ISNAR Division brochure
(PDF 265K)

ISNAR Division Strategy
(PDF 278K) In this rapidly changing world, developing countries face new and increasingly complex challenges in promoting innovations to eliminate hunger and poverty, and in organizing research so that it can be an effective means of supporting such innovation. To meet these challenges, they require new tools, skills, and competencies. Only with improved capacity in conducting scientific research, promoting collective action, and managing information can developing countries foster innovations to benefit smallholder farmers, food-insecure households, and other vulnerable social groups.

On April 1, 2004, IFPRI opened its International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) division, based on the work of the former ISNAR center, to provide research and outreach on these topics. The ISNAR Division is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and has staff at IFPRI's office in San José, Costa Rica and in Washington, DC. The division seeks to foster policy, institutional, and organizational change to enhance the impact of innovations on food security, poverty reduction, economic growth, and sustainable development. The ISNAR Division has a global focus but places particular emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa, where the needs for innovation are most acute.