Experts within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and selected development partners met in Nairobi, Kenya on 1 September to discuss how its research can be used to seek solutions to improve and sustain agricultural livelihoods in the drylands. Topics include:

• Promising options and innovations to help farmers become more resilient and food-secure in the face of weather and other shocks
• Role of infrastructure and access to viable, functioning markets in food security and prices
• Whether drought-tolerant crops and large-scale irrigation are the answer
• Whether pastoralism is a driver of drought-induced food insecurity or a buffer against it
• Policies that are needed, and at what levels, to ensure that recommendations and innovations for drought-prone areas are put in place in those areas that need them most

The CGIAR press release is at http://cgiarinaction.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/cgiar-briefing-on-the-food-crisis-in-the-horn-of-africa/