New CGIAR grain legume and cereal crop programme

The CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals Agri-food Systems (CRP GLDC), launched in January 2018, focuses on increasing the productivity, profitability, resilience and marketability of critical and nutritious grain legume and cereal crops grown in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

This second-phase research programme combines the lessons learned from three phase-one CRPs: Dryland Cereals, Grain Legumes and Dryland Systems. CRP-GLDC is a Research for Development investment of 413 million USD over five years (2018-2022).

CRP-GLDC is one of twelve CGIAR research programmes delivering to CGIAR’s Strategy and Results Framework (SRF) 2016–2030. CGIAR and its partners will aim for 150 million fewer hungry people, 100 million fewer poor people, at least 50 per cent of whom are women, and 190 million hectares less degraded land by 2030.

The research programme has prioritised integrated research for development on six legume (chickpea, cowpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, lentil, soybean) and three cereal (sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet) crops grown in semi-arid and sub-humid dryland agro-ecologies.

Co-operation of international research centres

The research programme on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals Agro-food Systems” (GLDC) will be managed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), supported by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Bioversity International.  These CGIAR partners will lead key programmes of the CRP along with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) as well as France’s agricultural research and international co-operation organisation CIRAD and its “Institut de recherche pour le développement” (IRD).

Broad partnerships are essential for CRP-GLDC and include the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) collaborators in West Africa (Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger), East and Southern Africa (Ethiopia, Sudan, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique), and South Asia (India and Myanmar), sub-regional organisations, non-government organisations and private companies to increase regional adoption of improved crop varieties and enhance market opportunities for smallholder farmers.

(cigar/wi)

More information

The Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals Agro-food Systems Program

The CGIAR programmes