Globally Organized Agronomy Community

From a disconnected, project-based R&D community to a globally organized R&D community operating with increased efficiencies

At EiA, we usher in a new era for agronomy research and development, transitioning from a disconnected, project-based R&D community to a globally organized network operating with increased efficiencies. Traditionally, agronomy R&D has been fragmented, implemented through short-term projects lacking incentives for cross-learning and the creation of transferable assets. In response, EiA is committed to establishing a global agronomy R&D network that fosters collaboration across regional programs, facilitating the exchange of tools and assets to enhance overall efficiency in R&D workflows. Acknowledging the challenges posed by disconnected projects within the CGIAR agronomy R&D community, EiA introduces a transformative organizational structure. This structure revolves around global and regional functions, ensuring a seamless linkage between EiA Global and a set of EiA Regional Programs, each supported by a 10-year funding commitment. Global functions encompass prioritization, ex-ante analytics, agronomic gain assessment, pipeline management, data and tools standardization, monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment, strategic communication, and engagement with advanced research organizations. Regional functions focus on the development and delivery of agronomic solutions through Use Cases tailored to the needs of women and youth, demands from public and private scaling partners, engagement with National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), facilitation of access to EiA solutions, and the generation of valuable data and learning opportunities. This structured approach aims to achieve several key objectives: co-learning and expertise exchange within and between regions, accelerating innovation; the adoption of common tools and approaches for greater R&D workflow efficiencies; increased capacity in state-of-the-art agronomy R&D, fostering expanded science partnerships and delegated tasks to NARS; and improved prioritization of investments, reducing the risk of failing to deliver agronomic solutions at scale. At EiA, our globally organized R&D community represents a commitment to enhanced collaboration, innovation, and efficiency, ultimately propelling agronomy research into a new era of impact and sustainability.