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The McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program
(CCRP) is an evolving effort. At the heart of the program
is the Foundation's mission "to improve the quality of
life for present and future generations and to seek paths
to a more humane and secure world." The McKnight Foundation's
board established the program with the aim of contributing
to the reduction of world hunger through the application of
crop science. We consider the CCRP to be part of a larger
effort to reach the Millenium
Development Goals and our team coordinates with others
working towards the same ends.
Some features of the program are unchanging, including its
goal of improving food security and its identity as a competitive
grants program that supports crop research. Other features
have evolved over time, reflecting the learning and innovation
process of the agricultural research sector in general and
our team in particular. The main shift that has occurred over
recent years has been an increasing focus on regions where
food insecurity is both extreme and where food security is
likely to benefit from investments in crop research. Partnership
has always been a central feature of the program's strategy.
While our first two grant cycles emphasized north-south research
partnerships, our more recent grant-making has emphasized
regional partnerships among the research, development and
community sectors. We also increasingly emphasize participatory
involvement of farmers, food and nutritional security outcomes,
and an in-depth understanding of social outcomes, which are
values that are reflected in our newer projects.
We are also working towards the development of a set of regional
"Communities of Practice" (CoP). Each CoP involves
a cluster of projects that interact as they work to address
regional food insecurity challenges. We envision fostering
increased dialogue and learning between scientists, farmer
organizations, government, NGOs and other key stakeholders
in each region. Our grant-making model has also evolved to
include a longer consultation process in order to better understand
the particular context of each regional focus. The grant-making
model consists of the following steps: (1) strategic planning
by the Advisory Committee; (2) regional consultation workshops;
(3) targeted calls for proposals (4) review, analysis and
selection of pre-proposals; (5) project development workshop
(PDW) with selected teams; (6) selection of a cluster of grants
based on PDW experience and full proposals; and (7) annual
meetings of the grants clusters, annual exchange visits and
other support for a regional / topical "Community of Practice".
I am honored to be a part of this small but ambitious program,
and grateful to be working with the fantastic group of people
involved.
Rebecca Nelson
Scientific Director, Collaborative Crop Research Program
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