27 January 2010
Source: SciDev. Net
Author: Gordon Conway and Jeff Waage

According to the author shared problems, new technology and better communication all mean innovation is ready to drive development. Rich and poor increasingly face shared problems such as agricultural insecurity, infectious and chronic diseases with global spread, and the challenges of developing a low carbon economy and adapting to climate change. There are more new technologies that can be turned quickly and easily towards the problems of rich or poor alike. For example biotechnology which has delivered improved crops and new vaccines for the rich. And because it harnesses fundamental genetic and molecular processes, it is also easily directed towards the crops and diseases of the poor. Rapid growth in information and communication technology is also making it easier for all countries to participate in science innovation — and to engage stakeholders and beneficiaries in this process, across historical boundaries of developed and developing countries. Shared challenges, shareable technologies and improved opportunities for communication and collaboration — all very recent trends — greatly improve science innovation’s chances of driving effective development. From the combined 80 years working in international development, the authors suggest five priority actions for governments in both developed and developing countries: 1) Empowerment; 2) Systems; 3)Accessibility; 4) Results-based; and 5) Profile-raising. To know what actions will best secure new opportunities and accelerate development read the full opinion piece. This opinion piece can be viewed online at the link below:

Published on Dec 9, 2009

The Launching Event and the award ceremony for the second small grants competition was held on  Dec 8 2009, at Rama Gardens Hotel in Bangkok. During the program AIT Vice President for Research Prof Sudip K Rakshit, Senior Program Specialist IDRC Regional Office for Southeast and East Asia Dr Ellie Osir, Associate Professors of AIT Dr Edsel Sajor and Dr Bernadette Resurreccion were present. Five advisory committee members and seven international grant awardees were also present during the award ceremony.

Published on November 17, 2009

Published September 30, 2009

A total of 108 concept notes were received by 22 September 2009, the extended deadline of concept note submission. These were reviewed and evaluated by the AIT Project Core Team for merit in accordance with the published criteria and the program's focus which is on bio-innovations demonstrated to be directly relevant to the social phenomenon of poverty specially on poor people’s livelihoods and basic health. Most concept notes expressed exceptional research ideas and were potentially meritorious contributions, thus short-listing the candidates proved to be a very difficult task.

Published September 16, 2009

AIT Core Team has decided to extend the deadline of submission of concept notes to 22 September 2009. We encourage those who may be interested to submit their concept notes on or before this date. Shortlisting of applications would immediately follow.

Published August 10, 2009

The Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, with support from Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC)  launched in August 2009 the second call for proposals for the small grants competition program to tackle bio-innovation and its social and policy implications for poverty alleviation in the Asian Region.  

Application Procedure and Deadline 

Applications should be submitted in the form of a letter of intent (maximum of 2 pages) introducing the applicant (individual  or organization), explaining the proposed research project, and its  relevance to the themes discussed in the Call for Proposal. 

Short-listed applicants will be requested to submit a 10 to 15 page fully developed  research proposal.  

Deadline for submission of Concept Notes:  September 15, 2009 (extended till September 22, 2009) 

Short-listed concept notes announced: September 30, 2009 

Deadline for submission of Full Proposal: October 31, 2009 

Announcement of Results: November 15, 2009 

Small Grants  Inception and Launching: December 2009  

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Download Call for Proposals, Guidelines and Timeline (PDF)

Kindly check this website regularly for updates regarding the Call for Proposals.

Earlier this month, two Thai research proposals, along with five other foreign research papers, won grants awarded in the "2009 Bio-innovation Asia Competition", a project organised by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in collaboration with Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

The aim of the project is to stimulate and support research in bio-innovation in Asia,which emphasizes poverty alleviation. The awardees were selected from a total of 94 entries from 14 Asian countries. Each winner was granted C$18,000 (541,000 baht) to carry out the proposed study.

