Technologies, institutions, partnerships and policies addressed by PARI research

PARI provides research and independent evidence-based advice to help guide policy and investment decisions to promote agricultural growth, food security, employment generation and food system transformation in Africa and India. The program was launched as part of the ‘One World – No Hunger’ Initiative (SEWOH) of the German government which sought to promote Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 by improving affordable access to healthy foods. As the accompanying research program to the SEWOH, PARI was tasked with supporting the work of existing African innovation institutions as well as the GIZ-led Green Innovations Centres (GIC) focussed on value chains, set up in the context of the SEWOH to support smallholder farmers in the adoption of innovations that can improve incomes, employment and food supply.

In the decade of PARI operation, the conceptual framing of food and agriculture development moved from a value chain to a food systems approach and PARI played a significant role for this transformative change of perspective. The SEWOH was initiated in response to persistently high rates of food insecurity in Africa and South Asia, the target regions of the initiative. Despite high-level support for the fight against food insecurity, culminating in the launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty under the leadership of the Brazilian presidency at the G20 Summit in November 2024, hunger and malnutrition levels remain unacceptably high. Achieving SDG2 by 2030 has become almost unattainable due to insufficient action in the past years and rapidly escalating costs, estimated at additional annual investments of USD 93 billion.

To address the scale of the food and hunger crisis in Africa in particular, a longer time horizon than 2030 will be necessary—combining high-impact, urgent short-term measures, such as increased spending on humanitarian assistance and social protection, with longterm investments that take more time to yield results. This report aims to inform policy and investment decisions to address food insecurity which are urgently needed to achieve significant reductions in hunger (undernourishment) and malnutrition. To this end, it summarizes key findings from 10 years of PARI research and provides roadmaps for policy.

A number of key insights and recommendations emerged from the research:

1. Promote context-specific innovation packages for sustainable productivity growth including seed systems, small-scale irrigation, animal husbandry and sustainability in production
2. Recognize and scale farmer innovations
3. Scale locally adapted mechanization including mechanization of production, modernization of agroprocessing, local machinery manufacturing
4. Accelerate digitalization in food and agriculture including digital skills, infrastructure, integrated digital platforms, data protection
5. Connect producers to markets
6. Harness the employment potential of the food sector including agricultural extension services, vocational training along the value chain, sustainability in training
7. Strengthen the voice and economic empowerment of women
8. Enhance innovation systems including innovation ecosystems, integrated infrastructure investments
9. Foster India-Africa learning e.g. in the areas of bottom-up innovation, mechanization in smallholder production, poultry businesses
10. Stay engaged for the long term because sustainable innovations based on science take time to be impactful