An Update on Reform

In recent years, policy makers and the general public have awakened to the threats posed by two major developments on the world scene - global climate change and sharp increases in the price of staple grains - which place agriculture at center stage. Those trends are putting tremendous strain on agriculture's productive capacity, and they have particularly worrisome consequences for poor consumers and producers of food.

Against that background, CGIAR leadership decided in 2007 to embark on major reforms through a forward-looking facilitated Change Management Initiative.

Types of change envisioned

The CGIAR's work is highly relevant to the challenges posed by climate change and higher priced food, and the Centers it supports have much to offer developing countries as they struggle to cope with these problems. Even so, changes are urgently needed on several fronts to ensure that renewed collaborative efforts in the CGIAR are as effective as possible. Here are some of the needs that CGIAR stakeholders consistently single out:

• A research agenda that focuses more sharply on major global development challenges
• Better defined research mandates, around which Centers can more easily organize collaborative research
• Streamlined and effective governance arrangements, with clear accountability for performance and results
• Greater openness to partnerships that include the full range of institutions whose contributions are needed to achieve large-scale impact
• Better coordination on the part of investors, together with adequate and stable levels of financial support
• More transparent and efficient procedures for collective decision making and action

Organizing change management

The Change Management Initiative centers on four main areas of concern to CGIAR stakeholders:

1. visioning and development challenges,
2. strategic partnerships,
3. governance at the Center and CGIAR levels and
4. funding mechanisms.

In early 2008, a change steering team was formed to provide guidance for the work of four working groups, each of which corresponds to one of the areas listed above. The groups met for the first time at a workshop held in February, where they established targets and work plans for the year. In the coming months, the groups will engage in analysis and discussions (both virtually and in face-to-face workshops), with the aim of developing concrete recommendations for change.

In early April, the visioning working group held a retreat at Addis Ababa to explore options for a revised CGIAR vision. The event featured an inclusive consultation with a broad cross section of stakeholders (representing CGIAR Centers, national partner institutions and others). Discussions in plenary and working groups centered on three main development goals - poverty reduction, hunger eradication and environmental protection - and on the CGIAR's research capacities for addressing these. Using the framework that emerged from those discussions, the working group will prepare a document that covers the CGIAR's vision and mission and offer a set of strategic objectives leading to measurable outcomes that respond to major development challenges.

An approach to institutional change

The CGIAR is a large, diverse, informal and decentralized organization, whose stakeholders share a common commitment to agricultural research for development but differ on important details about the institutional structures and arrangements that are most appropriate for carrying it out. That is why the CGIAR leadership team has opted for a change initiative that, far from being imposed by the few on the many, will be managed in a more democratic and consultative fashion to capture the best ideas from a wide cross-section of stakeholders. Melding those ideas into a coherent blueprint for change will be a complex process requiring professional facilitation.

The change process is being facilitated by the Trium Group (a consulting firm that specializes in organizational change), with assistance from the CGIAR Director and Secretariat. Two important aims of the facilitation will be to foster a more collective mindset, emphasizing the synergies of the CGIAR instead of its individual components, and to build trust between Members, Centers and partners. Both qualities are essential for reaching consensus on the changes to be implemented.

Participation and consultation

If the change initiative were left in the hands of just a few leaders, it would stand little chance of success, primarily because the changes recommended would lack "buy in" from the many individuals who could contribute to and be affected by them. For that reason, each working group is composed of a mixture of CGIAR Members, Center staff and partner representatives (members of the change steering team and working groups are listed in a special Change section of the CGIAR Web site). Each group also includes one or two external consultants, who are expected to bring new ideas to the discussion, while leading analysis and report writing.

In addition, the groups will consult widely with CGIAR stakeholders through interviews and online surveys. No one who wants to have a voice in the change process will lack opportunities to be heard. Moreover, all the minutes of group meetings will be available on the CGIAR Web site.

Reform time frame

An Independent Review of the CGIAR is taking place simultaneously with the Change Management Initiative. Its final report, to be available by the end of July 2008, will provide important input for the formulation of proposed changes.

Each working group is expected to complete its recommendations in time for them to be considered at the mid-October 2008 meeting of the CGIAR Executive Council. Implementation of recommendations, once approved at the CGIAR's 2008 Annual General Meeting, to be held at Maputo, Mozambique, should get under way in 2009.

Resources for change

A change management facility has been established to channel financial support to the Change Management Initiative as well as the Independent Review, which is also taking place in 2008. We acknowledge the generous financial support of Canada, Germany, the Syngenta Foundation, the UK, the USA and the World Bank. Their contributions indicate the seriousness with which CGIAR Members approach this initiative.