C O N S U L T A T I V E G R O U P O N I N T E R N A T I O N A L A G R I C U L T U R A L R E S E A R C H

The Current Strategy of the CGIAR

Francisco ReifschneiderDirector CGIAR

June 2, 2003

C O N S U L T A T I V E G R O U P O N I N T E R N A T I O N A L A G R I C U L T U R A L R E S E A R C H

Centrality of agriculture

12%

Ag GDP/total

27%

Alldeveloping

LLDCs

2%

Industri-alized

GNP Exports Employment

Agriculture in African Economies

35%40%

70%

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Agriculture is getting back on the development agenda

• World Food Summit+5, 2002

• World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002 / WEHAB: 5 areas of importance (Kofi Annan)

• World Water Forum, 2003

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Challenges to agriculture

• Doubling of food production in 40 years

• Extreme poverty in rural areas

• Reduce ecological footprint

• Can food security gap be closed?• Case for agricultural research as a global public

good stronger than ever before

• Recovery from natural and man-made disasters

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Cereal demand: Developing world accounts for 2/3 by 2020

1974 1997 2020 Baseline0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000Million metric tons

Industrialized world

Developing world

664

560

822725

1,118

1,675

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Meat demand:Explosive growth in developing countries

1974 1997 2020 Baseline0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350Million metric tons

Industrialized world

Developing world

77

32

111

213

11498

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Poverty

• Predominantly rural phenomenon

• >70% of the poor live in rural areas

• It is multidimensional (lack of food, assets, credit, technologies, extension, and increasingly, knowledge)

• Poor are powerless and voiceless

• The poor risk being bypassed by the knowledge revolution

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Natural resource degradation

• 40% of world’s cropland already degraded

• 20-30% of world’s forests cleared

• 40% of fish stocks fished to their limit

• Ecological footprint of agriculture is large and growing

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Changing context and agricultural research

• Intellectual property rights• Environmental and social concerns• Market security• Accelerating pace of scientific change• Speed of change itself• Private sector investment in S&T

• Investments are large (30 to 40%) and growing, but outputs are localized

• Steep decline in public investments, but still 60%• CGIAR investments only 1.8% of public agricultural R&D

• Emergence of strong NARS, dismantling NARIS• New ‘threats’ and ‘opportunities’

(climate change, AIDS, globalization, ICT, etc.)

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Role for international agricultural research

•Agricultural research is a driver of growth in rural areas

•Partnerships are essential

• Importance of knowledge sharing, building national capacities

•Provision of public goods

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Provision of public goods

C O N S U L T A T I V E G R O U P O N I N T E R N A T I O N A L A G R I C U L T U R A L R E S E A R C H

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

(CGIAR)

C O N S U L T A T I V E G R O U P O N I N T E R N A T I O N A L A G R I C U L T U R A L R E S E A R C H

A strategic alliance for the 21st century

• Created in 1971• 62 public and private members• 4 co-sponsors (World Bank, FAO, IFAD, UNDP)

• 16 CGIAR Centers• Partners in academics, CSO, PS, NARIS (in

N+S)• 8,500 scientists/staff in over 100 countries• Total budget 2002: US$ 357 million

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The CGIAR Centers

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Five CGIAR research pillars(2002)

• Increasing productivity (34%)

•Strengthening NARS (23%)

•Protecting the environment (18%)

• Improving policies (15%)

•Saving biodiversity (10%)

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CGIAR contributions of yesterday: Green Revolution

• Diffusion of knowledge through collaboration of ARIs, NARS, NGOs, extension services…

• Impact: since 1950s Asia more than doubled yields of staple crops

• High yielding varieties averted food crisis looming in the 1960s

• Saved land

• Still spreading

• but changing external environment

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Broadening CGIAR research agenda

• Twin pillars of research for development: germplasm improvement and natural resource management

