The Global Planning Meeting of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) has focussed on inclusive market-oriented growth to support poor farmers.

The five-day event held at the institute’s headquarters near here was centred on extending the market opportunities for smallholder farmers and their families in the dryland tropics.

Tackling the complexity of challenges in the tropical drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the meeting was attended by about 160 senior scientists and managers from the institute’s locations in India, Eastern and Southern Africa and West and Central Africa.

“We should never forget to connect the improvement of our crops to the improvement of the poor peoples’ lives,” ICRISAT Director-General William Dar, said.

The emphasis of the event was on how to transition the institute’s work most effectively into the new programmes. The institute is leading the research on grain legumes, dryland cereals and neglected crops.

The institute conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world.

“We must ensure that our agricultural research for development initiatives help the dryland poor move from poverty to prosperity by harnessing markets while managing risks — a strategy we call Inclusive Market Oriented Development, ” Dar stressed.

Spread over 6.5 million square km of land in 55 countries, the semi-arid tropics have over 2 billion people, and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor.

The institute through its partners help empower these poor people to overcome a degraded environment through better agriculture. The institute has two regional hubs and five country offices in sub-Saharan Africa.

rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in

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