How agricultural research is making a difference:UN delegates benefitfrom a first handaccount.The benefits of agricultural research canoften seem highly technical, lost in thetedium of hypotheses, varietal trials, data,benefit-cost ratios, and more. But some-times, listening to people—in this case, afarmer—helped a rapt audience at theUnited Nations better understand howagricultural research is improving a fami-ly's well-being and powering its way outof poverty.

Meet Pedro Ignacio Lopez, a farmer fromSan Pablo Huitzo village in Oaxaca, oneof the poorest parts of Mexico. Marriedwith three children, Pedro grows maize, blackand white beans in a half-hectare plot. Pedrospoke eloquently at a discussion, Agriculture Matters: Role of international commu-nity in delivering research and technology applications that enhance small farmerincomes and food availability in developing countries, cosponsored by the Group of77, Government of Japan, FAO and the CGIAR.

Not daunted by the august audience or the vista of New York's towering skyscrap-ers, Mr. Lopez Ignacio explained how CIMMYT's participatory research helped himto increase maize production.

“With the new method of maize selection, and the adoption of the maize type152 introduced by CIMMYT and chosen by the community, I realized I was obtain-ing more benefits”, explained Mr. Lopez Ignacio. First, the new method of maizeseed selection allowed him to have standardized crops, at the level of the plantand the seed. This was very helpful he said because it lets farmers select the maizefrom the plant itself in a much more organized way instead of selecting it from the

Nourishing the future through scientif ic excel lence

w w w . c g i a r . o r g

C O N S U L T A T I V E G R O U P O N I N T E R N A T I O N A L A G R I C U L T U R A L R E S E A R C H

CGIAR

In this Issue

How agricultural research is making a difference 1

Chairman and Director’s Message 2Announcements 3New Director General of ICARDA 3 News from the Centers 4Destination Marrakech 4Major new project benefits the

Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia 5Tackling Drought 6Reinvigorating Agriculture in

Afghanistan 7From the Science Council Chair 8Integrating biodiversity

conservation and development 9Young People Speak Out 10Equipping East African Women

for Leadership in Science 10Getting a Handle on High-Value

Agricultural Products 11Meeting of Minds: New program

attracts talented law students 11 Managing Natural Resources

through the Power of Partnership 12New, Low-Neurotoxin Grass Pea

Variety Breaks the Fear of Paralysis in Ethiopia 13

Technological breakthrough to produce disease-resistant chickpea 13

Forests and Violent Conflict 14In Memoriam —

Robert Dale Havener andJohn Vercoe 15

Continued on page 12

cgiarNewsN o v e m b e r 2 0 0 5

Sr. Pedro Lopez on his farm in SanPablo Huitzo, Oaxaca, Mexico.

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Message from the Chairmanand DirectorDear Colleague:

We are pleased to present the November edition of CGIAR News. An e-version isavailable at www.cgiar.org.

As this issue was going to press, plans for the Annual General Meeting 2005 werebeing finalized. Thanks to enthusiastic support from Hamid Narjisse and his col-leagues at INRA-Morocco, and Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, ICARDA and hiscolleagues, we have developed an intellectually stimulating agenda for the meetingsthat are being held under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.This year’s AGM’05 will feature the first-ever “Science Forum.” Avid CGIAR watchers will recall that this marks the second time that the AGM isbeing held on the African continent, signaling the importance CGIAR attaches tothe Central, West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, and beyond.

Meanwhile, a successful high-level workshop was held in Washington, DC, inSeptember, sponsored by the CGIAR Private Sector Committee to discuss how tomeet the needs of smallholder producers in developing countries. Eleven CEOs ofagribusiness companies, the President of International Federation of AgriculturalProducers, senior representatives of The Rockefeller Foundation and SyngentaFoundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Directors General of eight CGIAR Centersand Board Chairs of two Centers, among others, attended the meeting. By mid-November, specific proposals for high-potential short-, medium- and long-term proj-ects that are ripe for partnership between the CGIAR and private sector companieswill be developed, enabling progress toward more effective long-term partnershipsthat will serve to improve the lives of smallholder producers around the world.

