Assessing impacts of maize research through a livelihoods lens: findings and lessons from the hill regions of Mexico and Nepal

A livelihood approach to impact assessment (IA), by integrating livelihood and economic analyses, permits a more comprehensive assessment than does conventional IA. CIMMYT recently completed two studies on the impacts of maize research in the hill regions of Mexico and Nepal to assess the impacts of this research, examine changes in farmers' livelihoods that resulted from the research projects and learn how such investments can have more impact in the future. This paper compares and contrasts the methodologies and results of the two studies, arriving at the key lessons on the impacts of research and of the international public goods generated, and on what was learned so as to better target and enhance maize research to improve the livelihoods of farmers in the future.