CGIAR's funding doubles to $1bn

The Consultative Group for International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has seen its
funding double from US$500mn in 2008 to
US$1bn in 2013, the organisation announced
With 15 research centres across the world, CGIAR
works towards seeking solutions in improving
food security and rural economies. This is done
through development of climate change resilient
crops, disease-resistant crop varieties and
livestock breeds and vaccine production, among
other strategies.
Rachel Kyte, chairperson of CGIAR Fund Council,
said, “The challenge of producing more nutritious
food to feed nine billion people in 2050 while the
climate change threatens make some agricultural
lands unproductive cannot be underestimated.”
CGIAR officials said that research can bring
150mn people in Asia out of poverty by boosting
rice production, provide 12mn African
households with sustainable irrigation, save
1.7mn hectares of forest from destruction and
give 50mn people access to highly nutritious
food crops. Climate change disproportionately
hurts the poor and most vulnerable.
In Africa, the International Livestock Research
Institute (ILRI) has been instrumental in
developing vaccines against East Coast Fever
(ECF) — a disease that kills millions of livestock in
Africa. The vaccine could benefit 20mn people in
the region, with annual benefits of US$270mn.
Other Africa-based research bodies include the
World Agroforestry Centre and the International
Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
In Asia, the International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) has developed a rice variety that can
survive underwater for two weeks protecting
harvests, incomes and food security of poor
farmers and consumers during monsoons in
Asia.
In Latin America, a CGIAR research centre namely
International Potato Centre (CIP) has developed
new potato varieties that can withstand late blight
diseases and yield eight times more than the
native varieties.
Across Asia and North Africa, a high-yielding
wheat variety resistant to Ug99, a highly virulent
disease, has been developed. This wheat variety
is expected to protect livelihoods and food
security of half a million families in these regions.
Viable agro-forestry practices like integrating food
crops with trees have improved soil fertility and
reduced gas emissions, increased rainwater use
and boosted yields by up to 400 per cent for
maize in the dry Sahel Belt, close to the Sahara
Desert.
Frank Rijsberman, CEO of the CGIAR Consortium,
said, “The $1bn in funding will help finance
CGIAR’s global research programmes and
accelerate the development of scientific, policy
and technological advances needed to overcome
complex challenges such as climate change,
water scarcity, land degradation and chronic
malnutrition, greatly improving the well-being of
millions of poor families across the developing
world.”
Other CGIAR global research bodies include
International Center for Agricultural Research in
the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Center for International
Forestry Research (CIFOR), International Maize
and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and
International Water Management Institute (IWMI).