The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) jointly hosted a stakeholder engagement workshop titled “Research and Innovation Scaling Demand in Bangladesh” on Thursday in Dhaka, marking a significant step toward strengthening demand-driven agrifood innovation in the country.
The event brought together representatives from government institutions, research organizations, development partners, the private sector, farmer groups, and civil society.
The workshop was attended by more than 50 participants, including Dr Md Mahfuz Bazzaz, Director General of BWMRI, alongside scientists from key NARES institutions such as BARI, BRRI, BSRI, BLRI, and BIRTAN.
The Vice Chancellor of HSTU, Professor Dr M Enamullah, attended with academicians from universities including SAU and KAU. Senior officials from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the country’s largest extension agency—joined representatives from seed and biopesticide, agri-machinery companies, national bodies such as SRDI, BRDB, BFA, and BADC, UN agencies, several CGIAR centers, and a wide range of other national and international organizations, reflecting the diversity of stakeholders engaged in Bangladesh’s agrifood systems.
Led by Dr Sreejith Aravindakshan (CIMMYT) and Dr Shreya Chakraborty (IWMI), and facilitated by Manon Dohmen, Consultant at IWMI, the workshop served as a platform for diverse actors to contribute ideas and experience about Bangladesh’s innovation ecosystem and how it can better align scientific capabilities with the practical needs of farmers, agribusinesses, and public institutions.
Identifying Priority Needs and Demand for Innovation and Scaling
Participants outlined the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing their institutions. These insights will directly inform CGIAR’s future research directions, ensuring that innovations reflect real-world constraints and opportunities across Bangladesh’s agrifood systems. During the workshop, participants also completed a digital ODK (Open Data Kit) survey developed by CGIAR’s Scaling for Impact program. The survey was designed to capture their priority scaling demands, as well as the key barriers and challenges hindering the adoption and scaling of innovations across Bangladesh’s agrifood systems.
Co-Designing a Demand Signaling Dashboard
A central component of the discussions was the co-design of an upcoming digital Scaling Demand Signaling Dashboard—a tool envisioned to capture and visualize market-driven signals for innovations. By enabling researchers, donors, and implementing partners to better understand actual demand, the dashboard aims to improve the targeting and scaling of solutions.
Shaping Future Investment Pathways
Stakeholders also contributed to shaping a roadmap for channeling donor and investor interest toward innovations that are ready for scaling and capable of delivering measurable benefits. This pathway will support more strategic and impactful investments in Bangladesh’s agrifood sector.
A Step Toward Demand-Driven Research
The workshop underscored the importance of co-creation, transparency, and responsiveness in guiding the next phase of research and innovation. By convening a broad spectrum of voices, CIMMYT, IWMI, and the CGIAR Scaling for Impact program have taken an important step toward ensuring that future research investments, tools, and digital solutions are genuinely aligned with stakeholder priorities