New CGIAR Initiatives announced to help radically realign food, land, and water systems

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    26.07.21

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Rome, Italy (July 26, 2021) – Today at the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) 2021 Pre-Summit, CGIAR announces an exciting new research and innovation prospectus to transform food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis.

The prospectus of Initiatives sets out the future focus of a unified and more impactful One CGIAR. Through these new Initiatives, CGIAR builds on its 50-year track record of research and innovations that have changed the world, improving food and nutrition security for the world’s most vulnerable people and lifting millions out of poverty.

The announcement comes at a pivotal moment. As the Pre-Summit kicks off, COVID-19 variants and climate change are ravaging the globe, severely impacting countries in the Global South, where food systems and the people who depend on them are already struggling. But with growing recognition of the role of, and impacts on, food systems in both the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis, we have an important window of opportunity to take action. The UNFSS builds on this opportunity, bringing together diverse actors from around the world to leverage the power of food systems.

In line with CGIAR’s 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy, launched earlier this year, the Initiatives outlined in the new prospectus seeks to provide the science, knowledge, and tools needed to carry out a radical realignment of food systems, contributing not only to the UNFSS Action Tracks and solutions clusters, which feed into the Sustainable Development Goals, but also to other collective global targets for food, land, and water systems.

Claudia Sadoff, CGIAR Executive Management Team Convener and Managing Director, Research Delivery and Impact, said: “Agricultural research is essential for addressing so many of our global, interlinked challenges, and more of it is needed if the world is to reach its full potential without costing the Earth. CGIAR, the world’s largest public agricultural research network, is vital to the transformation required across food, land, and water systems for the future of both people and planet.”

Accordingly, CGIAR’s new Initiatives are designed to make real, lasting, and positive impact across five Impact Areas. The Impact Areas are: 1) Nutrition, Health, and Food Security; 2) Poverty Reduction, Livelihoods, and Jobs; 3) Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion; 4) Climate Adaptation and Mitigation; and 5) Environmental Health and Biodiversity.

To ensure that CGIAR’s world-class science translates to impact, CGIAR relies on its strong partnerships with countries, farmers, funders, NGOs, and other key stakeholders in food, land, and water systems. These partners are essential to CGIAR’s ability to develop and scale demand-led local and regional solutions.

As CGIAR undertakes the most significant reform in its history, transforming itself into One CGIAR, expanding and deepening partnerships and becoming a better partner have been key areas of focus. “Our institutional reform means we are more integrated and better equipped for the kinds of long-term partnerships needed to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. CGIAR stands ready to be the scientific partner of choice for food systems transformation,” said Kundhavi Kadiresan, CGIAR Managing Director, Global Engagement and Innovation.

Funding is a crucial piece of the puzzle, as agricultural research is chronically underfunded: A doubling of investment in research and innovation is required to end hunger, eradicate poverty, and fight climate change by 2030. Accordingly, CGIAR aims to raise US$2 billion in funding by 2030 to support its transformational work together with partners. With CGIAR research and innovation providing a 10:1 return on investment, funding the new Initiatives provides a clear path to impact for people and planet.

Preliminary outlines for each Initiative are available in CGIAR’s 2022–2024 Investment Prospectus. Proposals for each Initiative will be further developed by CGIAR scientists together with partners before being submitted to CGIAR’s System Board and System Council for approval. Approved Initiatives will be launched as funding is secured, starting in 2022.

Explore the CGIAR Portfolio Prospectus

 

You can learn more about CGIAR’s engagement in the UNFSS Pre-Summit here.

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