Mobilizing science for development is the raison d’être of the CGIAR. The successstories reported in this issue provide a snapshot of achievements of CGIAR’sresearch portfolio. We mourn the passing away of Bob Havener and John Vercoe,leaders who demonstrated a life-long commitment to the cause of agriculturaldevelopment.

We look forward to seeing many of you in Marrakech to further strengthen ourpartnership. As always, we welcome comments at cgiar@cgiar.org

Sincerely,

CGIAR ChairmanIan Johnson

CGIAR DirectorFrancisco Reifschneider

CGIAR MembersAfrican Development BankArab Fund for Economic and Social DevelopmentAsian Development BankAustraliaAustriaBangladeshBelgiumBrazilCanadaChinaColombiaCommission of the European CommunityCôte d’IvoireDenmarkArab Republic of EgyptFinlandFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Ford FoundationFranceGermanyGulf Cooperation CouncilIndiaIndonesiaInter-American Development BankInternational Development Research CentreInternational Fund for Agricultural DevelopmentIslamic Republic of IranIrelandIsraelItalyJapanKellogg FoundationKenyaRepublic of KoreaLuxembourgMalaysiaMexicoMoroccoNetherlandsNew ZealandNigeriaNorwayOPEC Fund for International DevelopmentPakistanPeruPhilippinesPortugalRockefeller FoundationRomaniaRussian FederationSouth AfricaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandSyngenta Foundation for Sustainable AgricultureSyrian Arab RepublicThailandTurkeyUgandaUnited KingdomUnited Nations Development ProgrammeUnited Nations Environment ProgrammeUnited States of AmericaWorld Bank

2 cgiarNews

Ian JohnsonChairman

Francisco ReifschneiderDirector

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November 2005 3

Welcome to New Board ChairsLene Lange, CIMMYT, succeeding Alex McCalla.

Welcome to New Board MembersMajd Jamal and Abdelmajid Slama join ICARDA Board ofTrustees.

Domingo Panganiban joins IRRI Board of Trustees.

Jean-Marcel Ribaut, a Swiss-French national was appointedDirector of the CGIAR Generation Challenge Program (GCP)effective September 2005.

Honors:

ICARDA:Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, received the Al-Istikal(Independence) Medal from His Majesty King Abdullah II bin AlHussein of Jordan

Ashutosh Sarker, Lentil Breeder, received a plaque of honorfrom the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI)

IFPRI:Ester Mwangi, IFPRI, was co-winner of the American PoliticalScience Association Harold D. Laswell Award

Joachim von Braun, Director General, was awarded an honorarydoctorate by the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany

Isher Judge Ahluwalia was named Chairperson of the Board ofGovernors of the Indian Council for Research on InternationalEconomic Relations (ICRIER)

Klaus von Grebmer was elected Chair of the CGIAR MarketingGroup effective September 1.

IRRI:William G. Padolina, Deputy Director General for Partnerships,was selected as the joint winner of the 2005 ASEAN Scienceand Technology Meritorious Award

Gene Hettel received the 2005 Service Award of the US-basedAssociation for Communication Excellence in Agriculture,Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences

WorldFish CenterThe 2005 Tech Museum Award was given to WorldFish Centerfor its work on GIFT (genetically improved farmed tilapia) tech-nology that applies sound animal breeding and genetics princi-ples to the improvement of tropical food fish, in particular theNile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The award is given by TheTech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, California, and fiveLaureates share the $250,000 cash prize.

Announcements

Dr Mahmoud Mohamed Bachir El-Solh is the new Director-GeneralDesignate of ICARDA.

"It is a great delight and profoundpleasure for me to announce that DrMahmoud Mohamed Bachir El-Solhwill be the next Director General ofICARDA after the departure ofProfessor Dr Adel El- Beltagy in May2006,” said Margaret Catley-Carlson,Chair, ICARDA Board of Trustees,

announcing the appointment on October 16, 2005.

