The CGIAR at 31 : An Independent Meta-Evaluation of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, Revised Edition

Operations Evaluation Department

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH;    FOOD CONSUMPTION;    FOOD SHORTAGE;    FOOD SECURITY;    POVERTY ALLEVIATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/0-8213-5645-3
RP-ID  :  28131

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The original mission of the CGIAR was astrategic, science-based focus on increasing "the pileof rice on the plates of food-short consumers," ascharacterized by a former chairman. It was to use the bestscience in advanced countries to develop technologies forthe benefit of food deficit countries and populations. But arapidly changing external environment has led to an expandedmission and mandate. The mission statement adopted in 1998is "food security and poverty eradication in developingcountries through research, partnerships, capacity building,and policy support, promoting sustainable agriculturaldevelopment based on the environmentally sound management ofnatural resources." Several forces continue toinfluence the CGIAR's mandate. First, the rise of civilsociety organizations and the empowerment of marginal groupsand women have increased donors' attention to socialconcerns. By restricting their funding to preferred programsand areas, donors are altering the composition of CGIARactivities. Second, water shortages, soil degradation,climate change, and loss of biodiversity have increased theprominence of natural resource management (NRM), policy, andsocial science research. The new research topics (in whichproponents argue the CGIAR has developed a "dynamiccomparative advantage") are downstream activities,closer to the farmer, which entail local expertise andsolutions, while traditional germplasm improvement researchbuilds on the CGIAR's historical comparative advantage.Third, the growing importance of genetic resourcemanagement, the biotechnology revolution, intellectualproperty rights (IPR), and private sector research call forSystem-level responses, strategies, and policies.