International, multidisciplinary teams, that are often financed by other donors, focus their energies on solutions to these development challenges. Exploration Cover Crops for Sustainable Agriculture Program initiatives are the Centre's primary programming unit for funding research in developing countries. Managed by a multidisciplinary team from within the Centre, they are working networks that link Southern and Northern researchers to address specific research problems and set a research agenda. By linking all the parties involved in the research process, IDRC hopes to add to the likelihood of success. Because of their multidisciplinary focus, program initiatives will often address issues that fall under several themes.
Explorations identify potential opportunities for IDRC intervention.
Explorations help to define a research issue and examine its relevance, funding opportunities, networking possibilities, likely outcomes, and impacts. They allow IDRC to test the feasibility of making a significant contribution to research for development before committing the resources needed to address a particular research problem effectively. Critical avenues of research sometimes require more effort and resources than IDRC can provide. In such cases, IDRC often acts as a catalyst for the funds and resources needed to create an international secretariat. Secretariats facilitate donor support by providing the necessary financial and administrative infrastructure needed to undertake a long-term research agenda.