Partnerships and advocacy for sustainable development 

Meeting today’s interconnected global challenges, including securing food and nutrition for all, bending the curve on biodiversity loss and climate change, and creating inclusive and sustainable livelihood opportunities, requires a unified effort by different stakeholders around the world.  

National governments, academic institutions, global policy bodies, private companies, and civil society are coming together in pursuit of a common goal – to deliver significant and urgent progress across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This shared mission means that diverse partners are increasingly working together to co-create solutions, leverage synergies, share assets and resources, and create spaces for new and diverse voices to emerge. At the same time, our shared knowledge and evidence are informing and influencing the development of impactful policy, investments, and practices through purposeful advocacy that gives a voice to people directly affected by arising issues. 

CGIAR works with 3000+ partners in nearly 90 countries around the world to advance the transformation of food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. As part of its recent reform, CGIAR has adjusted and strengthened its strategy to better reflect and integrate partners’ perspectives and needs, leading to science and innovations that address the underlying causes of problems and deliver measurable impact on the ground.  

Who are our partners? 

CGIAR has diverse partners around the world, including but not limited to: 

  • Civil society and non-government organizations that work with farmers, rural communities, and on environmental issues;
  • Farming communities and farmer service providers including extension services, small and medium enterprises; 
  • Funders, governments around the world, development agencies, and foundations, among others;  
  • International and regional organizations, such as United Nations agencies, the World Bank, the African Union, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank; 
  • National and sub-national governments, and agricultural research services, and regional research agencies;
  • Private sector associations and businesses of all sizes, from local to international;
  • Research organizations and universities in the North and South;
  • Venture capitalists, business incubators and impact accelerators to co-create and improve the readiness of our innovations and help take them to scale. 
    Partnerships for impact 

    CGIAR’s new Engagement Framework for Partnerships & Advocacy – Toward Greater Impact sets out the guiding principles, systems, and approaches for partners and CGIAR to achieve common goals. Building on the Framework, CGIAR will bring together representatives from across regions and from national agricultural research systems, government ministries, and the private sector to further develop its regional and national engagement strategies in line with the principles of this Framework. 

    Capacity sharing for development 

    CGIAR seeks to deepen and broader its engagement with National Agricultural Research and Innovation Systems (NARIS), working more closely with government agencies and the rich ecosystems of academic institutions, research centers, private sector, and civil society actors operating in the research-for-development space in partner countries. A cornerstone of this engagement is ‘capacity sharing for development’, designed as a collaborative, coordinated, comprehensive, and long-term effort to develop, strengthen, adapt, and maintain the capacities of individuals and organizations, including those of partners and CGIAR, working toward common goals in partner countries. 

    Capacity sharing for development is not traditional capacity development but rather structured multi-directional spaces for co-learning and co-creation through collaborative research, training (including South-to-South and South-to-North), leadership building, institutional strengthening, internships, fellowships, secondments, and other arrangements of mutual interest, of benefit and high impact for partners and CGIAR. 

    Towards more effective and shared engagement with partners

    CGIAR welcomes the publication of the report by the independent High-level Advisory Panel (HLAP), On Improving One CGIAR’s Strategic Engagement with Partners”.

    CGIAR is fundamentally rooted in partnership. A demand-driven approach is central to meet CGIAR’s 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy. Conscious of the need to improve the effectiveness of its engagement with partners in the Global South and to enhance their voice and participation, in July 2022, CGIAR’s System Board appointed the HLAP to review its draft Engagement Framework and “advise on fostering ownership of reforms and mechanisms for joint learning and engagement…”.

    Following significant engagement and consultation with a broad range of partners and other stakeholders, the report, developed by 12 internationally renowned experts, calls for wide-ranging reform of CGIAR’s approach to engagement and partnerships, including to:

    1. Better orient the new One CGIAR model and, in particular, the institutional arrangements being put into place toward improved engagement and partnership with key stakeholders;
    2. Develop and implement a visible process for inclusive agenda-setting, co-design, and co-ownership of all aspects of One CGIAR’s programmatic efforts;
    3. Prioritize establishment and urgent implementation of appropriate engagement modalities with Host Country Governments, as key partners in the One CGIAR transformation.

    The three detailed recommendations, containing 20-plus proposed actions, profoundly cut across the operations of the CGIAR System. While the organization considers the best way forward to implement and operationalize the HLAP’s roadmap, the CGIAR System Board underlined its commitment to more effective system-wide coordination of partnerships and engagement, and to strengthening the role of key stakeholders, in particular Host Country Governments. CGIAR is committed to reinforcing a culture of effective engagement which is truly embedded in the architecture, roles, responsibilities, and operations of the organization.

    Private Partnerships for Impact (PP4I)