CIGAR Consortium (Agricultural & Resource Economics)

From The Encyclopedia of Earth
Jump to: navigation, search
Cigar-consortium 438x0 scale.png.jpeg

The CGIAR Consortium is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future.

CGIAR Consortium

The name CGIAR comes from the acronym for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. In 2008 the CGIAR underwent a major transformation. To reflect this and yet retain our roots we have kept CGIAR as our name.

CGIAR research is dedicated to reducing rural poverty, increasing food security, improving human healthand nutrition, and ensuring more sustainable management of natural resources. It is carried out by 15 Centers, thatare members of the CGIAR Consortium, in close collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector.

The 15 Research Centers generate and disseminate knowledge, technologies, and policies for agricultural development through the CGIAR Research Programs. The CGIAR Fund provides reliable and predictable multi-year funding to enable research planning over the long term, resource allocation based on agreed priorities, and the timely and predictable disbursement of funds. The multi-donor trust fund finances research carried out by the Centers through the CGIAR Research Programs.

We have over 8,000 scientists and staff, unparalleled research infrastructure and dynamic networks across the globe. Our collections of genetic resources are the most comprehensive in the world.

Making a difference

We have a solid reputation for acting in the interests of the world’s poor. Our track record spans four decades of research—research that has made a difference.

Our research accounted for US$673 million or just over 10 percent of the US$5.1 billion spent on agricultural research for development in 2010. The economic benefits run to billions of dollars. In Asia, the overall benefits of CGIAR research are estimated at US$10.8 billion a year for rice, US$2.5 billion for wheat and US$0.8 billionfor maize.

It has often been cited that one dollar invested in CGIAR research results in about nine dollars in increased productivity in developing countries.

Sweeping reforms for the 21st century

Political, financial, technological and environmental changes reverberating around the globe mean that there are many opportunities to rejuvenate the shaky global food system. Developments in agricultural and environmental science, progress in government policies, and advances in our understanding of gender dynamics and nutrition open new avenues for producing more food and for making entrenched hunger and poverty history.

The sweeping reforms that brought in the CGIAR Consortium in 2010 mean we are primed to take advantage of these opportunities. We are eagerly tackling the ever more complex challenges in agricultural development. We are convinced that the science we do can make even more of a difference. To fulfill our goals we aim to secure US$1 billion in annual investments to fund the current CGIAR Research Programs.

CGIAR has embraced a new approach that brings together its strengths around the world and spurs new thinking about agricultural research for development, including innovative ways to pursue scientific work and the funding it requires. CGIAR is bringing donors together for better results and enabling scientists to focus more on the research through which they develop and deliver big ideas for big impact. As a result, CGIAR is more efficient and effective, and better positioned than ever before to meet the development challenges of the 21st century.

What we do

We collaborate with research and development partners to solve development problems. To fulfill our mission we:

  • Identify significant global development problems that science can help solve;
  • Collect and organize knowledge related to these development problems;
  • Develop research programs to fill the knowledge gaps to solve these development problems;
  • Catalyze and lead putting research into practice, and policies and institutions into place, to solve these development problems;
  • Lead monitoring and evaluation, share the lessons we learn and best practices we discover;
  • Conserve, evaluate and share genetic diversity; and
  • Strengthen skills and knowledge in agricultural research for development around the world.

Citation

Draggan, S. (2012). CIGAR Consortium. Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/CIGAR_Consortium_(Agricultural_&_Resource_Economics)