CGIAR System Board Names High-Level Advisory Panel Members to Guide Leadership in Strengthening Engagement with Partners

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    21.07.22

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CGIAR’s System Board has appointed an independent external high-level Advisory Panel to guide leadership and staff in strengthening their strategic engagement with countries and regional partners as CGIAR continues its transition to an integrated One CGIAR.

The Panel will advise on fostering ownership of reforms and mechanisms for joint learning and engagement with governments, regional organizations, farmer groups, the private sector, and community organizations across the regions in which CGIAR works, and review CGIAR’s Engagement Framework for Partnerships & Advocacy – Toward Greater Impact.

The Panel brings together respected leaders from the fields of government, academia and civil society, representing deep and diverse experience in agricultural science and innovation in the global South. It is constituted of two Co-Conveners and initially ten additional members who are eminent leaders in the global South or the Executive Secretary of a regional or global representative forum. It will convene for up to six months to advise the CGIAR System Board and oversee the leadership team’s roll-out of consultations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Co-Conveners
  • Dr. Uma Lele is President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists and co-author of Food for All: International Organizations and the Transformation of Agriculture. She has five decades of experience in research, operations, policy analysis, and evaluation in the World Bank, universities and international organizations, including in the past meta evaluations of CGIAR.
  • Dr. Namanga Ngongi is currently a member of the African Economic Research Consortium, Chair of the Seed Systems Group (SSG) and former Chair of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture’s Board. He was President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from 2007 to 2012 and involved in the One CGIAR reform process as a member of the CGIAR System Management Board.
Panel members*
  • Dr. Adil Abdelrahim, a widely-published researcher and academic, is President of the Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (AARINENA).
  • Hon. Dr. Mohammad Abdur Razzaque is Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
  • Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, an agriculture expert with a track record of leadership in Food/Nutrition Security, Rural Development, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).
  • Dr. Julio Berdegue, who will join the Panel in August, was FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean between 2017-2022; he served as member and chair of the Board of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and has participated in several advisory roles with different CGIAR Centers.
  • Dr. Botir Dosov has participated in developing and implementing national and international programs and strategies in agri-food systems over his 25-year career; currently he is CEO/Executive Secretary, Central Asia and the Caucasus Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (CACAARI).
  • Dr. Jikun Huang is a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences and the Applied Economics Association; he is a Professor at the School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences and Honorary Director of China Center for Agricultural Policy and Director of New Rural Development Institute, Peking University.
  • Dr. Ravi Khetarpal is Executive Secretary, Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions; he is deeply engaged in promoting, facilitating and networking for strengthening agricultural research and innovation systems in the region.
  • Dr. Hildegard Lingnau, Executive Secretary, Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation, has over 30 years of experience in research, policy development and management positions in institutions and countries all over the world.
  • Hon. Dr. Gérardine Mukeshimana is Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources of the Republic of Rwanda, responsible for oversight of all agricultural and livestock related activities in the country.
  • Viviana Palmieri serves as the Executive Secretary of the Forum of the Americas on Agricultural Research and Technology Development (FORAGRO) and technical specialist in Innovation and Technology for Agriculture at the Directorate of Technical Cooperation of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture.

“It is not only important that the high-level Advisory Panel be independent, but be seen as independent by the stakeholders, so their trust provides honest feedback on the process and substance of reforms and new forms of engagement,” said Dr. Uma Lele, Co-Convener.

“A better coordinated and impactful CGIAR at country level, working in close partnership with national and regional programs and institutions is needed in the face of climate-induced challenges to fragile food systems,” said Dr. Namanga Ngongi, Co-Convener. “We will seek to play a robust role in reviewing and guiding this important aspect of CGIAR’s reforms.”

CGIAR has responded to calls from partners to increase stakeholder engagement in the One CGIAR transition, which is driven by the need to tackle increasingly interconnected challenges with a systems approach that takes into account all relevant aspects of food, land, and water systems.

Marco Ferroni, Chair of the CGIAR System Board, said, “It is vital that partnership remains core to the way CGIAR works. The deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities for research and development in food, land and water systems that the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel bring to the discussion will provide exceptional insight into how CGIAR can foster deeper engagement with our key partners.”

* Additional Panel members may be announced in the coming weeks.

Header photo by C. de Bode/CGIAR.

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