AGM07: A Changing CGIAR for a Changing World

Far-reaching change was a central theme of the CGIAR’s 2007 Annual General Meeting (AGM07), held in Beijing on December 3-6. The meeting was hosted by the government of the People’s Republic of China and organized jointly with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). More than 800 CGIAR stakeholders attended.

Centers’ and Members’ Day

Ongoing reforms within the CGIAR, against the background of profound changes in world agriculture, were the focus of a plenary presentation on Centers’ and Members’ Day, made on behalf of the Alliance of the CGIAR Centers by Emile Frison, who chairs the Alliance Executive.

Opening Ceremony

The AGM07 Opening Ceremony also drew attention to the ominous and uncertain outlook for agriculture that is rapidly unfolding and to the need for more vigorous efforts to thwart negative impacts on the world’s poor.

Because of the sheer size of China’s economy and agriculture and because of its valuable experience in managing policy, institutional and technological change, this country’s response to the new outlook for agriculture will figure importantly in the developing world. A message from China’s Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, calling attention to the importance of technological advances, was delivered by Niu Dun, Vice Minister of Agriculture.

CGIAR Chair Katherine Sierra (photo above), in her opening speech, underlined the value of the Centers’ research partnerships with China and welcomed the opportunity to review with Chinese colleagues and other stakeholders shared progress and achievements in agricultural development.

As an aid to this process, the CGIAR Secretariat worked with the Marketing Group to prepare for distribution at AGM07 a book entitled China: Voices for Sustainable Agriculture. It presents a rich collection of stories describing the results and benefits of collaboration between CGIAR Centers and their Chinese partners.

Sierra also stressed the need to agree on steps that will greatly strengthen the CGIAR’s response to the challenge of climate change. “Next week at the 13 th UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia,” she said, “I will offer delegates an overview of research already under way in the CGIAR Centers that is critical for helping cope with climate change. I hope to share with them as well the outcomes of our discussions on steps to greatly intensify this work.”

During the AGM07 business meeting, many CGIAR Members expressed strong support for announcing this initiative at the Climate Change Conference in Bali, and some promised to convey this support to their delegations taking part in the conference. They also offered valuable advice about how the CGIAR should proceed in amplifying its climate change work, particularly in relation to the initiatives of other organizations.

In closing, Sierra urged stakeholders to take full advantage of the Facilitated Change Management Process under way since mid-2007 to formulate a new vision for the CGIAR and to identify concrete steps for realizing that vision. “Our partners expect nothing less than a more effective CGIAR – one that inspires them with hope and provides them with the means of coping with an uncertain, but manageable, future for agriculture.”

CGIAR Director Ren Wang further reinforced this message in his update, calling on meeting participants to focus on finding ways of better positioning the CGIAR to confront new challenges. He signaled the importance of giving partnership, capacity strengthening and constructive alignment between Centers a prominent place in a revitalized CGIAR.

Sierra concluded the Opening Ceremony with an announcement that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund a US$13 million initiative of the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Programme, aimed at significantly expanding the role of African women in the agricultural sciences. Through mentoring and related support, the new initiative – called the African Women in Agricultural Development (AWARD) Program – will bring women’s capacities more fully to bear on the task of transforming Africa’s agricultural production.

The announcement was followed by the screening of a deeply moving video recently developed by the Gender & Diversity Program, which should help inspire commitment to the important cause of the AWARD Program.

Science Forum

The stakeholder meeting at AGM07 was once again organized as a Science Forum. The event was designed to draw lessons learned and other implications from major scientific achievements of recent years, to examine new developments in various areas of advanced science and to determine how the CGIAR can further incorporate this science into its work for China and other developing countries.

The forum’s opening session included four major presentations. These served to place the group discussions to follow within the framework of emerging trends in several key spheres: the world food situation, insights from 25 years of agricultural development in developing countries, important advances in China’s agricultural production specifically and new perspectives and approaches from advanced science. Next, came three groups of more than a dozen parallel sessions dealing with scientific progress and opportunities both globally and in specific regions of the developing world.

After the Science Forum, theoretical neurobiologist William Calvin delivered the Sir John Crawford Memorial Lecture, a perennial highlight of the CGIAR annual meeting, at the Great Hall of the People. Entitled “The Great Use-It-or-Lose-It Intelligence Test,” the lecture argued for greater political will and urgent action on many fronts, including agriculture, aimed at “retro-fitting” human civilization within the next 10 years to forestall truly catastrophic effects of climate change.

The lecture was followed by the CGIAR Science Awards ceremony, in which outstanding individuals and teams were recognized for work that demonstrates how science can benefit poor farmers and consumers.

Throughout AGM07, a science exhibition – the largest ever at an AGM – was open to the public, showcasing the work of the CGIAR Centers, Chinese agricultural research institutions and other partner organizations.

Highlights of the 2-day Business Meeting, with emphasis on decisions about major issues, were as follows:

Change Management Process: The CGIAR expressed strong support for moving forward with the change management process, and it endorsed the Scoping Team’s proposal for phase 2 of the process. There was a sense of enthusiasm and urgency about moving forward and taking advantage of the momentum created so far.

Funding Priority Research: The CGIAR endorsed the recommendation of the CGIAR Executive Council (ExCo) Ad Hoc Committee on Funding System Priorities, and it agreed to establish an ExCo Ad Hoc Committee to examine finance and funding matters in the CGIAR.

Independent Review of the CGIAR: The inception report of the panel was endorsed, with requests to have stronger emphasis on partnerships and to ensure that views are sought from Members and national agricultural research systems in the South. The CGIAR also expressed a need for the review to be more sharply focused and to be firm on time-deadlines, so as not to delay the change process and so that the review can contribute in a timely manner to the change process.

CGIAR Strategic Initiative on Climate Change: The CGIAR endorsed the Chair’s proposal to call on the international community at the 13 th UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, to support the CGIAR’s efforts to intensify climate change research and substantially increase resources dedicated to this vital work.

CGIAR Handling of External Program and Management Reviews: The CGIAR agreed to delegate responsibility for making decisions about External Reviews of Centers and Challenge Programs to ExCo to free up more time for strategic discussions at AGMs.