Ninth Meeting of the CGIAR Science Council

Recent external reviews and research planning were the central focus of the ninth meeting of the CGIAR Science Council, which was held in late March at the headquarters of the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. In addition to plenary discussions and sessions of the Science Council's various standing panels, the meeting's agenda featured invited presentations on important research-for-development issues in sub-Saharan Africa and on projects under way at the World Agroforestry Centre and the International Livestock Research Centre (ILRI), also headquartered in Nairobi.

Following is a summary of key outcomes of the discussions.

With respect to the recent external review of the Generation Challenge Program (GCP), the review panel noted that "the program's most important achievement has been the creation of well-characterized reference collections for a number of crops, which will eventually total 21. The panel believes those collections will be extremely relevant to research in the years to come, upon completion of the GCP." The program's steering committee and management agreed with all of the review panel's recommendations, including the establishment of a more independent governance body. The program is already acting on this latter recommendation through the establishment of an executive board composed of seven members from organizations that do not belong to the GCP consortium. The Water and Food Challenge Program is acting similarly to establish a more independent governing body in its second phase.

The CGIAR Center Alliance reported that 12 "framework" plans (designed for implementation of CGIAR research priorities) had been elaborated as of January 2008. It was suggested that the "heartland" framework plans (e.g., 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A and 5C) be pursued at this stage, as they are likely to remain part of the CGIAR's core business under the most probable scenarios. The Science Council agreed to await the outcomes of the deliberations of the four working groups involved in the CGIAR Facilitated Change Management Initiative and then join in discussions with the Alliance on the best means to move this planning forward, with the aim of making funding recommendations to the CGIAR Executive Council later this year. With further refinement, plans for key priorities should serve to inform the Change Management Initiative.

Progress was made with a process to streamline the development, submission and evaluation of Medium-Term Plans (MTPs). The Science Council reaffirmed its intention to shift its assessment from MTPs more toward Center strategic plans, in keeping with the council's function as a source of advice on strategic scientific issues.

Preparations are under way for the External Program and Management Reviews of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

The Science Council decided not to endorse development of performance measurement indicators for Challenge Programs, because rigorous monitoring procedures are already in place to reliably inform donors and the programs themselves.

The panels on mobilizing science and on priorities and strategies will undertake jointly a series of strategic studies to examine how research can best address current and emerging development challenges (particularly those signaled by the World Development Report 2008) through advanced scientific and technological innovations.