Project Overview

“With something as important as figuring out the best research areas with the greatest potential to produce benefits for the poor, it is vital that the CGIAR improve their priority assessment practices – and sharing knowledge and experiences within the System as well as with partners and external stakeholders can help to achieve this.” –  David Raitzer, Project Leader

CGIAR Centers have put effort into developing methods for identifying research topics with the greatest impact potential.  Generally these estimates rely on the articulation of “impact pathways”, the probability of research success, patterns of adoption and indirect effects.  Priority assessment is a “learning” tool that uses past evaluations to help make predictions regarding the adoption potential of recommendations and technologies under specific conditions.  It can also be an important way to engage partners and external stakeholders in a process of shared reflection over the validity of assumptions underpinning impact pathways.  In addition, it can be a critical tool for monitoring and evaluation. 

However, innovation is needed in priority assessment for other newer areas of the research portfolio of the CGIAR and its partners, often with impact pathways that are more difficult to predict, and benefits that are more difficult to quantify.  Also, while individual priority assessment efforts have often been novel and systematic, there has been no forum or body in the System focused on systematically promoting priority assessment innovations. 

Objectives
This project, led on behalf of a CGIAR System-wide consortium on priority assessment, will improve innovation, documentation and communication of collaborative priority assessment approaches involving the CGIAR System and its partners.

Lead Administrative Center
Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

Project Leader
David Raitzer, Research Impact Assessment Scientist, CIFOR ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Project Status
Commencement date: August 2007
Planned duration of project: 8 months

Download the project proposal

Project Outputs

• Presentation on 'Prioritising agricultural Research for Development:Experiences and Lessons' 
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• Book cover