CGIAR International Centers Week, Washington, DC, October 26-30, 1992: Summary of Proceedings and Decisions

Summary report of the annual meeting of the CGIAR held October 26-30, 1992, in Washington DC, V. Rajagopalan presiding. Enrique V. Iglesias, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, delivered the annual Sir John Crawford Memorial Lecture on the role of research and technological change in agricultural development in Latin America. The King Baudouin Award was presented to CIP for research on integrated pest management. Indonesia joined as a donor country. The chairs of TAC, Center Directors, Center Board Chairs, and BIOTASK reported.The Group debated priorities and strategies in livestock, on the basis of a TAC preliminary paper, external reviews of ILCA and ILRAD, and a study on livestock in Africa by Winrock International. One conclusion was that ITC, CIRDES and ICIPE should not become additional CGIAR centers. TAC would continue its examination, facilitated by a CGIAR working group to clarify strategic issues and explore institutional options, chaired by John Davies. The Group endorsed the conclusions of the reviews of ILCA and ILRAD.The chair of the CIFOR board reported starting work. The Group expressed appreciation for the role of ACIAR in making this possible. The Group reviewed medium term plans of CIAT, CIMMYT, CIP, ICRISAT, IIMI, IITA, and ISNAR. It endorsed the positive assessment of developments at IFPRI by an interim review panel. The CGIAR Chairman established a task force on banana and plantain research, as recommended by TAC in connection with the external review of INIBAP.The CGIAR Executive Secretary summarized the Group's response to UNCED's Agenda 21. Mr. Frank Karel of the Rockefeller Foundation reported on the work of the CGIAR Public Awareness Association (PAA). The Group approved center programs and budgets for 1993. A working group chaired by Robert Herdt presented a preliminary report on the structure of future meetings, to be revised in the light of the discussion.