In the beginning
No CGIAR anniversary would be complete without acknowledging the people who helped establish the organization. In this video clip, Norman Borlaug and Robert McNamara, two of “the CGIAR founding fathers, tell the intriguing story of “how it all started”. Borlaug, a plant scientist, is credited with being the father of the Green Revolution and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his role in the development of high-yielding crop varieties that helped avert massive famines in Asia in the 1960s.
Find out more about the history of the CGIAR here.
Making an impact
Over the years, CGIAR science has helped improve millions of lives in the developing world. And the work goes on. New stories continue to emerge about the impact of CGIAR research in the face of the challenges associated with a growing global population and adverse changes in the climate. It seems only appropriate, then, that our anniversary celebrations shine a spotlight on the work of the CGIAR Centers and the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs).
Click on any of the photos in the montage at the top of this post to read the story behind that image. More of our compelling impact stories can be found here.
Celebrating with others
Worldbank: Commemorating Past Achievements and Preparing to Meet New Challenges
On 6 July 2011, the CGIAR celebrated its 40th anniversary at an event hosted by the World Bank in Washington, DC. During the celebration, the CGIAR announced a $170 million global alliance and program to expand and accelerate research into maize, the preferred staple food source for more than 900 million people in 94 developing countries, including one third of the world’s malnourished children.
A new publication “CGIAR at 40 and Beyond: Impacts that Matter for the Poor and the Planet” was also launched during the event. Click here to download the publication.
Two other documents, provide information on the CGIAR’s preparations to meet those challenges through far-reaching reforms and on its strong record of research impact: An Update on the CGIAR for Donors and 40 Findings on the Impacts of CGIAR Research 1971-2011.
A webcast of the event can be found here (running time: 2 hrs).
FAO: Reflecting on the Past to Respond to the Future
On 2 December 2011, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted an event to celebrate the CGIAR’s 40th Anniversary at FAO’s headquarters in Rome, Italy. Approximately 100 representatives from the FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and other UN agencies joined ambassadors, members of the FAO Council, and other honored guests in attendance. Particular attention was given to the challenges agriculture and rural environments will face over the next 40 years, and how the CGIAR has been preparing to meet those challenges.
The guest speakers (click on speaker’s name to read speech) included:
Carlos Perez del Castillo, Chair, CGIAR Consortium Board; Emile Frison, Director-General, Bioversity International; Ruben Echeverria, Director-General, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT); Jonathan Wadsworth, Executive Secretary of the Fund Council and Head of the Fund Office (CGIAR); and Kevin Cleaver, Associate Vice-President of Programmes (IFAD).
A video of the event can be found on the FAO webcast page, while photos can be viewed on the FAO media base pages.
The role of social media
Social media plays a huge role in how we communicate our work. It was also used to great effect to promote and cover our anniversary, thereby helping us to reach as wide an audience as possible.
For example, the CGIAR turned 40 landing page and our various blog posts resulted in 3,400 page visits on our site during the week of the celebration at FAO. The event was reported live via Twitter, in cooperation with FAO. At the same time, 110 other organizations/individuals helped broadcast the celebration and spread the news about #CGIAR40, including mainstream news channels such as AlertNet. In total, over 400 Twitter updates were broadcast, reaching about 174,000 people.
In addition, live Yammer updates kept CGIAR staff informed.
For further information, please check our CGIAR turned 40 page.
Montage photo credits:
Top row (left to right): Majed Khatib/ICARDA; Kevin Pixley/CIMMYT/University of Wisconsin; R. Raman/AfricaRice; Peter Casier/CGIAR
Second row: CIAT; ICRISAT; The WorldFish Center; Mulugeta Lemenih/Habtemariam Kassa
Third row: Aileen Garcia, IRRI; B.Sthapit/Bioversity; IITA; Charlie Pye-Smith/World Agroforestry Centre
Bottom row: Peter Casier/CCAFS; Peter Casier/CCAFS; Jan Low/CIP; IFPRI
Photo of Carlos Perez del Castillo: CGIAR
I would like to apply for job at CGIAR ?How I can do it, because I don’t known the requirements?
A selection of the vacancies in the CGIAR are posted on this site. Visit: http://www.cgiar.org/category/vacancies/
Good luck!