The Strategy for CGIAR’s next ten years is evolving with every voice

[News]
Climbing bean trials in Darién, Colombia.
With less than a week to go (until 27th February 2015) in the Second Phase of Consultation on the SRF, there has been an overwhelming sentiment from participants in the various channels of the consultation that the SRF has made significant advances towards articulating an innovative and impactful roadmap for CGIAR work over the next ten years. Valuable inputs – including from Phase 1 of the SRF Consultation (see results here) – have provided useful ideas to populate the SRF, and the second phase of consultation is already providing more valuable suggestions on how to strengthen the way the SRF articulates an effective roadmap for agricultural research for development.
 

So what did people have to say?

 
With around 50 people – 60% from non-CGIAR entities and 40% women – actively contributing their ideas, some of the big questions that came up about the SRF were:
 
  • Should gender and youth be coupled together as a cross-cutting issue? Do they not have different issues and approaches?
  • Is the Results Framework being bold enough? What are the targets and responding indicators to measure progress towards those?
  • How can we best reflect a broader definition of capacity development that includes increasing the capacity to innovate by both CGIAR entities and partner institutions as well as the beneficiaries?
  • Do we know what modalities we should be using for partnering? Have we learnt lessons from past efforts to inform this new strategy?
  • Shouldn’t the youth also be included as being part of the process and not only as beneficiaries?
Across all topics a consistent question that came up was about ‘how’ the various aspects of the strategy will be carried out.
There was generally positive feedback on the latest version of the SRF including numerous comments that it had “matured” or “evolved in a good direction”.  People made suggestions for better wording of particular text as well as conceptual level improvements to the strategy as it tries to articulate new and complex arenas of agricultural research for development. One particular comment that was heard very often was the welcoming of the increased profile for cross-cutting themes. But it was stressed that since the SRF sets out some bold new ways to undertake agricultural research for development over the next ten years, it is also key for the strategy to include how CGIAR and its partners will equip themselves with the right staff skills sets and capacity to undertake and be successful in this endeavour.
 

How were people’s voices heard?

 
These, and the many other, interesting questions and suggestions that have come up across the three main channels of the consultation: email, e-consultation and webinars. The results are available here.
But there have been particularly interesting conversations happening in the ‘Call-in Programs’ (webinars) - which have been organised around six themes and allowed stakeholders to actually voice their suggestions and be able to discuss key questions and ideas with others in an online platform that allows audio and video enabled interactions. You can watch/listen to the recordings of webinars yourself and read the summaries written by the hosts of each of the webinars on the SRF Results page
In the Public Chat Room, a few lengthy and comprehensive contributions have been made, which have had elicited responses from other stakeholders as well as from senior staff of the Consortium Office. You can add your own comment or continue some of the conversations here.
 

And there is still a chance to have your voice heard on the SRF this week

 
This second phase of the consultation runs until Friday 27th February 2015, so there are still a few days left to have your voice heard on how the SRF can be strengthened to be an effective roadmap for the agricultural research for development work of CGIAR and its partners over the next ten years.
Join in at:
  • The ‘public chat room’
  • via email to 
  • Or in the remaining webinar(s) [Note-only 20 seats per webinar and sign up required]
Photo credit by Neil Palmer (CIAT)
 
Source: CGIAR
 
Posted on 25/02/2015
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