Applying the integrated ecosystems approach, six closely-interrelated research Themes will address different facets of the DDPA core question. These Themes were identified and elaborated through in-depth discussions among DDPA partners. Click on the links below to find out more about each Theme.

1. Understanding and coping with land degradation and drought risk
Land degradation and drought risk will be assessed and monitored, and their underlying causes investigated. Appropriate solutions will be devised, including land management strategies, drought early warning indicators, and risk-coping strategies appropriate to smallholders and rural communities.

2. Integrated ecosystem approach for the sustainable provision of agricultural and ecological goods and services
Managing and restoring ecosystem functions will build understanding of the important role of natural systems in delivering environmental goods and services, the degradative processes of desertification, and the interaction of these dynamics with agricultural land uses. Biodiversity will be a special focus. Points of intervention will be sought that could enhance livelihoods while maintaining and restoring the production of valuable ecosystem goods and services such as fertile soils, clean water and air, carbon storage, and biodiversity.

3. Policy and institutional options for combating desertification and drought
Policy and institutional analysis will assess policy constraints that encourage unsustainable land use, and assist countries in reformulating them as well as in building appropriate institutions to foster more productive, environmentally-friendly management practices.

4. Harnessing genetic resources to combat drought and desertification
Harnessing genetic resources will apply cutting-edge biotechnology and link it to farmer-participatory methods to explore the possibilities for new advances in improving drought and salt tolerance in major dryland food crops.

5. Income-increasing agricultural diversification to improve livelihoods and foster more sustainable land use
Diversifying systems and livelihoods seeks greater diversity and higher-value enterprises appropriate to poor smallholders that stabilize and reverse degradative processes. This will include new and domesticated indigenous tree and cash crops, and modes to bring added value to crop and livestock products and enterprises.

6. Breaking technology and knowledge barriers: increasing impact with an "ICT for development" strategy
Knowledge and technology sharing will seek ways to alleviate blockages of knowledge flows including modern information technology, creating channels of communication that link all the way from the community to national and international levels.