Dr. Ataharul Chowdhury, an Adjunct Faculty member in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development contributed in developing a common framework for capacity building of Agricultural Innovation System in Tropical regions. He worked in a team of international consultants assigned by the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP). TAP is a platform initiated by G20 and acts as a multilateral and dynamic facilitation mechanism bringing more than 40 organizations including FAO of the UN, the CGIAR, the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), CABI, the Chinese Academy of the Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Sciences (CATAS), and the International Fund for Agricultural Research (IFAD). The main objective of the platform is to facilitate innovation for intensifying agricultural production in a sustainable way in the tropics.

In order to achieve this and to consolidate different capacity development approaches, the common framework for capacity building of Agricultural Innovation System has been developed following a thorough and highly participatory development process involving global, regional and local partners.  The Common Framework was approved by the TAP partners for its use by TAP partners and others. The Framework is being tested in eight countries in Africa (Angola, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda), Asia (Bangladesh, Laos) and Central America (Guatemala, Honduras) as part of EU-funded initiative called Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS). The framework has three parts, Conceptual Background, Guidance Note on Operationalization, and a synthesis document. The framework can be download from the following link:  http://www.fao.org/in-action/tropical-agriculture-platform/commonframework/en/