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 3006 - 3010 of 12598Sustainable Rangeland Management Toolkit for Resilient Pastoral Systems
The toolkit advocates for a holistic and participatory multi-stakeholder approach that emphasizes the important role played by governance of rangelands using bottom-up landscape restoration. It also emphasizes the need to ensure that decisions are based on both indigenous knowledge and modern science to address site-specific challenges. Users have access to a collection of Sustainable Rangeland Management (SRM) practices aimed at achieving a neutral level of degradation (LDN) and offering a strong potential to rehabilitate and restore degraded rangeland ecosystems.
Transforming food systems with trees and forests
The global food system is failing to deliver sufficient and nutritious food to all, while damaging the earth and unsustainably drawing down its resources. We argue that trees and forests are essential to solving these challenges. We outline the current contributions of trees and forests to the global food system and present recommendations to leverage these contributions as part of the efforts to reshape food systems to better support healthy diets and environmental sustainability.
Carbon footprints of forest degradation and deforestation by “Basic-Needs Populationsâ€: A review
Forest conversion caused by subsistence or “basic needs populations†is difficult to track and measure. As the dynamics of these populations change over time, their carbon footprint impacts on natural resources also change. To reduce their potential negative impacts on forest resources, it is critical to understand what underlying causes influence their livelihoods practices. A systematic review was conducted to search for common basic needs livelihoods that result in forest loss and degradation, and thus in carbon footprint changes.
Reflections on a decade of innovative research-for-development
This synthesis brief captures insights and lessons from the implementation of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) over the past decade. By assessing the program’s performance, thematic scope and its management, governance and structure, as well as the ways in which the program has monitored and communicated its research outputs, this brief aims to consolidate WLE’s experiences and inform the transition to One CGIAR and the
development of future research-for-development initiatives.
Climate Smart Agriculture Training Manual for Training of Trainers: Promoting Adoption of Pigeonpea, Sorghum and Pearl Millet
This training manual provides knowledge and skills to government extension officers and lead farmers on the concept of climate smart agriculture to empower them to train farmers on appropriate technologies, innovations and management practices against climate change risks