Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research ( CGIAR ; German Advisory Group for International Agricultural Research), founded in 1971) is a strategic partnership of 64 members that works with a wide variety of government, civil society and also the private sector around the world. The members of the CGIAR are 21 developing and 26 industrialized countries, four co-sponsors, and thirteen international organizations. Today more than 8,000 scientists and employees in over 100 countries are active for the CGIAR. The founding goal of the CGIAR was "to combat food shortages in tropical and subtropical countries through research and investments in new, highly productive plant varieties and improved animal husbandry".
The CGIAR received the first King Baudouin Prize in 1980/1981.
Mission and Priorities
The mission of the CGIAR is: To achieve sustainable food security and to reduce poverty in developing countries through scientific research and activities in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and the environment.
The CGIAR provides scientific knowledge to promote sustainable agricultural growth that benefits poorer population groups in particular through better food security, better diets and better health, higher incomes and better management of natural resources.
The five priorities of the CGIAR are therefore:
- To reduce hunger and malnutrition through increased productivity of better food (through genetic optimization)
- Preserving agricultural biodiversity ( in situ and ex situ )
- Promote opportunities for economic development through agricultural diversification and high quality raw materials and products
- Ensure sustainable use and conservation of water, land and forest resources
- Improve policy guidelines and facilitate institutional innovation
Research centers
The CGIAR supports 15 international research institutions (" Future Harvest Centers "). These research institutions are autonomous, independent institutions, each with its own statute.
The 15 Future Harvest Centers with their main research areas and their respective headquarters are:
research
According to its self-image, the CGIAR conducts agricultural research for people and for the planet. According to its own statement, the CGIAR research makes the achievements of modern science available to poor farmers around the world.
The CGIAR's research is aimed at improving every critical component in the agricultural sector. This includes agroforestry , biodiversity , nutrition, animal feed and tree fruits, environmentally friendly agricultural techniques , fishing , forestry , livestock farming , nutritional guidelines and advice on agricultural research.
Five fields are of particular interest within research:
- Sustainable production (seeds, livestock, fisheries, forestry and natural resources)
- Strengthening national capacities (through joint research, policy advice, training and knowledge dissemination)
- Improvement of the germinal tissue ( priority crops , livestock farming, trees and fish)
- Collecting germ tissue (world's largest seed collection in eleven genetic databases that are publicly accessible)
- Policy guidelines (promoting research on policy content that has a major impact on agriculture, health, the diffusion of new technologies, and the use and conservation of natural resources)
According to its own statements, the research of the CGIAR is dynamic and flexible and can react quickly to emerging challenges in the area of development.
Importance of agricultural research
Rising food prices, concerns about global warming, the energy crisis and newly awakened interests in the field of biofuels have recently created new challenges and opportunities in agriculture and the use of natural resources. These global trends result in high risks and consequences, especially for people who live in rural areas and whose (survival) life is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture.
The climate change will worsen the growing conditions for the crops and beyond strain the capacity of the arable land. At the same time, global warming threatens to jeopardize productivity growth, which is so important to reduce poverty. Scientists ( Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC ) assume that rising temperatures and changing patterns of precipitation will result in a decrease in agricultural production of up to 50% in many African countries and up to 30% in countries of Central and South Asia.
On the national and international level, increased involvement in agricultural science is essential in order to be able to meet the new and diverse challenges. If the Millennium Development Goals and the plan to halve the number of hungry people in the world by 2015 are to be achieved, then strong programs of relevant and effective research must be at the top of international development agendas.
The science developed by the research centers and their partners has made significant gains in the form of less starving people and improved incomes for smallholders in all developing countries.
The Federal Republic of Germany and the CGIAR
Germany has been a member of the CGIAR since 1971 and contributed to its establishment. Official support of the CGIAR by the Federal Republic is ensured through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The services provided by the FRG to the CGIAR in 2008 amounted to around 17.5 million euros. Since 2007, Germany has been supporting the establishment of a research focus on adapting African agriculture to climate change.
The BMZ allocates 25% of the funds as a non-project-related contribution to the research centers' budget. The remaining portion is given to the Advisory Group on Development-Oriented Agricultural Research (BEAF) of GIZ ( German Society for International Cooperation ) in order to organize project-related funding.
According to its own statement, the BEAF "organizes the selection of the centers' research projects to be financed according to development policy and scientific criteria. It supports the implementation of research projects and the sending of German experts to the international agricultural research centers. It also advises the BMZ in its role as one of the largest the 64 donors in the CGIAR in the performance of their tasks in the steering committees. BEAF is active in all important bodies nationally and internationally. Extensive advice is also offered in public relations for research. The professional linking of research and development cooperation as well as the evaluation of Research projects and their impact monitoring are the most important know-how of BEAF ".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.bmz.de/de/wege/multilaterale_ez/akteure/wio/cgiar/index.html?follow=adword
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.gtz.de/de/themen/laendliche-entwicklung/1995.htm
