CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) are required to show how their work contributes to development outcomes such as changes in policies.  While better evidence has the potential to improve decision-making, it is insufficient for achieving policy impacts. That evidence needs to be communicated effectively so that it is useful to targeted decision-makers, and decision-makers need to have the incentives and the capacity to use it.  This requires that researchers and their partners understand how policy processes work and how they can be influenced. Deliberate strategies to influence policy can also be the basis for assessing the extent to which research has contributed to a change in a policy or in the policy process—for example by influencing the discourse, attitudes, behaviors or actions of decision-makers.

In the face of declining resources, national extension services need to review their priorities and modes of delivery. A policy framework that provides the national extension service and other actors with strategic direction can help to ensure that resources are targeted to where they are needed most in line with client needs and national priorities; that extension staff receive the appropriate training to carry out their duties; and that scarce resources are used more effectively through partnerships with NGOs and the private sector and use of information and communication technologies where appropriate. Monitoring and evaluating performance based on stakeholder feedback is also crucial to ensuring that extension staff skills remain up to date and relevant to client needs.