• Dr. Per Pinstrup-Andersen (Babcock Professor, Cornell University and World Food Prize Laureate), Chair
  
• Dr. Virender Lal Chopra (President, National Academy of Science, India)
  
• Dr. Alain de Janvry (Professor, University of California-Berkeley)
  
• Dr. Kenneth Fischer (Adjunct Professor, University of Queensland, Australia)
  
• Dr. Michael Gale (Emeritus Fellow, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, UK)
  
• Dr. Hans Gregersen (retired Professor, University of Minnesota)
  
• Dr. Richard Harwood (Professor, Michigan State University)
  
• Dr. Keiji Kainuma (Executive Research Advisor, National Food Research Institute, Japan)
  
• Dr. Onesmo ole-MoiYoi (Director, Research and Partnerships, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Kenya) and
  
• Dr. Lisa Sennerby-Forsse (Secretary General, Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), Sweden).

standing (left to right): ole-MoiYoi, Chopra, Fisher, Gale, Harwood, Gregersen, de Janvry; seated: Kainuma, Pinstrup-Andersen, Sennerby-Forsse

Speaking in Washington, Ian Johnson, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development and CGIAR Chairman said, "I am pleased CGIAR was able to bring together such an impressive team of scientists. I am confident that under their wise counsel, CGIAR will continue to make a tremendous impact on the lives of millions of poor people around the world."

At a meeting to discuss modalities of support for the Science Council, FAO reaffirmed its strong commitment to the CGIAR and will continue to host the Science Council Secretariat at FAO Headquarters in Rome
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Meet Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Chairman, CGIAR Science Council

During a recent visit to Washington, Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Chairman, Science Council spoke to "CGIAR News" about the Science Council's priorities and evolving work program. No stranger to the CGIAR, Per was formerly Director General of IFPRI (1992-2002). Born in Holmager, Denmark, he received his B.S. (Agricultural Economics) from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, and a master's and doctorate from Oklahoma State University. In 2001 he was awarded the World Food Prize.

Q: Please describe the role of the CGIAR Science Council?
PP-A: The single-most important role of the Science Council (SC) is to advise CGIAR Centers, members, and stakeholders on research priorities and strategies, quality of research, and related issues such as new technologies and policies to help poor farmers in developing countries manage resources for higher productivity and incomes, a more secure food supply, and sustainable use of natural resources. Because CGIAR investments account for only 4 percent of total expenditures in agricultural research, we have to be absolutely certain that we set the priorities in a way that will do the most for poor people. Restated, the purpose of the Science Council is to help the Centers and the stakeholders to identify the priorities that will have the biggest beneficial impacts on the lives of poor people per dollar spent.

Q: What are the top three priorities for the new Science Council?
PP-A: Our first priority is to help CGIAR to set priorities that will reflect the needs of poor people, whether they are farmers or consumers. Secondly, SC should help establish appropriate measures of science quality and monitor the quality of the science that is being done within CGIAR. Thirdly the Science Council should assess the impact of the work done by CGIAR Centers. I see a fourth priority that the SC should be addressing, and that is mobilizing science for agricultural development and poverty eradication outside of the CGIAR. For that purpose, we are hoping to strengthen the collaboration between the CGIAR and agricultural research institutions and farmers throughout the developing world.

Q: Please describe the modus operandi of the new Science Council?
PP-A: The SC will operate in a consensus mode, we will meet when necessary to discuss matters that fall within our mandate. We will spend lot of effort interacting between meetings in a virtual mode, by telephone, email, and video conferences, and arrangements of various kinds. But we will probably have two formal meetings per year, and leave ourselves the option for more meetings if needed. I might add that it was fascinating to have our first meeting and see nine members of the Science Council coming from many different cultural backgrounds, scientific disciplines, and to see that we were able to carry on a constructive conversation from the very beginning. Sometimes it takes a great deal of effort to get people from different cultures to communicate. In this case, we had no problems, and the members communicated among themselves effectively. I think the reason is that they are a very dedicated group of high-level scientists who share a common goal with the CGIAR of reducing and hopefully eliminating poverty and hunger in developing countries. It is these shared goals that unite the SC and make us communicate very effectively.

Q: Why is the work of the CGIAR important?
PP-A: About 70% of the world's poor and hungry people live in rural areas where they depend on agriculture directly as farmers or farm workers or indirectly, as providers of agricultural goods and services. In order to help that target population of poor people to escape poverty, we need productivity-increasing measures in small-scale
agriculture in developing countries. But we also need sustainable productivity increases because natural resource management issues have to be taken into account. We must manage natural resources in a way that is compatible with the needs of future generations, so the agricultural research that is being done both by CGIAR and collaborating institutions is very important.

While the national institutions have to do most of the agricultural research, the CGIAR can help by undertaking the research that we refer to as international public goods, namely the kind of research that many national institutions can use in their efforts to meet the needs of poor farmers and poor consumers.
In view of this, it is very important that international and national institutions interact to achieve common goals.

Q: What about the role of farmers?
PP-A: If we are to assure that the priorities in agricultural research are reflecting appropriately the problems of poor people then poor people should be partners in setting priorities. For this, we need to closely work with farmers associations, NGOs, with public sector representatives, and with others who understand the problems facing poor farmers in developing countries. By doing so, it will help us understand what kind of solutions are relevant and acceptable to the intended beneficiaries, namely low-income people. We also have to work very closely with the private sector because that is where a lot of the future agricultural research will be undertaken. Therefore, we need to establish much closer working relationships with private institutions as well as NGOs and farmer associations.

For more information visit www.sciencecouncil.cgiar.org