop novel products (e.g. non-perishable forms of Docynia indica in Vietnam).

IFAD, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), WorldVision, Vi-Agroforestry, One Acre Fund, CARE and SahelEco are examples of partners for delivery at scale, together with national and local governments (for example in Ethiopia, Peru and Vietnam).