DAI agriculture specialists Christopher Reynolds and Heather Dale recently completed the first phase of their work as assessors for the World Bank’s 2008 Global Development Marketplace, a competitive grant program whose theme this year is "Sustainable Agriculture for Development." The Bank expects to award at least $4 million to winning proposals in September.

The Bank accepted grant proposals through March 21, then invited international development professionals from government agencies and international donors, the private sector, and academia to review the submissions, evaluate their viability, and choose the most impressive proposals for final selection.

Assessors were expected to have experience in linking small-scale farmers to input-output markets, improving land access and tenure for the poor, and promoting the environmental services of agriculture in addressing climate change and conserving biodiversity.

Reynolds and Dale served on selection panels for both the first and second round of evaluations, which met in early May and early June and winnowed the original 1,700 submissions down to approximately 100. The final round of selections—emphasizing innovation, potential for growth, realism, sustainability, and results— will take place over the summer, with the results announced September 24-25, 2008.

For more information on the program, click here.