CGIAR is the only worldwide partnership addressing agricultural research for development, whose work contributes to the global effort to tackle poverty, hunger and major nutrition imbalances, and environmental degradation.
It is carried out by 15 Centers, that are members of the CGIAR Consortium, in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations 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 almost 10,000 scientists and staff in 96 countries, unparalleled research infrastructure and dynamic networks across the globe. Our collections of genetic resources are the most comprehensive in the world.
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
- Strengthen skills and knowledge in agricultural research for development around the world
Making a difference
We act in the interests of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. Our track record spans four decades of research.
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 billion for 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.
We are no longer the ‘Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research’. In 2008 we underwent a major transformation, to reflect this and yet retain our roots we are now known simply as CGIAR.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 1806 - 1810 of 12598Gendered effects of trade restrictions on labour market outcomes in Malawi
This chapter explores the impact of tariff increases on female unemployment and the agricultural sector in Malawi. Combining a standard general equilibrium model with a top-down behavioural microsimulation, the author finds that a move towards trade restrictions would destroy over 1 million jobs in the country, affecting primarily women across the labour market but more markedly in agriculture.
Connected Conservation: Rethinking conservation for a telecoupled world
The convergence of the biodiversity and climate crises, widening of wealth inequality, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic underscore the urgent need to mobilize change to secure sustainable futures. Centres of tropical biodiversity are a major focus of conservation efforts, delivered in predominantly site-level interventions often incorporating alternative-livelihood provision or poverty-alleviation components. Yet, a focus on site-level intervention is ill-equipped to address the disproportionate role of (often distant) wealth in biodiversity collapse.
What is Participatory Rangeland Management?
Participatory rangeland management (PRM) is a community-led process for improving the management and governance of rangelands, supported by facilitators and technical advisors. This animated film describes the process, and in particular the use of the 'four legs' goat, to understand the four main pillars of PRM.
These are: 1. Establishment and governance of the rangeland unit, 2. Management of the rangeland unit, 3. Using a landscape approach, and 4. Relations with government and customary institutions.
Mechanization Hire-Service Models for Conservation Agriculture in Kenya
A study was carried out to profile potential mechanization hire service models in four counties in Kenya. The study profiled 6 models for mechanized hire services in agriculture that can be tapped depending on context of the farmers.
Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process 2023
The 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) presented the opportunity to apply an agri-food systems approach to Africa’s existing agricultural and food security efforts. The dialogues provided platforms for governments, businesses, communities and civil society to identify pathways towards resilient and inclusive agri-food systems and to reflect on the benefits of the approach and propose strategies for its mainstreaming.