1. Policy Ecosystem Watershed Farm Field Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program Author: Theo Dillaha; Co-authors: Keith Moore, Mike Bertelsen, Maria Elisa Christie, Rachel Judy The Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP) is a five-year project managed by Virginia Tech’s Office of International Research, Education, and Development (OIRED) for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The SANREM CRSP conducts research to develop data, knowledge, tools, and methods of analysis that promote environmentally-sound sustainable agriculture and natural resource management and enhance the decision-making capacity of natural resource managers working at different landscape scales in developing countries. Five long-term research activities with global reach contribute to watershed assessment activities led by more than a dozen Virginia Tech faculty. Virginia Tech’s Role in Watershed Assessment Watershed modeling and assessments provide a framework for all SANREM projects to implement new agricultural strategies, improve local agricultural practices, and increase biodiversity in watersheds. This framework will contribute significantly to SANREM’s new Payments for Environmental Services (PES) Associate Award which is designed to provide watershed services in developing countries. In Zambia, local agricultural practices contribute to problems caused by drought and soil-eroding floods, increasing erosion, and decreasing biodiversity. Conrad Heatwole, associate professor of biological systems engineering, works with SANREM to develop a framework for watershed assessment in Zambia that will aid researchers working in this southern African nation. Jeff Alwang, professor of agricultural and applied economics, and colleague Mary Leigh Wolfe, professor of biological systems engineering, are orchestrating similar efforts in Ecuador’s Bolívar province. The province is facing low agricultural productivity, increasing soil erosion, and limited opportunities for non-agricultural activities. Alwang’s group employs an economic and environmental focus to support more productive agricultural practices in the region; Wolfe is developing watershed models from data collected at the research sites. In the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, integrating vegetable-agroforestry production on small farms and steep slopes alleviates poverty and enhances environmental sustainability, as well as ecosystem biodiversity. In Zambia, research and training address threats to food security and wildlife conservation by providing livelihood alternatives and supporting conservation agriculture. Research in Uganda, Kenya, Bolivia, and Mexico examines decentralization of forest resources and local governance mechanisms that aim to benefit stakeholders. Efforts in Ecuador and Bolivia combine research, teaching, and community engagement to identify innovative uses of natural resources and livelihood alternatives within watersheds. Interventions in Bolivia and Peru respond to climate change by linking traditional crops to new markets, introducing technologies that mitigate weather-related risks, and developing strategies to enhance soil organic matter. http://www.oired.vt.edu/sanremcrsp/ Sponsored by the Office of International Research, Education, and Development and made possible through the United States Agency for International Development (Cooperative Agreement No. EPP-A-00-00013-00) and the generous support of the American people.