Dr. Solh, a Lebanese national, is Director of Plant Productionand Protection (AGP) Division, FAO, Rome. He has a PhD in

Genetics from the University of California, Davis, USA. Nostranger to the CGIAR system, Dr. Solh was formerly ICARDA'sAssistant Director General for International Cooperation. Hisdistinguished career includes appointments at the AmericanUniversity of Beirut (AUB) and the Arid Land AgriculturalDevelopment (ALAD) Program in the Near East, the predecessorof ICARDA.

Congratulating Dr. Solh on behalf of the CGIAR, Ian Johnsonand Francisco Reifschneider said: “We believe this is an excitingtime to join the CGIAR System as donor confidence is high andthe CGIAR Centers are working hard, with measurable impacts,to promoting sustainable development and achieving theMillennium Development Goals.”

For more information, www.icarda.org

New Director General of ICARDA

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Our partnerships need constant nurturing and creative develop-ment to keep them relevant to the challenges of tomorrow. Forthe Future Harvest Centers of the CGIAR, and other CGIARbodies, exciting new partnership developments have been atthe top of the work agenda. Our attention has focused onthree fronts: drafting formal policies for the Alliance of FutureHarvest Centers of the CGIAR; problem-focused and partner-ship-driven Medium Term Research Plans for Sub-SaharanAfrica, and exploring new partnerships for research and productdelivery with the private sector.

The formal description of the modus operandi of the Alliance ofFuture Harvest Centers is an “Alliance Principles andProcedures” document that focuses on how the Alliance canstrengthen the Centers' contributions to the CGIAR and itsreforms. The Alliance is being developed to institutionalize theCenters' collaborations, by ensuring greater programmatic inte-gration where appropriate, and developing instruments tomeasure collaborative performance. We are also working to cre-ate greater efficiencies using tools such as a conflict resolutionmechanism.

At present, the Centers collaborate with the private sector inover 40 activities. Some of these are through new CGIARmodalities such as the Challenge Programs and the PSC'sScientific Know-how and Exchange Program (SKEP). Most arethrough innovative, highly problem-specific, pro-poor public pri-vate partnerships at the Center level. Discussions at a high levelvia the CGIAR and Private Sector Committee workshop (report-

ed earlier in this issue) presented the opportunity for privatesector CEOs, Center Directors General and the CGIAR leaders todiscuss and agree upon the common humanitarian interests ofthe CGIAR, and provided a platform for potentially greater andmore effective collaboration. Lessons from the current privatesector collaborations could inform a growth of existing collabo-rations and an expansion of the range of partnership modalitiesand tools, such as generic humanitarian use licences forgermplasm. Research themes, such as drought-tolerant agricul-ture, could become the basis for working together.

We are also pleased to report good progress by partners andCenters in Sub Saharan Africa in drafting the East and SouthernAfrica and West and Central Africa Medium-Term Plans. Thismajor activity is another tool for creating new partnerships andnew synergies among existing partners.

We would also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge andthank Meryl Williams who served the Alliance for the past 18months and is retiring on November 4, 2005. Meryl's drive,dedication and vision have proved invaluable as the Centerscome together to improve upon, and further refine, their collec-tive activities and programs. We are pleased to announce thatGeoffrey Hawtin, former Director General of IPGRI, has agreedto serve as the interim Executive Officer, until the search for theExecutive Director is completed.

Uzo Mokwunye, Chairman, CBCWillie D. Dar, Chairman, CDC

4 cgiarNews

News & Views

News from the Centers:Creating Tools for Developing Partnerships

The Government of Morocco, Under theHigh Patronage of His Majesty KingMohammed VI, is hosting AnnualGeneral Meeting 2005 (AGM'05) duringDecember 5–9, 2005 at the Palais desCongrès, Marrakech.

The meetings begin with Centers andMembers Day on December 5, followed

by the official opening in the afternoonwith a keynote address by H.E. DrissJettou, Prime Minister of Morocco.

Please mark your calendars—and visitwww.cgiar.org for latest updates onAGM'05.

Destination Marrakech: Mark your calendars!

