The Feed the Future Innovation Labs for Collaborative Research (formerly CRSPs) will hold their next Council workshop on “Scaling Agricultural Technologies and Developing Collaborative Partnerships to Prioritize Research for Development” in Accra, Ghana on July 8^th and 9^th. Innovation Lab participants, including Directors and researchers will join with USAID staff from Washington and field missions, research partners in Ghana and across West Africa partners, and others including representatives of other USAID Feed the Future activities to critically assess how co-innovation between U.S. and West African research institutions can contribute to sustainable development in agriculture over the next five years. Among the themes to be discussed are building linkages between agriculture and nutrition, developing resilient farming systems, scaling technologies (with special attention to horticulture and IPM), seed systems, and integrating animals and legumes into production systems. Closed meetings between USAID and Innovation Labs will be held on July 10. An optional tour to Tamale in northern Ghana is planned for July 11-12. Please visit the website for periodic updates.

The Innovation Labs for Collaborative Research held a Council meeting earlier this year in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro, Tanzania on the topic of scaling technologies. It was attended by USAID/W and field mission staff and partners, international, regional, and national research organizations, as well as Innovation Lab Directors and researchers.   Presentations from that workshop are available at: http://crsps.net/2013/03/the-feed-the-future-food-security-innovation-labs-collaborative-research-programs-council-meeting/.

Workshop Co-Chairs:

Dr. Elizabeth Mitcham (Horticulture, University of California, Davis)

Dr. Shana Gillette (Livestock Climate-Change, Colorado State University)

Tara Steinmetz (BASIS Assets and Market Access, University of California, Davis)

Register for the event here: http://hortcrsp.ucdavis.edu/innovation_labs/