• Simultaneous achievement of productivity, environmental, and social goals

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01-02

00-01

99-00

98-99

02-03

Growth in area devotedto low-till farming

(in ha)300,000

100,000

12,0001200

500,000• Low-till farming in

rice-wheat systems• Total area: 23

million ha• Example of yield

increase• 1.64 to 3.34 tons/ha

in India

• Partnership for impact (4 countries, 5 Centers, 6 ARIs)

• Resource conserving

CGIAR contributions of today: Rice-Wheat Consortium of

Indo-Gangetic Plains

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CGIAR contributions of today: Quality Protein Maize (QPM)

• Has twice the amount of lysine, tryptophan – essential amino acids

• QPM planted on one million hectares, in 20 countries, boosting food, nutrition, health and income security

• In Ghana, record yields of 7 tons/ha achieved

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Vision for a new CGIAR

• Agile, world-class knowledge alliance• Working at frontier of science, linking science

and the poor• Provider of public goods that will not be

addressed by private sector research• Partnerships as key element

• US universities, GREAN Initiative, FONTAGRO platform etc.

• Resource mobilization (finance, knowledge, intellectual property)

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CGIAR reform program

• Increase research impact through internal and external alliances

• Increase efficiency in policy formulation and decision-making

• Harness cutting edge science to help meet international development goals

• Service provision in a more effective mode

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Strategic consensus with Co-sponsors and members

• World Bank: “Reaching the Rural Poor” strategy acknowledges importance of S&T

• FAO: Strategic Framework for FAO 2000-2015 calls for cooperation to eradicate food insecurity and rural poverty

• IFAD: Strategic Framework 2000-2006 emphasizes critical role of agricultural science to reduce poverty and conserve natural resources

• USAID: strategy aims at revitalizing agricultural programs with emphasis on science-based solutions

• IDB: recognizes strategic importance of the agricultural sector for overall growth

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New CGIAR strategic framework is in development

• To meet CGIAR goals facing new opportunities and threats

• Formulation and drafting will be a broadly consultative, participatory process involving as many stakeholders as possible

• Lead to action plan for implementation in the short and medium term

• To help define the strategic niche for Challenge Programs in the CGIAR’s research and development agenda

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CGIAR Challenge Programs

• Approach: time-bound, innovative multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary, and multi-country

• Focus: tackling problems of global significance in agriculture and allied sectors• Water and Food• Biofortified Crops for Improved Human Nutrition

• Challenge programs are:• building new and strengthening ongoing partnerships• strengthening research for development• addressing Millennium Development Goals

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Biofortified crops for improved human nutrition

• Objectives: breeding and diffusion of new crops with improved micro-nutrient content • 6 staple crops (beans,cassava,maize,rice,sweet pot.,wheat)

• 11 additional crops (incl.: barley,sorghum,millet,lentils)

• Nutrients: iron, zinc, beta-carotene

• About 40 partners (incl.: 8 CGIAR Centers, 4 leading ARIs)

• 3 geographical regions: LAC, Africa, Asia

• Initial funding: US$ 46 million (first 4 years)

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Water and Food

• Objectives: increasing water use efficiency in agriculture while protecting the environment

• Partnership: 18 members (6 NAROs, 4 ARIs, 5 CGIAR Centers, 3 international NGOs)

• Matrix structure: 5 research themes (incl. crop water productivity improvement) and 7 benchmark river basins in LAC, Africa, Asia (incl. Nile, Karkheh, Sao Francisco)

• Minimum core budget: US$ 120 million (first 6 years)

• Some 75% of total funding is organized as open, competitive grant financing

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Challenges of CPs

• Resource mobilization

• Strategic priorities

• Effective governance model

• Transaction costs

• Science quality

• Global public policy issues (PPP, IPR)

• Major experiment

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The way forward

• Agricultural development pivotal for economic growth, poverty reduction, food security and proper environmental management

• Existing partnerships have to be strengthened for increasing impacts (MDGs); new partnerships have to be formed

• Public good research is and will be vital

• CGIAR reform process, partnerships and external environment: harnessing the opportunity is a must