Ecoregional Research for Development

This chapter focuses on the subject of ecoregional research for development. The character of international agricultural research has changed profoundly in the last decades of the twentieth century. This can be illustrated by developments within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The need for a support of comprehensive systems' analysis of the CGIAR agenda required new research; therefore, the development agencies of the Dutch and Swiss governments initiated the Ecoregional Methodology Fund in 1995 as part of its development-oriented activities. This Fund was expected to support the development of new methodological tools for research that is ecoregional in scope with the intention of promoting new approaches to natural resource management and rural development in ecoregions. This chapter summarizes and discusses the accomplishments and the future challenges of Ecoregional Methodology Fund. In doing so, the chapter presents a sketch of the changing social and political environment in which the work has been done, ranging from the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the strategy of the CGIAR Science Council and the Gleneagle summit. It also elaborates the changing role of research, vis-a-vis the policy cycle. Implications for research, including new forms of interaction, design of operational tools, and new forms of education and communication are also discussed in the chapter.