CGIAR International Centers Week 1996

Preliminary End-of-Meeting Report

[International Centers Week 1996 of the CGIAR was held in Washington, DC from October 28 to November 1, 1996. CGIAR Chairman Ismail Serageldin presided. A "Summary of Proceedings and Decisions" will be published by the CGIAR Secretariat. The notes below represent a preliminary summary of highlights. This is not a comprehensive, official record.]

INTRODUCTION

International Centers Week 1996 was a historic event in the life of the CGIAR. It provided the Group with the occasion to celebrate twenty-five years of effort and achievement, while looking to the future and the challenges the CGIAR will face over the next twenty-five years. It provided a showcase for center research efforts in the major developing regions of the world. It marked the first time that a Global Forum on agricultural research was convened to bring together the various components of the global agricultural research system to reach consensus upon a Declaration of Global Partnership in Agricultural Research. As well, it provided the opportunity for the CGIAR to conduct its biannual Business Meeting, focusing on partnerships, the research agenda, finance, and governance.

Structured around the theme "The CGIAR at 25: Into the Future," these four closely linked components provided the framework for ICW96. A full day was devoted to commemorating the 25th anniversary of the CGIAR; a full day was given to a Centers Forum on the substance of current and future research in the regions; a day and a half was provided for the Global Forum; and the remaining day and a half was reserved for the Business Meeting.

DAY OF COMMEMORATION

On the first day of ICW96, the Group was privileged to welcome the President of The World Bank Group, Mr. James Wolfensohn, who delivered the opening statement to the Group, following a welcoming address by CGIAR Chairman Ismail Serageldin.

Tributes

The Group was privileged to welcome, and pay tribute to, many of its past founders and leaders responsible for many of the achievements realized by the CGIAR over the past twenty-five years, and to receive the reflections of these distinguished alumni on both the accomplishments made by the CGIAR since its creation and on the future CGIAR effort. These included participants in the Bellagio meetings which led to the establishment of the Group in 1971, former CGIAR Chairmen, former Executive Secretaries, and former TAC Chairs, among others.

As well, the Group also paid tribute to the current and former World Food Prize laureates from within the CGIAR system, and heard a commemorative address on the evolution of rice research and future prospects from Mr. Gurdev Khush, the 1996 co-recipient of the World Food Prize. The other co-recipient was Mr. Henry Beachell, a retired IRRI scientist.

Sir John Crawford Memorial Lecture

The 1996 Sir John Crawford Memorial Lecture was delivered by Mr. Maurice Strong, Senior Advisor to the President of the World Bank Group. Introduced by Dr. Gelia Castillo, Past Chair of CIP, Mr. Strong's lecture focused on the theme "Looking Back and Looking Forward." Mr. Strong reviewed the origins, development, and strengths of the CGIAR and urged it to continue its renewed emphasis on the environment in its future research programs.

[The full text of Mr. Strong's lecture will be produced as a commemorative publication by the CGIAR Secretariat following ICW96.]

Presentation of Awards

Outstanding scientific achievement was recognized and commended through the presentation of the biennial CGIAR King Baudouin Award and the inaugural awarding of three Chairman's Excellence in Science Awards. The King Baudouin Award was presented by TAC Chair Donald Winkelmann to ICRISAT to recognize outstanding achievement in the development of disease-resistant, yield-increasing pearl millet in collaboration with advanced institutions and national programs.

The Chairman's Excellence in Science Awards honored special achievement in the following three categories: promising young scientist; outstanding local professional; and outstanding scientific partnership. Mr. Shaobing Peng was presented with the Promising Young Scientist award to recognize outstanding achievement in research on the physiological processes underlying yield potential in rice at IRRI.

Dr. Thelma Paris and Mr. Shashi Sharma were the co-recipients of the Outstanding Local Professional award. Dr. Paris was recognized for outstanding achievement in research to link human nutrition and agriculture and for studies on gender issues in rice-based farming at IRRI. Mr. Sharma was recognized for outstanding achievement in research to increase knowledge, awareness, and understanding of nematode parasites of pigeonpea, chickpea, and groundnut at ICRISAT.

IITA and the Institute of Agricultural Research, Njala, Sierra Leone were presented with the Outstanding Scientific Partnership award to recognize outstanding achievement in collaborative research on the improvement of root and tuber crops in West Africa. Mr. Lukas Brader, Director General of IITA, and Mr. Mohamed T. Dahniya, Director of IAR, accepted the award on behalf of the partner institutions.

The first day of ICW96 concluded with a commemorative address by the CGIAR Chairman on the theme "Science in the Service of a New Vision." Mr. Serageldin focused on the importance of science, and in particular of agricultural research, in generating appropriate technologies of relevance to the world's poor, and of the equal importance of cultural practices and norms which enable such technologies to be embraced by farmers. He emphasized that a uniting of science and society was essential for food security to be realized at the level of the small farmer in the developing world.

