An overwhelming number of the worlds poorest are involved in agriculture that does not meet their basic food needs or generate enough income to lift them out of poverty. The challenge is to develop and promote the adoption of improved agriculture systems for crops livestock and natural resources to enable the poorest to build themselves a better future.

NRI and its network of partner organisations throughout the world are working to develop better agricultural technologies and improved systems that will have a real impact in reducing poverty and malnutrition. Key themes of this work are:

• Research into enhancing productivity and value of smallholder agriculture (crops and livestock) in developing countries (DCs)
• Develop improved cropping systems and technologies for major food staples and cash crops in Africa and Asia.
• Provide technical backstopping to international, national and regional R & D programmes for agriculture led, poverty reduction programmes.
• Conduct research and development to generate new science, technology and innovations for increasing agricultural productivity and reduce the vulnerability of the poor in DCs.
• Promote, scale-up and embed pro-poor innovations in crop and livestock disease management in DCs.
• Develop novel, environmentally beneficial technologies for crops in Africa and Asia.
• Employ new practice based approaches and innovations platforms for delivering S&T impacts to poor people in Africa and Asia.

Examples of our work include the following projects funded under the Department for International Developments Crop Protection Programme.

• Development of disease resistant sweet potatoes in East Africa [PDF 828Kb]
• Improved management of vegetable pests in Kenya [PDF 369Kb]
• Improved smallholder cotton production in India [PDF 122Kb]
• Integrated pest management of rice and vegetable pests in South Asia [PDF 674Kb]
• Control of Rodent pests in Africa [PDF 240Kb]
• Integrated pest management for smallholder coffee farmers in Malawi [PDF 371Kb]
• Groundnut rosette disease management [PDF 396Kb]
• Promotion of Integrated crop management chickpea in Nepal [PDF 369Kb]
• Promotion integrated weed management in rice [PDF 864Kb]
• More on Integrated Pest Management of Sunn Pest in West Asia
• More on Integrated stemborer management for smallholder coffee farms in India, Malawi and Zimbabwe

(PDF extracts above from "SWEETMORE, A., KIMMINS, F. and SILVERSIDE, P. (2006) Perspectives on Pests II: Achievements of research under UK Department for International Development Crop Protection Programme 2000–05. Natural Resources International Ltd, Aylesford, UK. 206+xvi pp. ISBN: 0-9546452-7-8" reproduced by kind permission.)

More information on NRI's programme "Making Agriculture Work for the Poor".