The Origins of the CGIAR

The origins of the CGIAR lie in the Mexico-Rockefeller Foundation International Agriculture Program, a groundbreaking collaborative venture set up in 1943 at the suggestion of US Vice President Henry Wallace, Mexico's Agriculture Minister Marte R. Gomez and Undersecretary for Agriculture Alfonso Gallardo, with the strong backing of Rockefeller Foundation President Raymond Fosdick.

George Harrar, who was later President of the Rockefeller Foundation, led a team of scientists including Norman Borlaug and Edward Wellhausen for the Mexico Program which focused primarily on increasing the productivity of beans, maize, wheat and potatoes; soil management and crop protection; and improving the productivity of domestic animals.

After several years of research, the Program was able to develop semi-dwarf varieties of high-yielding wheat, with yields three times higher than those of traditional varieties, and Mexico was declared self-sufficient in wheat. Borlaug, who created the new strains of wheat, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.

The transfer of knowledge from Mexico to India, where famine was widely anticipated, resulted in major productivity increases in India and elsewhere in the region. Subsequently, new rice varieties from the rice research program headquartered in Philippines with support from the Foundations, improved food supplies even more. The rice program was inaugurated through the joint efforts of Forrest "Frosty" Hill, Vice President of Ford Foundation, and George Harrar (Rockefeller) after an informal but crucial meeting at the University Club in New York. Application of the new technologies saved millions from starvation or death across Asia.

Borlaug and Sir John Crawford of Australia were very much involved in the transfer of knowledge. On the Indian side, Minister of Agriculture C. Subramaniam, known as the father of modern agriculture in India, threw his weight behind the new technologies, and persuaded his colleagues to add their support as well. Local scientists and farmers helped to develop the program.

These early efforts led to the establishment of four international agricultural centers - CIAT (tropical agriculture, Colombia, established in 1967 ),CIMMYT (maize and wheat, Mexico, 1966), IITA (tropical agriculture, Nigeria, 1967), and IRRI (rice, Philippines, 1960).

The Foundations, on their own, were not able to support international agricultural research in perpetuity. Hence, the Foundations together with the heads of FAO, UNDP, and the World Bank sought to persuade influential donors that agricultural development and, therefore, agricultural research, deserved high priority on the international development agenda.

This resulted in a series of policy consultations in 1969-1971 at which the goals of international agricultural research, financial support for research, and a suitable mechanism to harmonize these efforts were discussed. Most of these consultations were held at Bellagio, and all of them came to be known as Bellagio Conferences.

Among the policy makers who collaborated in this effort were Addeke Boerma (FAO), Sir John Crawford (Australia), John Hannah (USAID), George Harrar (Rockefeller Foundation), Forrest "Frosty" Hill (Ford Foundation), Paul Hoffman (UNDP), David Hopper (Canada/IDRC), Robert McNamara (World Bank), Maurice Strong (Canada/CIDA) and Sir Geoffrey Wilson (UK).

At the First Bellagio Conference, attended by heads of multilateral and bilateral agencies, Rockefeller and Ford Foundation representatives presented scientific evidence of the results of international agricultural research achieved so far, and the potential further impact. The data was compelling, and broad agreement was reached on the need to support international agricultural research.

Throughout the Bellagio process, experts from multilateral and national agencies and the Foundations produced a series of policy papers developing the urgent need to support expanded and continuing agricultural research. They covered almost every issue that could affect discussions and decisions - agricultural priorities, capital flows, new technologies, institutional mechanisms, and many more. Their contribution to the founding of the CGIAR was crucial.

These dedicated specialists included David Bell (Ford Foundation), Meyer Cohen (UNDP), Richard Demuth (World Bank), Lowell Hardin (Ford Foundation), Forrest Hill (Ford), Peter Oram (FAO), Stanley Please (World Bank), and Sterling Wortman (Rockefeller Foundation).

Participants in the Bellagio Conference agreed to a suggestion by Maurice Strong that as the World Bank had established numerous Consultative Groups for countries, it could set up one for agricultural research. Robert McNamara took up the challenge. He urged the World Bank's Executive Board to agree to provide an annual grant to a Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

The proposal did not gain immediate acceptance. McNamara persevered, urging the Executive Board to act, so that "the green revolution could remain green." He co-opted Sir John Crawford as a Bank consultant to help with the technical planning, while he exercised his own negotiating skills both within and outside the Bank until full support was lined up.

In January 1971, a preliminary meeting was held to decide on how the CGIAR should be set up. The first formal meeting of the CGIAR was held on May 19, 1971. Richard Demuth, Director of the World Bank's Development Services presided.

At its inaugural meeting, the CGIAR adopted a "Statement of Objectives, Composition, and Organizational Structure." This founding resolution committed the CGIAR to:

• Examine the needs of developing countries for specialized efforts in agriculture;
  
• Harmonize international, regional, and national efforts to finance and undertake agricultural research;
  
• Provide finance for high priority agricultural research activities;
  
• Undertake continuing review of priorities.

The CGIAR also established a Technical Advisory Committee, headed by Sir John Crawford, to provide the Group with independent technical advice.

In 28 years from the launch of the collaborative effort in Mexico, far-seeing donors had created a unique institution to mobilize science and financial support to serve the needs of the poor.