Meeting+Notes+10+October+2012


 * Site selection meeting **


 * ILRI, Addis Ababa, 10th October, 2012 **

Leonard Oruko IFPRI - ATA Alan Duncan ILRI Beth Cullen ILRI Gerba Leta ILRI / IWMI Abera Adie ILRI Steffen Schulz CIP Kiros Hadgu ICRAF Jane Wamatu ICARDA Seid Kemal ICARDA Simon Langan IWMI
 * Participants **

Centers expressed interest in various research components as shown below:
 * 1. Review of research component plans by partners **

Innovation Focus on livestock || Biophysical benchmarking Scaling innovation || Value chain characterization & analysis ||
 * Center || Preferred research component || Focus ||
 * ILRI || 1 || Characterization
 * ICARDA || 5 || Validation and integration of best practices of crop-livestock production systems ||
 * IWMI || 1, 2 || Baseline assessments
 * CIP || 1,3 || Participatory problem identification
 * ICRAF || 1,2,5 || Tree-crop-livestock characterization, community knowledge exchange and technology uptake ||


 * Action: ** Centers to send their final expressions of interest to Peter Thorne for compilation so that research teams can be formed to allow for further development of research component plans.

• Areas/regions where centers have previously worked • Suggestions to consider areas of that have limited previous intervention but with opportunities • Consider kebeles undertaking crop, livestock and/or tree activities • To captures gradient in terms of productivity from high to low
 * 2. Site selection criteria **


 * Action: ** Leonard to request IFPRI to:
 * relax selection criteria by reducing threshold for cereal growing areas under wheat to below 25% to accommodate areas of interest expressed by some core partners in Amhara region (ICRAF in particular).
 * include LGP in the site selection criteria

• Selections were made from the existing AGP Woredas shortlisted by IFPRI • Selection was random • Sites proposed (one Woreda per region) included: Kebeles to be identified during site visitations
 * 3. Site selection **
 * Tigray (Southern Tigray) – Endamehoni
 * Oromia (Bale) – Sinana Dinsho
 * SNNPR (Hadiya) – Limu
 * Amhara – no selections were made. Will be included once IFPRI provides information on tentative sites in that region


 * Action: ** Leonard to request IFPRI to remodel the site selection and come up with suggestions for Amhara

• Regional Agricultural Bureaus were suggested as the first level of engagement with woredas. Leonard to facilitate using ATA employees in respective regional bureaus. • Engagement with Federal/regional research institutes will be facilitated by Geletu. A meeting with EIAR was recommended. • Site visits to take place by the 1st week of November by the following persons:
 * 4. Site visitation **
 * Bale: Geletu (ICARDA), Gerba Leta (ILRI)
 * Tigray: Gebre Hawaria (IWMI), Gebre Hiwot (CIP), Kiros (ICRAF)
 * SNNPR: Adie Aberra (ILRI), Abiot (CIP), Kinde Getinet (IWMI)

• Beth to develop (or adopt from LIVES/IPMS project) a protocol/checklist to be used by the site visiting teams by Wednesday, 17th Oct • Geletu to arrange a meeting with Drs. Solomon, Iain and Peter as soon as possible
 * Action: **