Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) was founded in 1971 to improve food production in developing countries. Research into agricultural productivity and the management of natural resources are the two goals of this organization, and it is dedicated to making the scientific advances of industrialized nations available to poorer countries. The CGIAR emphasizes the importance of developing sustainable increases in agricultural yields and creating technologies that can be used by farmers with limited financial resources.

Membership consists of governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations. The goals of this association are carried out by a network of International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs). There are currently 18 such centers throughout the world, all but four of them in developing countries, and they are each legally distinct entities, over which the CGIAR has no direct authority. The group has no constitution or by-laws, and decisions are reached by consensus after consultations with its members, either informally or at their semiannual meetings. The function of the CGIAR is to assist and advise the IARCs, and to this end it maintains a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of scientists who review ongoing research programs at each center.

Each IARC has its own board of trustees as well as its own management, and they formulate individual research programs. The research centers pursue different goals, addressing problems in a particular sector of agriculture, such as livestock production or agricultural challenges in specific parts of the world, such as crop production in the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. Some centers conduct research into integrated plant protection, and others into forestry, while some are more concerned with policy issues, such as food distribution and the international food trade. One of the priorities of the CGIAR is the conservation of seed and plant material, known as germplasm, and the development of policies and programs to ensure that these resources are available and fully utilized in developing countries. The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources is devoted exclusively to this goal. Besides research, the basic function of the IARCs is educational, and in the past two decades over 45,000 scientists have been trained in the CGIAR system.

The central challenge facing the CGIAR is world population growth and the need to increase agricultural production by nearly 50% in the next 20 years while preserving natural resources. The group was one of the main contributors to the so-called "Green Revolution." It helped develop new high-yielding varieties of cereals and introduced them into countries previously unable to grow the food; some of these countries now have agricultural surpluses. In 2001, CGIAR in South Africa worked on developing two new types of maize, which have a 30–50% larger crop than what is currently being produced by the smaller farmers. The CGIAR is working to increase production even further, narrowing the gap between actual and potential yields, while continuing its efforts to limit soil erosion , desertification , and other kinds of environmental degradation .

The World Bank , the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) are among the original sponsors of the CGIAR, and the organization has its headquarters at the offices of the World Bank, which also funds central staffing positions. Combined funding has grown from $15 million in 1971 to over $340 million in 1999, and the CGIAR has a staff of 12,000 worldwide. The group publishes a newsletter called CGIAR Highlights.

[Douglas Smith ]

RESOURCES

ORGANIZATIONS

CGIAR Secretariat, The World Bank, MSN G6-601, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, D.C. USA 20433 (202) 473-8951, Fax: (202) 473-8110, Email: [email protected], <http://www.cgiar.org>