Natural Resource Management Thematic Area of Research

Managing natural resources is an activity that cuts across sectorial boundaries. A more rational, efficient, and sustainable utilization of natural resources, especially land and water resources, offers significant prospects for income generation and wealth creation required for economic growth and poverty alleviation. Unlike other programmes where technological benefits can accrue over a short period, benefits from the adoption of technologies on NRM take a long to be realized while some are very labor intensive. Thus, the adoption of technologies that increase resource use efficiency remains a challenge. 

The strategy is designed to enhance the capacity of the CARI and its research and development (R&D) partners to react rapidly to the needs of the stakeholders on knowledge, information, and technologies (KIT) required to pursue effective management of natural resources for agriculture and environment in Liberia.

The strategy provides the focus and guiding principles for achieving client-oriented and demand-led research for development, with special emphasis on smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector. It emphasizes integrated approaches toward tackling the poverty-degradation nexus. 

To support sustainable intensification, diversification and conservation of natural resource endowments, limitations or driving forces that are causing the poverty-degradation nexus must be reversed. Policies provide a framework and an enabling environment that can potentially remove many of the structural issues and allow for profitable natural resource transformation into products, goods, and services as well as investment in conservation and rejuvenation of the natural resource base in a way that ensures livelihoods and reduces vulnerability for present and future generations.

Institutional arrangements that are performance-driven would foster more efficient resource1] production-consumption-market chains as well as improved links between research and development. 

Technical and methodological innovations will provide the means to transform people‘s livelihoods and their management of the resource base to their advantage. Enhanced knowledge management and sharing will help to scale up policy and institutional arrangements and technical innovations, thus ensuring utilization in Liberia. 

The Natural Resource Management thematic area of research will be expected to contribute to the attainment of the overall institutional purpose through the attainment of its purpose of generating and promoting natural resource management knowledge, information, and technologies that respond to clients' demands and opportunities. Priority attention will be focused on the following thematic results in the next 10 years (2015 – 2025): 

(i) Improvement of integrated natural resource management technologies and innovations for enhancing demand-driven crops and livestock product value chains generated and promoted. 

(ii) Markets and marketing strategies for natural resource management product value chains along the priority crops and livestock product value chains developed and promoted.

(iii) Policy options for enhancing demand-driven natural resource management for crops and livestock product value chains facilitated and advocated.

(iv) Capacity for implementing integrated natural resource management for enhancing crops and livestock product value chains strengthened. 

(v) Availability of knowledge, information, and technologies on integrated natural resource management for enhancing crops and livestock product value chains.

 To deliver the expected results, the Natural Resource Management thematic area of research will focus on five research programmes outlined below. Each research programme will be expected to contribute to the attainment of the five thematic areas of research results. 

1. Improvement of land use planning. 

2. Improvement of soil and water conservation. 

3. Improvement of integrated soil fertility management; 4. Improvement of irrigation, drainage, and management of problem soils; 

5. Improved adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change.