Progress on the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework

The CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework Team have released Progress Report No. 4 on 17 September 2009

The draft strategy described in this report is based on the CGIAR’s Vision to reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and nutrition and enhance ecosystem resilience through high quality international agricultural research, partnership and leadership. It pursues a results oriented basis, not only at the system level but also at the level of identified “mega-programs” – major research efforts reaching across CGIAR centres and their partners that promise to make a major difference to achievement of global development goals

Strategy and Results Framework

The process of developing the Strategy and Results Framework has been:

• to consult broadly with research communities inside and outside the CGIAR and use related systematic surveys (trust in science);
• to draw on comprehensive modelling and mapping, employing the best tools on hand (trust in modelling); and
• to communicate with leaders in related professions and noted visionaries (trust in wisdom).

The Strategy and Results Framework is designed for the system as a whole, not as a partial program.

The results-oriented indicators at the system level are the following:

1. Lift annual agricultural productivity by an additional 0.5 percentage points to meet the food needs of a future world population and to help reduce poverty by 15 percent by 2020, as part of an overall global agricultural R&D strategy.
2. Contribute to reduction of hunger and improved nutrition in line with MDG1 targets, cutting in half by 2015 (or soon thereafter) the number of rural poor who are undernourished, with a focus on child under-nutrition.
3. Deliver these outcomes in more sustainable ways by using less water (through greater water productivity), halting or reducing the rate of further deforestation and soil degradation (through improved land management practices, including use of paid ecosystem services), and contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Proposed Mega-programs and Platforms: The Seven Mega-programs

The building blocks of the Strategy and Results Framework are a set of seven interlinked Mega-programs (MPs) and two platforms—gender and capacity strengthening—that serve cross-cutting purposes for all MPs. Using the analysis tools already described, the Strategy Team went through a process that began with long-listing of MPs (as reported in Progress Report No. 3 available here http://sites.google.com/a/cgxchange.org/alliance/strategy-and-results-framework-team-reports) and moved toward assessments and short-listing, as reported in this progress report.

The seven MPs are indeed “mega” , large and while they are clearly distinct, they form clusters of results-oriented innovation activities whose impact is greater than the sum of their parts because of synergies and system-wide cooperation.

Four of the MPs address the delivery of international public goods of importance to all agricultural systems (MPs 1–4). The other three MPs, which also provide global public goods, have more of a systems focus, addressing resources (agro-ecosystems, water systems, and forests) that need urgent attention in high-priority regions (MPs 5–7).The proposed MPs will not be of equal size; rather, their proposed size relates to what it takes to get the job done.

The identified MPs are the following:

1. Crop Germplasm Conservation, Enhancement, and Use—Genetic improvement of the world’s leading food crops’ productivity and resiliency, building on the success of the CGIAR with commodity research, including its crucial role in conservation of genetic resources.

2. Diets, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health—Research to improve nutritional value of food and diets, enhance targeted nutrition and food safety programs, and change agricultural commodities and systems in the medium term to enhance health outcomes.

3. Institutional Innovations, ICTs, and Markets—Knowledge to inform institutional changes needed for a well-functioning local, national, and global food system that connects small farmers to agricultural value chains through information and communications technologies and facilitates policy and institutional reforms.

4. Climate Change and Agriculture—Diagnosis of the directions and potential impacts of climate change for agriculture and identification of adaptation and mitigation options for agricultural, food, and environmental systems.

5. Agricultural Systems for the Poor and Vulnerable—Research integrating promising crop, animal, fish, and forest combinations with policy and natural resource issues, in the domains where high concentrations of the world’s poor live and which offer agricultural potential.

6. Water, Soils, and Ecosystems—Harmonization of agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability goals through policies, methods, and technologies to improve water and soil management.

7. Forests and Biomass—Technical, institutional, and policy changes to help conserve forests for humanity and harness forestry and biomass production potentials for sustainable development and the poor.

        

Brief preliminary descriptions of the MPs also appear in this report.

These MPs and the Strategy and Results Framework-driven CGIAR would reach billions of people. A reformed and more efficient CGIAR, working with partners, will not only help increase productivity, improve the natural resource base, and strengthen policy and institutions through its own research, but also be better able to link with private sector innovation and to end users, incl. farming communities. The result will yield high payoffs to development investments.

 

The Two Platforms

 

The two platforms will work toward system synergy and effectiveness in two key areas, cutting across all MPs and also focusing on tangible results:

 

The gender platform will facilitate strong attention to gender issues and research cooperation on these issues across MPs. The expected results are increased involvement and income of women in agriculture in terms of production, marketing, and processing and reduced disparities in their access to productive resources and control of income. The agenda draws on a wide consultation process conducted a few months ago.

 

The capacity-strengthening platform will help national agricultural research systems and other research partners—both public and private—through research networks, innovative information and communication and knowledge management methods and resources. A focused program will help strengthen capacities in national agricultural research systems, including university capacity in research and training. The expected results are enhanced participation of national scientists in global research networks, strengthening of national agricultural research systems to be more effective, independent research partners, widespread use of valuable new knowledge management tools and resources, and strengthened universities producing skilled researchers for national agricultural research systems.

 

Implementation of these system-wide activities will be a task of the Consortium Board. The Strategy Team will propose a set of principles for business plans to be followed for each MP once lead Centers are identified for the task.

 

This report is available here: http://sites.google.com/a/cgxchange.org/alliance/strategy-and-results-framework-team-reports

GCARD and GFAR

The GCARD Task Force and GFAR Steering Committee are now considering this progress report and examining how best to incorporate this perspective into the GCARD consultations and the strengthening and reform of agricultural research for development systems around the world.

To read Progress Report No. 4, please visit the following link: http://sites.google.com/a/cgxchange.org/alliance/strategy-and-results-framework-team-reports, or click on the link below.

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