For the last two decades, NGOs have been the targets of many multilateral and bilateral organizations in development partnerships. At the same time, research has developed similar partnerships with NGOs. Since 1995, the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) opened its doors to non-agricultural research partners such as NGOs, the private sector, farmers¿ organizations, etc. Since then many international centers such as ICRISAT, ICRAF, IRRI ,WARDA¿etc have developed some partnerships with NGOs. The NGOs have linked with research institutions at the national, regional as well as international levels. For example, in Africa, non-research partners participated in the plenary of SPAAR/FARA in Arusha, Tanzania in 1998, in Gaberone, Botswana in 1999, in Conakry, Guinea 2000 and in Nairobi , Kenya in 2001. This provided evidence for the willingness to change strategies and the desire for research institutions to build partnerships with stakeholders in agricultural development