The current and future food security of South Asian countries has twin challenges of resource fatigue and decelerating productivity growth of food grain crops. Realizing the importance of these issues not only at national level but also at regional level, the regional NARS (Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan), CGIAR centres and the key donors together launched a common regional platform as Rice-Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains (RWC) in May 1994 which is led by NARS and facilitated by CGIAR centres in the region.

The Africa-Brazil and LAC-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplaces (~Mktplace~) have been arising as effective mechanisms for South-South Cooperation supporting smallholders. These are partnerships comprised of public and private not for profit, national and international partners who mobilize resources focused on fostering partnerships between Brazil and other developing countries in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Agricultural research and development (AR4D) systems are basic to finding the long-term solutions to the sources and motors of recurrent crises. AR4D in post-conflict and protracted crises countries invariably suffers from poor research infrastructure and financial means, high staff turnover and loss, weak regional and international collaborative research ties, and virtually in-existent intra-country collaboration between research, universities, producer organisations and the private sector.

There is a need for strong farmer organizations that can present and represent the interests of smallholders versus more powerful economic groupings in society. However, farmers’ organizations often lack access to the information and evidence needed to develop pro-active proposals to influence these policies.