Two Thai proposals for bioinnovations to alleviate poverty in Asia have won a research grants. They are among seven winners from five Asian countries in the regionwide competition organised by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and sponsored by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada.

Juthathip Chalermphol, a doctor of technical science at AIT's School of Environment Resource and Development and lecturer at Chiang Mai University won the competition with her topic 'Surge of highinput hybrid vegetable production: Is the innovation propoor and gender sensitive?'

Another winning Thai research topic was 'Lazy Gardens: a sustainable alternative for remote poor rural communities in northern Thailand' by Australian researcher Louis Lebel and his Thai researcher assistant Songphonsak Ratanawilailak.

Five other awardees included researchers from Vietnam, South Korea, India and the Philippines -

each receiving grants of around 15,000-20,000 Canadian dollars (Bt450,000Bt600,000) to put their proposals into action.

Ninety-four concept notes were received and were evaluated by AIT Core Team principally on the basis of their relevance and directness at addressing bio-innovation and its implications on issue areas of poverty – that is, on poor peoples’ livelihood and/or basic health. Out of the total concept notes received, 16 were shortlisted and were requested to submit fully developed proposals.

We are please to announce the 2009 Small Grants Competition winners of the Enabling Bio-innovation for Poverty Alleviation in Asia Programme:

1. Dr. Le Thi Van Hue of the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (CRES), Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam

   Topic: Exploring Effects of Bio-innovation on Shrimp Farmers in Vietnam

2. Dr EunJeong Ma of Seoul National University, South Korea

   Topic: Impacts of Bio-innovative Drug on Health Disparity between Asia and Developed Countries

3. Dr Sunita Sangar of Society for Strategy Technology Delivery & Development (Society STADD), India

   Topic: Role of Professional Associations in pro-poor Biofertilizer and Biopesticide Innovation Systems

4. Dr Linda Peñalba of College of Public Affairs University of the Philippines Los Baños , Philippines

   Topic: Challenges and Recommendations to Harness the Poverty Alleviation Potentials of Bio-Nitrogen Fertilizer in the Philippines

5. Dr Louis Lebel of Unit for Social and Environmental Research (USER), Thailand

   Topic: Lazy Gardens: A sustainable alternative for remote poor rural communities in northern Thailand

6. Ms Tuong Vi Pham of Center for Environment and Community Asset Development (CECAD), Vietnam

   Topic: Social dimensions and institutional factors that enable and/or constrain a biogas program at community level

7. Dr Juthathip Chalermphol of Chiang Mai University, Thailand

   Topic: Surge of high-input vegetable production: Is the innovation pro-poor and gender sensitive?

Learn more about their research topics and the Bio-innovations Asia Programme on 18th June 2009 9am during the Launching Event and Awarding Ceremony at the Rama Gardens Hotel Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Bangkok .

To register, please call Mary at 02-524-5671 or email bio-innovations@ait.ac.th on or before 15th June 2009 (Monday).

20 May 2009
Source:American Agricultural Economics Association conference paper
Author:Genti Kostandini et al.

This paper from researchers at U.S. universities and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) examines what financial benefits might be expected from the introduction of drought tolerant genetically modified (GM) maize, rice, and wheat in eight developing countries (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines, and South Africa.) The paper estimates that the benefits would be "substantial." The framework employed uses country-specific agroecological-drought risk zones and considers both yield increases and yield variance reductions when estimating producer and consumer benefits from GM research. While GM research for drought resistance is still in its infancy initial results appear very promising for the millions of poor in the more marginal rain-fed agricultural areas of developing countries, the paper says. In addition, the estimated annual benefits to the private sector would be $US93 million. The paper says this suggests that there are significant financial incentives for the creation of public-private sector partnerships to foster GM drought tolerant research in major cereal crops. Large overlaps in agroecological-drought risk zones between countries suggest that substantial scope also exists for inter-country collaboration in drought tolerance research and sharing of spillovers from both public and private investments, according to the paper. The paper can be viewed online at the link below.