Progress with the Independent Review

An Independent Review of the CGIAR is under way that parallels the Change Management Initiative covered by another article in this issue of eNews. To better link the two efforts, the review chair serves as one of two external advisors to the steering team of the change initiative.

Encompassing mainly the period from the beginning of reforms in 2002 through 2007, the review seeks to determine, from an independent perspective, how well the CGIAR is "positioned to address emerging food security challenges" and to offer recommendations for change that will enhance its effectiveness.

The review takes place against the background of dramatic increases in the cost of food and growing concern about the impact of global climate change on developing country agriculture. Those trends underscore the urgent need for improved agricultural technologies to help achieve sustainable increases in food production and shield agriculture against climate change impacts. Yet, paradoxically, CGIAR funding continues to be volatile. The findings of the Independent Review should help donors make better decisions about investing in the CGIAR to address continuing challenges to world food security.

Focus and methods

The Independent Review is focusing on three main topics:

• Governance, partnership, management and alignment
• Scientific work
• External partnerships

The review panel is gathering information by various means, including a stakeholder survey and interviews with staff of CGIAR Centers and partner organizations. For the latter purpose, more than a half dozen meetings and visits to nine Centers are being organized. The panel is also carrying out meta-reviews and commissioning studies of key issues.

Activities under way

On governance, the panel's main output so far consists of a paper that reviews past proposals for governance reform in the CGIAR. The paper derives from this review several governance scenarios for the future. In connection with its examination of governance, the panel is also analyzing financial controls and risk management practices to determine whether these are adequate to ensure financial stability across the Centers. Preliminary findings suggest that the prevailing practices are not yet fully adapted to the CGIAR's current financial realities.

To assess the effectiveness and impact of CGIAR research, the review panel is conducting a meta-evaluation, which relies largely on studies already completed. The evaluation seeks to determine the CGIAR's degree of success in improving the well-being of rural people through agricultural research. Among the questions being posed are the following: Are the research priorities of the CGIAR properly focused on the needs of the rural poor? How have funds been allocated among priorities and among specific elements of these? How have Centers learned from their experience, adjusting research to confront new challenges, such as land degradation, water scarcity and climate change?

As part of its impact evaluation, the panel is considering gender issues, relying on evaluations already carried out as well as survey results. Preliminary analysis of those results suggests that respondents consider the integration of gender and diversity issues into CGIAR employment and research to be highly important for effectiveness.

The review panel is also carrying out a meta-evaluation of the CGIAR's four Challenge Programs. It examines the extent to which the programs are heightening the CGIAR's relevance and impact, contributing to greater cohesion among Centers, strengthening partnerships and mobilizing long-term funding. Based on its findings, the panel will assess the potential of Challenge Programs as a model for a more program-based approach to project development and funding in the CGIAR.

Through a desk review of reports from External Program and Management Reviews, medium-term plans and other documents, the review panel is assessing the quality and effectiveness of CGIAR partnerships. The analysis seeks to determine whether partnerships properly exploit the comparative advantages of those involved, meet their expectations and contribute effectively to shared objectives. A second study commissioned by the panel focuses specifically on the quality of CGIAR partnerships with non-government organizations.

Next Steps

The Independent Review Panel will gather in mid-May during the upcoming meeting of the CGIAR's Executive Council (ExCo) in Ottawa, Canada. The next key milestone will be the circulation for comment on July 31 of a draft of the full panel's report. Then, during September, the panel will organize a "stakeholder response" workshop in conjunction with a retreat to be held by the steering committee and working groups of the Change Management Initiative. The purpose of the workshop will be to test preliminary reactions to the review panel's findings on a wide range of issues.

Afterwards, the panel's final report will be circulated in advance of the October ExCo meeting. It will also be presented at the CGIAR's 2008 Annual General Meeting to be held in Maputo, Mozambique.