Why Inclusive and Profitable Maize Futures?
In a complex and rapidly changing world, research can only be effective it is sensitive to different contexts and dynamics. Work in MAIZE CRP is underpinned by an understanding of agricultural innovation systems, in which farmers interact within their local ecologies, landscapes, market and policy environments.
By harnessing this understanding, it is possible to define interventions that will further enable MAIZE to achieve its goals in terms of food security, livelihoods and sustainability in the areas where it works.
For example, MAIZE has funded half of investigations in the cross-CRP gender study to understand how gender dynamics affect the uptake of agricultural innovations, and how the benefits of these innovations are enjoyed.
The Hill Maize Research Project in Nepal targets farming families suffering from gender- and ethnicity-based discrimination, so that marginalized women become active participants in thriving community-based seed production enterprises.