Why GLDC

The CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (GLDC) builds on the work done by three Programs from 2012 to 2016, namely Grain Legumes, Dryland Cereals and Dryland Systems. It is a Research for Development investment of US$413 million over five years (2018-2022).

The goal: GLDC aims is to increase the productivity, profitability, resilience and marketability of critical and nutritious grain legumes and cereals within the semi-arid and sub-humid dryland agroecologies of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Central America and Latin America. These agroecologies are where poverty, malnutrition, climate change and soil degradation are among the most acute globally.

10 crops Grain legumes: Chickpea, cowpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, lentil, soybean and common bean Cereals: Sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet

17 priority countries Sub-Saharan Africa: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Ghana South Asia: India and Myanmar Central America: Guatemala, Honduras and Latin America: Colombia

Expected outcomes By 2022-2030, as a consequence of this research, 8.9-21.7 million farm households will have adopted improved varieties, helping 4.4-11.8 million people to exit poverty and 12.7-24.8 million people meet daily nutritional requirements, with 50% of beneficiaries being women. The logic is that improved innovation capacities within agri-food systems of key cereal and legume crops will enable coherent and integrated research and development, production, market and policy reforms that deliver resilience, inclusion, poverty reduction, nutritional security, environmental sustainability and economic growth. Sorghum, millets and the grain legumes are grown, eaten and traded together within the same agri-food systems. The Program will coordinate research interventions that recognize and build on the synergies in these cereal-legume-tree-livestock systems.

Research prioritization It is based on metrics of poverty prevalence, agroecological alignment, value of crop production, foresight projections of significant demand and/or deficit in supply, ex-ante return on research investment, consideration of quality, market and environmental traits and alignment with stakeholder priorities. Consequently, first-order priorities for research consist of an incomplete matrix of the 10 crops grown in 17 countries.

The flagships The Program is structured on six Flagship Programs. Informed by purposeful monitoring and evaluation, research planning is driven by the analyzed needs of these agri-food systems. FP1: Priority Setting and Impact Acceleration Through strategic partnerships, sector intelligence will identify and leverage value chain interventions that support dryland cereals and grain legume markets FP2: Transforming Agri-food Systems These analyses and innovation system engagements can inform and direct the cultivar requirements from crop improvement programs, seed and input supply systems FP3: Integrated Farm and Household Management and FP4: Variety and Hybrid Development Framing systems practices coupled with the new varieties and hybrids developed will lead to resilience and sustainable intensification outcomes. FP5: Pre-breeding Modern breeding approaches will both underpin and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of crop improvement innovations that meet market demands. FP6: Common Bean for Markets and Nutrition Food and nutrition security, greater wellbeing and the alleviation of poverty will continue to be enhanced through exploiting the genetic diversity of the Phaseolus genus, the application of crop management practices, and improved market linkages.

GLDC’s six flagship programs will contribute to the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework through two distinct impact pathways.

Partners: Strategic partnerships are critical to the success of the GLDC. The Program will feature a multidisciplinary team from seven CGIAR centers and numerous partners from public and private sector institutions, apex research bodies and NGO’s. The GLDC is still seeking mutually beneficial partnerships that will promote the mission of the program so that we can better serve stakeholders.

This research is supported by CGIAR Trust Fund Contributors.