CENTERS FORUM

The Centers Forum built on last year's widely welcomed innovation of a day dedicated to centers at ICW. The centers presented highlights of current research, assessed future research needs, and outlined research in the pipeline for meeting those needs from a regional perspective. The Forum was, thus, divided into four sessions, each focusing on a particular region of the developing world: Sub-Saharan Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Latin America and the Caribbean; and West Asia and North Africa. Leaders of regional associations or fora chaired the sessions, providing important perspectives from the centers' partners in the regions.

The structure of the Centers Forum, both its thematic focus on regional research challenges and the central role played by leaders in the region, was evidence of the integral role played by CGIAR's partners in cooperation at the center level and in decisionmaking at the system level.

From the presentations made by each Center Director, it was evident that, despite significant differences, the regions have in common a number of overriding challenges that define center research activities. These key problems include:

Centers are diversifying their research strategies to address the multiple challenges of increasing agricultural productivity on a sustainable basis and of protecting the environment, particularly conserving biodiversity. Central to these strategies is an expansion of research partnerships to include the full spectrum of actors in the global agricultural research system, including national agricultural research systems, advanced research institutions, non-governmental organizations, and private sector participants, among others. Centers are forging new links with scientists in the public and private sectors to accelerate research and the transfer of technologies to poor farmers. As well, increasing emphasis is being placed on participatory approaches involving farmers in the research process, to ensure the generation of appropriate, low-input technologies acceptable to farmers. The importance of South-North as well as South-South collaboration and information sharing was emphasized to increase efficiency and effectiveness and to leverage limited financial resources.

Research being carried out by the centers in collaboration with their partners is producing exciting new technologies and advances in research that promise to contribute significantly to food security in the developing world.

GLOBAL FORUM

A Global Forum on agricultural research, in which a broad spectrum of partners engaged in agricultural research participated, was convened under the chairmanship of Mr. Fawzi Al-Sultan, President of IFAD. It marked the first time that the various components in the global agricultural research system came together to explore the needs and opportunities for agricultural research, the scope for collaboration, and practical measures to strengthen partnerships. The Global Forum culminated in the adoption of a Declaration of Global Partnership in Agricultural Research.

CGIAR Chairman Ismail Serageldin opened the Global Forum with a welcoming address that emphasized the importance of ensuring an open and inclusive global agricultural research system, in which the NARS are the cornerstones. He elaborated the challenges of seeking new synergies under which the next generation of agricultural research initiatives will be undertaken.

Mr. Al-Sultan summarized the events leading up to the Global Forum since the New Delhi Mid-Term Meeting in May 1994, when the renewal of the CGIAR was launched. The CGIAR's efforts as part of the renewal program to broaden its partnerships with national agricultural research systems, regional organizations, advanced research institutions, non-governmental organizations, universities, and the private sector, among others, and to increase the participation of the South in CGIAR decisionmaking, led to the convening of, first, consultations with NARS and, subsequently, regional fora that resulted in the emergence of the Global Forum.

Representatives of regional fora from Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and West Asia and North Africa, and a NARS leader from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, presented the needs and opportunities for agricultural research from the perspective of the regions. They also informed the Group about their action plans, which they had drawn up in consultation with their NARS members. Presentations were made as well by representatives of NGOs, the private sector, advance research institutions, and universities, in which the contributions and synergies that they could bring to the new partnerships were stressed.

Four major themes were discussed in parallel sessions as follows, and their conclusions summarized in plenary:

Mr. Fernando Chaparro, Chair of the NARS Global Steering Committee, presented the proposed Plan of Action for Strengthening Global Agricultural Research, which emphasizes five key goals:

The Global Forum adopted the Declaration of Global Partnership in Agricultural Research and agreed that the proposed Plan of Action would be further refined.

In his closing remarks, CGIAR Chairman Ismail Serageldin referred to the Global Forum and the endorsement of the Declaration as a "great step forward." He hoped that the shared commitment the various actors in the global agricultural research system had demonstrated during the Global Forum would result in a swift translation of the vision embodied in the Declaration into concrete actions through agreement on the proposed Plan of Action.

BUSINESS MEETING

The Business Meeting was opened by the CGIAR Chairman, who made an address on the need for the CGIAR, as it positions itself in the emerging global agricultural research system, to ensure that its focus on food security, the environment, the rural poor, and women is well reflected in its research programs. He acknowledged the complex problems in setting priorities, but noted opportunities in biotechnology developments, database creation, and the agricultural potential of Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia. He also highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary research and broad partnerships.

New and Potential Members

South Africa was admitted to CGIAR membership by acclamation, following an announcement on the opening day of ICW96 of its decision to join the Group. This brings the CGIAR's Southern membership to seventeen, and increases significantly the ownership of the CGIAR by the South.

The CGIAR Chairman shared with the Group information that the Thai authorities had indicated their intention to seek membership in the Group. Mr. Serageldin said this would be a most welcome development, and expressed his hope to have the occasion in the near future to announce their participation.

