The Asia, Pacific and Oceania (APO) region is the centre of diversity of many important species of crops, animals and livestock. Most of its resource-poor farmers depend on this agrobiodiversity for food security and livelihood. Agrobiodiversity in APO has served as the source of genetic materials that propelled the Green Revolution in the region. It has enabled continuous growth in productivity, allowing agriculture to cope with declining yield, emergence of pests and diseases and occurrence of abiotic stresses like drought and floods.

2012 will be the second year of operation of the CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The 2012 business plan lays out the key activities in 2012, situated within the larger strategic framework of CCAFS. At the time of writing, many of the overarching principles for the operation of CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) are still being produced by the Consortium Office (e.g. monitoring and evaluation strategy), so some of the proposed activities in 2012 may need to be modified as the year unfolds.

Demand for livestock products has been increasing through much of the semi-arid

tropics and will likely continue to increase along with the use of purchased feedstuffs. As

smallholder livestock systems evolve and become more market oriented, the type of diets

fed to livestock may change and the importance of feed marketing may increase. Mixed

crop–livestock systems are key to meeting this increasing livestock product demand and

cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) fodder (haulms) is an important component of these

The notion of eco-efficiency – first put forward by the private-sector at the time of the 1992 Earth Summit – has since been taken up by experts in agriculture as a guiding principle for research. Eco-efficient agriculture, according to a CIAT report, is competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient, thus generating multiple benefits for the poor, especially when it offers new options for women.