Advisory Services

CGIAR receives external, impartial and expert advice related to strategic planning and positioning, program evaluation and impact assessment. The independent advisory services comprise the Independent Science for Development Council (ISDC), the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment (SPIA) and an independent evaluation workstream implemented at the request of CGIAR System Council. CGIAR Advisory Services Shared Secretariat (CAS Secretariat) facilitates and supports these independent advisory services.

See the CGIAR Advisory Services website for further information.

INDEPENDENT SCIENCE FOR DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (ISDC)

The ISDC provides its advice within the broader context of CGIAR’s Strategy and Results Framework (‘SRF’), and successive multi-year CGIAR Business Plans approved by the System Council upon the recommendation of the System Management Board. Guided by terms of reference approved by the System Council, the ISDC has a mandate for:

Foresight work to inform CGIAR’s longer term research strategy;
Horizon scanning to provide analysis on how emerging trends and developments can be taken into account in CGIAR’s work;
Priority setting exercises and analyses integrating both ex-post and ex-ante analyses;
Guidance for periodic proposal assessment processes; and
Other functions, on the strategic direction of CGIAR and the value of its research agenda.

Members and main affiliations

Holger Meinke ISDC Chair	Strategic Research Professor for Global Food Sustainability, University of Tasmania, Australia
Andrew Ash ISDC Member	Retired Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO
Chris Barrett ISDC Member	Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, USA
Lesley Torrance ISDC Member	Director of Science at the James Hutton Institute and Professor of Biology at the University of St Andrews, UK
Nighisty Ghezae ISDC Member	Director of the International Foundation for Science, Sweden
Suneetha Kadiyala ISDC Member	Associate Professor in Nutrition-Sensitive Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

See the relevant section on the CGIAR Advisory Services website for further information.

STANDING PANEL ON IMPACT ASSESSMENT (SPIA)

SPIA is an external, impartial standing panel of experts in impact assessment subject matters appointed by the System Council and accountable to it. Within the context of the CGIAR System, operating according to multi-year CGIAR Business Plans to increase coherence and alignment in CGIAR’s delivery against it Strategy and Results Framework (‘SRF’), and guided by terms of reference approved by the System Council, SPIA is responsible for providing rigorous, evidence-based and independent strategic advice to the CGIAR System on:

Efficient and effective impact assessment methods and practices, including those measuring impacts beyond contribution to science and economic performance; and
On innovative ways to improve knowledge and capacity on how research contributes to development outcomes

Members and main affiliations

Karen Macours SPIA Chair	Professor at the Paris School of Economics and researcher at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE)
Kyle Emerick SPIA Member	Associate Professor in Economics, Tufts University, USA
JV Meenakshi SPIA Member	Professor of Agricultural Economics and Health Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India
Kelsey Jack SPIA Special Initiative Member	Associate Professor of Environmental and Development Economics, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
Rachid Laajaj SPIA Special Initiative Member	Associate Professor in Economics, University of Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia
Travis Lybbert SPIA Special Initiative Member	Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California Davis, USA

See the relevant section on the CGIAR Advisory Services website for further information.

CGIAR ADVISORY SERVICES SHARED SECRETARIAT & INDEPENDENT EVALUATION WORKSTREAM

Guided by a terms of reference approved by the System Council, the CGIAR Advisory Services Shared Secretariat (CAS Secretariat) provides operational support for ISDC, SPIA and implementation of the CGIAR System’s multi-year evaluation plan.

Staff members