Farewells

The Group paid warm tribute to members of the CGIAR family for whom ICW96 was their last Centers Week in their current capacities: Leslie Swindale, Board Chair of IIMI; David Bell, Board Chair of IFPRI; John Dillon, Board Chair of ICLARM; David Thorud, Board Chair of ICRAF; Pierre Debreuil, Board Chair of IITA; Bo Bengtsson, Board Chair of CIFOR; Christian Bonte-Friedheim, Director General of ISNAR; Eugene Terry, Director General of WARDA; Robert Blake, Chair of the NGO Committee; and Paul Egger, stepping down as the founding Chair of the Oversight Committee (who would, however, continue to represent Switzerland in the Group). The Group recognized these distinguished individuals and their dedicated service and commitment to the CGIAR by acclamation. The CGIAR Chairman indicated that their successors would be welcomed at MTM97.

Nyle C. Brady Award

Cosponsors selected Mr. Christian Bonte-Friedheim to receive the second Nyle C. Brady Award for his pioneering and life-long efforts to champion the cause of the NARS and to forge strong partnerships between the international and national agricultural research communities. The award was created by the cosponsors of the CGIAR in 1995 to recognize individuals who have enriched the CGIAR system.

Partnerships

The Group received reports from: the Global Forum; the NGO Committee, and the Private Sector Committee; and on the World Food Summit. The continuing progress being made in strengthening the CGIAR's partnerships with other actors in the global agricultural research system was commended by the Group. It was recognized that the CGIAR and its partners were involved in an evolving process, in which respective roles, promising areas for cooperation, and mechanisms for collaboration would continued to be more clearly defined as the partnerships were further strengthened.

The Group took note of the draft proposed Plan of Action for Global Partnerships in Agricultural Research, which would be further refined by Global Forum participants, as well as the findings and proposed future programs of the NGO and Private Sector Committees.

The CGIAR Chairman noted that the CGIAR and its partners each brought a different perspective and comparative advantage to the partnership, and that common ground and practical modalities for initiating collaboration must be explored to find ways to build bridges based on complementarities and a shared set of objectives.

The need for greater representation of partners on center boards and on TAC, and of raising awareness of the CGIAR among its partners, particularly in the NGO and private sector communities, was emphasized.

The reports on preparations for the FAO World Food Summit, to be held on November 13-17, 1996, and on the CGIAR's participation, indicated the recommitment of the world community to global food security. The specific inclusion of the importance of agricultural research and the need to strengthen international agricultural research, especially the CGIAR, and to promote coordination and collaboration among all actors in the global system, in the draft declaration and plan of action to be endorsed at the summit, were welcomed by the Group.

Research Agenda

Genetic Resources Policy Committee (GRPC)

FAO Director Stein Bie reported on the Fourth International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources held in Leipzig, Germany in June 1996. A Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted by the conference. The Global Plan of Action, in which the CGIAR centers have a central role, identifies twenty activities in four areas: in situ conservation; ex situ conservation; utilization; and institution and capacity building.

IPGRI Director General Geoffrey Hawtin, on behalf GRPC Chair M. S. Swaminathan, reported on the Committee's meeting in Sweden and its recommendations. The Group agreed that the CGIAR should continue to be engaged in the ongoing international process on genetic resources. The Group's discussion focused primarily on the proposed "Guiding Principles for the CGIAR Centers on Intellectual Property Protection," drafted by centers and their boards of trustees. Given the rapidly evolving events related to genetic resources, the Group agreed that the guidelines should be accepted as an interim working document that will be continually reviewed and revised in light of developments occurring in international fora.

The term of the GRPC was extended for another two years. The CGIAR Chairman noted that the terms of reference of the committee would be reviewed in the context of the CGIAR System Review. The GRPC was charged with keeping a watching brief on developments in international fora, maintaining a dialogue with the FAO Commission, continuing to liaise with other parts of the CGIAR system, obtaining legal and scientific advice as appropriate, and reporting to the Group at MTM97 and ICW97.

Biotechnology and Biosafety

The Group received a report from Mr. Robert Herdt on the work of the panel appointed by the CGIAR Chairman, in his capacity as the World Bank's Vice President for Environmentally Sustainable Development, to examine issues of biotechnology and biosafety related to transgenic crops. The conclusions and recommendations of the committee, chaired by Nobel laureate Henry Kendall, will be available in 1997.

CGIAR Collaboration in Central/Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union

The Group received a final report of the recommendations of the Task Force on Central/Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, presented by Task Force Chair Rudy Rabbinge. It was noted that two of the three conditions for CGIAR involvement in the region, as stipulated by the Lucerne Declaration and Action Program, had been met-that of the articulation of a specific program and a clear CGIAR comparative advantage. The third condition-that of additional financing-was still required.

The Group endorsed the Task Force report, and agreed that, to the extent that additional funding is identified, programs in this region would fall under the agreed research agenda and be subject to review by TAC, as with all CGIAR research agenda programs. The CGIAR Chairman expressed his optimism that the additional funds required for a CGIAR effort in the region would be forthcoming from members, and that a CGIAR program in the region would be beneficial to both the region and the CGIAR.

1998 Research Directions

TAC Chair Donald Winkelmann reported on progress in the CGIAR's medium-term planning process for 1998 to 2000. He highlighted four points, as follows: