The desire for research to be policy relevant has caused many social science studies to have “engineering” dimensions. With respect to the engineering of property rights, economic approaches indicate that we require knowledge regarding the makeup of current property rights structures, how changes to current structures affect the use and management of natural resources, and how property rights have evolved.

To promote a sustainable and improved use of animal genetic resources in developing countries, ILRI in collaboration with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and supported by Sida (Sweden), launched a project training the trainers, for national agricultural research systems (NABS) scientists (national university teachers and researchers) in developing countries.

In 1995 a survey of research capacity was conducted at institutions undertaking forestry-related research in the SADC countries. This document presents a review of the methods available for the assessment of research capacity and summarizes previous efforts to assess research capacity in the region. The methodology adopted makes use of common indicators thereby allowing comparisons across institutions.

The Systemwide Livestock Programme (SLP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) works to alleviate poverty, protect natural resources and achieve food security in developing countries. The SLP has completed two transregional projects designed to identify the common factors that drive crop-livestock intensification and determine access to markets for smallholders. Working across three continents, the first project looked at farming systems operating at different levels of intensity.

Reports on completed and planned research to examine farmers' perceptions of different breeds, the discretion they exercise over breed composition, and the impacts of breed perceptions on breeding practices. ILCA has recently undertaken three household surveys that shed light on farmers' breed preferences and breeding practices. The survey results indicate that farmers' breed prortfolios are the outcome of dynamic processes that vary across farmers and environmental conditions.

Quick comments from some of the participants in an east and southern Africa inception workshop for the CGIAR Research Program on Drylands. The meeting was held at the Nairobi headquaters of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) 5-7 Jun 2011.

This publication is a collection of in-house and external publications by CIFOR scientist and collaborators. Also included are abstracts of workshop and conference papers presented but not yet published Author index is provided.