Facilitation tools to enhance the alignment of scientific technical assistance with agribusinesses and create buy-in among key stakeholders: Mutual interview protocol

Effective agribusiness support requires bridging gaps between scientists and companies while addressing two major challenges: scientists’ limited understanding of business realities and the lack of stakeholder alignment within agribusinesses. To improve scientist-company collaboration, we created a mutual interview protocol that fosters efficient, productive discussions and informs future matchmaking. Simultaneously, we developed a communication framework to help companies present scientific insights effectively to key stakeholders, ensuring alignment and securing financial support. These tools aim to improve the adoption of technical assistance, scale CGIAR innovations, and enhance the impact of agribusiness support programs.

In developing agribusiness support programs and aligning high-quality scientific technical assistance, two significant challenges emerge. First, top-tier scientists often lack an understanding of the specific business challenges faced by companies, particularly in complex, high-risk contexts like sub-Saharan Africa. Scientists may assume that businesses can prioritize and address potential risks highlighted in their recommendations. However, most companies lack the capacity and financial resources to implement these recommendations. Providing scientists with sufficient context about the business environment is crucial for ensuring their advice is both actionable and tailored to the company’s needs.

Programs within the CGIAR system, such as the CGIAR Food Systems Accelerator, aim to bridge this gap by connecting scientists and agribusinesses and providing sufficient time for engagement. However, these programs are highly resource-intensive and difficult to scale, limiting the broader impact CGIAR scientists can have on agribusiness outcomes. Initial attempts to improve efficiency through facilitated meetings proved time-consuming and relied on participants arriving without pre-meeting preparation. To address this, we developed a mutual interview protocol that takes about one hour to complete and can be reviewed by the other party in approximately 20 minutes before their meeting. This approach has, anecdotally, significantly improved meeting efficiency, enabling discussions to progress to outcomes that would typically require 4–6 hours of dialogue. Beyond facilitating immediate collaboration, this instrument also collects data to enhance future matchmaking efforts.
The second issue and tool is described in a second submission, linking to that tool. In addition to these tools, solving discrete problems, we also developed an Accelerator Playbook to guide organizations on the development of programs.