June 2004 World Food Prize 2004 Dr. Monty Jones from Sierra Leone, a former rice breeder at WARDA-The Africa Rice Center, won the 2004 World Food Prize. Group of Eight Summit Endorses CGIAR The recently-announced 2004 G-8 Action Plan provides a strong boost to CGIAR. Top Honors for Zandstra The Government of Peru awarded the "Great Cross for Distinguished Service" to Hubert Zandstra, Director General, CIP. IFPRI-ISNAR Alliance ISNAR was dissolved and is now transformed as a new program under IFPRI governance. AGM04 in Mexico The Governement of Mexico is hosting CGIAR's Annual General Meeting 2004 in October. CGIAR Chairman Visits CIP Ian Johnson visited CIP in March 2004 and interacted with CIP scientists and visited an in-situ germplasm community bank. ICRISAT Signs MOUs Efforts to strengthen the VASAT initiative received a boost with ICRISAT signing MOUs with the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Sun Microsystems, Inc. News from the Science Council Chair A message from Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Science Council Chair. Great Expectations The Science Council held its inaugural meeting at ICARDA. IFAR Recognizes Scientific Excellence Ten scientists have been recognized by IFAR. They will spend up to three months working with world class scientists at CGIAR Centers. CGIAR-NEPAD Partnership CGIAR and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) have signed a memorandum of understanding to better harness agricultural science and technology, and global knowledge systems for the benefit of Africa's farming populations. Prized Timber for Green Future The sustainable future of mahogany as a source of livelihoods received a boost following a major international workshop held in Mexico, sponsored by CIFOR. Generation Challenge Program The Generation Challenge Program (GCP), formerly known as the Challenge Program for Unlocking Genetic Diversity in Crops for the Resource-Poor, has made significant progress. World Potato Congress The 5th World Potato Congress held in Kunming, People's Republic of China, adopted a resolution commending CIP. Valuing a Seed Thanks to support from the Global Environment Facility, IPGRI researchers will be able to better conserve plant genetic resources through a new project - In situ Conservation of Wild Crop Relatives through Enhanced Information Management and Field Application. Strategic Advisory Service on Human Resources A new Strategic Advisory Service for Human Resources (SAS-HR) set up by five CGIAR Centers (CIAT, CIMMYT, IPGRI, IWMI, and WorldFish) in cooperation with CGIAR System Office, is working to attract, motivate, develop, and retain staff.