Establishment of the Future Harvest Alliance Office

FHAO was formed in May 2004 to support the Centers Directors Committee (CDC) and the collective actions of the Future Harvest Centers by incorporating the existing part-time CDC executive secretary position and adding a part-time executive officer. The enhancements were designed to support the work of the centers; their representation in critical CGIAR forums, such as the Executive Council and the SO; and their work with other partners within the CGIAR system.

At the 2004 Annual General Meeting, the FHAO supported the historic action of the CDC and Committee of Board Chairs (CBC) in reaching agreement to establish a formal alliance of the 15 Future Harvest Centers. The decision was based on a consultative and thoroughly developed process that included a July 2004 retreat and substantive discussion based on papers, interviews, and discussions that developed the options for collaboration, the alliance concept, and its principles. In October 2004, the CBC and CDC produced a joint statement for their Framework for Collective Action , which laid out both immediate and long-term goals. The alliance will work to build on the following activities:

• Existing collaboration in programs, administration, and policies
• An analysis of deficiencies for collective action in the past, through a new focus on agreed-upon guiding principles
• Existing entities and mechanisms, such as the CDC, CBC, and the medium-term planning process and others
• The determination of the centers to improve and streamline programming efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa, in collaboration with the task forces, and then extend those efforts into other regions.

The FHAO reports directly to the CDC chair and facilitates the work of the CDC as a whole. The executive officer gives policy and administrative support to collaboration among centers and provides high-level support to the CDC (as the executive of the Alliance of Future Harvest Centers) and CBC, especially with respect to enhancing the contributions of the CDC and the centers to the CGIAR Executive Council and System Office and strengthening the strategic agenda of the CDC and CBC.

Continued Streamlining of Joint Activities across Centers and SO Units

One of the goals of the FHAO is to assist in the improvement of collaborative action between the various centers and SO units. In 2004, FHAO improved the systems and procedures for sharing information between and for financial management of the SO units; it did this through a coordinated effort to combine CDC budgetary requirements and recording with that of the SO. The project was accomplished with staff of the CGIAR Secretariat and the Association of International Agricultural Research Centers (AIARC) and was designed to help prevent duplication.

The FHAO also assisted in the formation and preparation of Centers and Members Day for the Annual General Meeting by organizing presentations by center staff that addressed CGIAR partnerships in the Latin American and Caribbean. The presentations also covered innovations to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. FHAO also oversaw the preparations of the incoming and outgoing CDC chairs' reports to the Annual General Meeting.

Establishment of the CDC Collaboration Site

In May 2004, in keeping with the desire to find new approaches to improving its collective work and streamline operations, the CDC approved the CDC Collaboration Site, a website for both private and limited-access CDC discussions, the posting of shared documents and information, and the CDC archives. The Web site is intended in part to preserve and enhance the "institutional memory" of the CDC. Additional access to the site was given to the heads of the SO units, the director of the CGIAR, the SC chair, and members of the Marketing Group. The FHAO consolidated the centers' and SO units' calendars on the Web site.

Collaboration with Other SO Units

• Completion of the G&D External Review. The external review of the G&D Program was successfully completed in May 2004 at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) meetings of the CDC and CBC. The review was jointly sponsored by the CBC, CDC, and CGIAR Secretariat. The Oversight Committee consisted of Masa Iwanaga (CDC and chair), Angeline Kamba (CBC), Isher Judge Ahluwhalia (CBC), Francisco Reifschneider (CGIAR Secretariat). The FHAO provided logistical support for the review.
• Improved financial reporting and analysis of systemwide activities. In addition to thestreamlined and improved budgetary processes in 2004, the FHAO worked with staff from the SC Secretariat to synthesize a consolidated response from the centers as to performance measurement indicators and an analysis of the GPGA Progress Review Phase I, submitted by the CDC chair to the CGIAR Secretariat in September.
• Improved information sharing and strengthening of collective action. With the formal closing of the Future Harvest Foundation in 2004 and transfer of the trademark to the centers, information and public relations contacts were shared with the CGIAR Secretariat, with further activities to be carried out by the Marketing Group. The Future Harvest Web site was transferred to CGNet. FHAO is organizing a workshop for 2005 in consultation with other SO units including the CIO, the CGIAR Secretariat, and the Marketing Group.