Two members of FAO's Research and Extension Unit (Karin Nichterlein and Andrea Sonnino) have co-authored with two additional experts in agricultural innovation (Philipp Aerni and Stephen Rudgard) an article that has been recently published on the journal "Sustainability". The paper provides a summary of the results obtained from three regional needs assessments of Capacity Development (CD) initiatives undertaken by the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) and its partners. Established by the G20 and facilitated by FAO's Research and Extension Unit, TAP is a multilateral dynamic facilitation mechanism, which fosters better coherence and greater impact of capacity development for agricultural innovation systems in tropical countries.