In 1998, CAPRi launched a CGIAR Research Grants Program, constituting a major expansion in the services it provides to CGIAR researchers and their partners. By providing funding to support innovative empirical research on property rights and collective action issues, the new component addresses a growing demand among members of the CGIAR and their research partners to better understand the nature of institutions of property rights and collective action and how these institutions shape natural resource management and poverty alleviation.

Support from the Ford Foundation, Government of Italy and the Government of Norway enabled CAPRi to issue its first request for proposals in October 1998 to fund three projects in 1999. Three more projects were funded in 2000 and two in 2001. Grants amounting to US$125,000 each were provided to ILRI, ICARDA, ICRAF, CIAT IPGRI, and CIMMYT. All awarded grants constitute matching grants of up to US$125,000, whereby other funders contribute at least half of the full project budget. The main objectives that CAPRi pursues through these grants are to:

• Develop policy-relevant findings on how institutions of property rights and/or collective action can contribute to reducing poverty through sustainable natural resource management;
• Demonstrate the importance of property rights and collective action issues for the CGIAR's mandate;
• Mobilize attention and resources for property rights and collective action research within the CGIAR and among its partner institutions in developing countries;
• Develop and disseminate best practice methodologies and/or conceptual frameworks to study collective action and property rights.

Whereas only researchers based at CGIAR Centers may apply for the grants, the program requires partnership with national research institutions and strongly encourages collaboration with other CGIAR centers. Recommendations on which proposals to fund are made by a three member, independent proposal review panel based on an established set of criteria, including quality of the proposed research, policy relevance, application of best practice methodology, and fit with the priority themes of the CAPRi program. Final decisions are made by the CAPRi Executive Committee, which in most cases endorses the recommendations of the review panel (it may only override these recommendations in prescribed circumstances). This mechanism of decision-making is designed to ensure transparency in governance of the program, and that the highest quality proposals are funded. In addition to the projects funded directly through this mechanism, the CAPRi program also helps other projects related to collective action and property rights with literature searches, exchange of information, and finding other interested donors.

The projects funded to date cover such diverse issues as rangeland management, marketing, disease control, and maintenance of agricultural genetic diversity, illustrating the range of research topics in the CGIAR that relate to collective action and property rights.

Descriptions of the projects funded are contained in the following PDF files:

Overview of Ongoing Projects
 
2004 Research Grants
(PDF 154K)

2001 Research Grants
(PDF 81K)

2000 Research Grants
(PDF 11K)

1999 Research Grants
(PDF 13K)