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November 2005 5

The Altiplano, a plateau located at 3,635 meters above sealevel, straddles Bolivia and Peru and is one of the poorestregions in the world. Agriculture dominates the local economy.

A new project being implemented by CIP, with support from theCanadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and othersaims to increase farm productivity in the Altiplano. Main effortswill be focused on increasing income through higher agricultur-al productivity of potatoes, quinoa, oca, alpacas, meat and milkand by adding value through improved processing and market-ing activities. Building on existing CIP work, local women will beorganized and trained to take part in postharvest activities thatadd value to primary products. Other work will improve childnutrition and health through enhanced food availability, dietarydiversity and nutritional education. Promoting the use of betteragricultural technologies will reduce and reverse degradation ofnatural resources.

“The project will help to reduce poverty in isolated regions inthe Altiplano, improve governance and promote self-sufficiencyat the local level.” said Geneviève de Rivières, CanadianAmbassador to Peru. “As well, it will contribute to environmen-tal protection and to the empowerment of women.”

The Altiplano is home to 6 million people, three quarters ofwhom live in poverty. Around 55 percent live in extreme pover-ty, facing problems like low agricultural productivity, naturalresource degradation and marginalization.

"This work will help to reach the Millennium DevelopmentGoals of the United Nations and—among other things—it willimprove human health through food security and better nutri-tion," commented Pamela K. Anderson, Director General, CIP.

CIP and its partners have worked successfully in that area forthe past two decades and obtained impressive results amongthe native communities.

“Our objective is to improve the livelihoods of rural communi-ties in the Peru-Bolivia Altiplano,” said Hugo Li Pun, CIP projectleader.

The project is working initially in 20 communities that represent700 peasant communities, which in turn host 42,000 farmingfamilies. Strong links will be built with local governments andtheir research and extension systems, NGOs and other develop-ment agencies.

Major new project benefits the Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia

The project will benefit poor farmers in the Altiplano

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Tackling Drought:IRRI Shows the Way

Because drought can push millions ofpeople into poverty, IRRI scientists aredeveloping drought-tolerant rice vari-eties to help Asian farmers.

Rice breeders at IRRI are developingnew types of aerobic rice that combinethe ability of some traditional but low-yielding varieties to grow in dry soilswith the fertilizer responsiveness andyield potential of modern high-yieldingvarieties. The first generation of this so-called aerobic rice has been developedby crossing irrigated high-yielding vari-eties with some traditional types, and

selecting the progeny under dry soilconditions. The resulting varieties aredirect-seeded into dry soil in non-flood-ed fields and managed like a high-yield-ing wheat or maize crop. Irrigation isapplied if available and needed, but nostanding water is necessary.

IRRI researchers have demonstratedthat some rice varieties (including somehybrids) are more tolerant to temper-ate stresses than mainstream high-yielding irrigated varieties, especiallyduring the critical flowering and earlygrain-filling stages. Breeders use a

screening process to find the mostdrought-tolerant varieties by deprivingwater to plants around the floweringperiod, and then selecting the best-yielding candidates. IRRI has identifiedmany varieties combining high yieldwhen conditions are good with theability to yield 2–3 tons per hectareunder conditions so dry that manypopular varieties produce less than 1ton per hectare.

IRRI scientists and collaborators arestudying the genetic basis for this tolerance.

6 cgiarNews

Aerobic rice varieties, like these being tested at IRRI, can grow inconditions far too dry for commonly grown modern varieties.

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November 2005 7

Wheat is the number-one staple crop in Afghanistan, and maizeis the third. Together they occupy 80 percent of the area plant-ed to annual crops. A central aim of CIMMYT in Afghanistan isto make improved, high quality seed of both crops available tofarmers, along with appropriate crop management technolo-gies. To date, CIMMYT has:

• Distributed 300 tons of quality seed of the locally-adaptedwheat MH-97 to 9,000 farmers in four provinces ofAfghanistan

• Produced and delivered tons of breeder'sand foundation maize seed

• Planted 35 wheat variety trials at 6 sitesand 24 maize trials at 8 sites to identifyadditional materials suited to farmers'needs

• Trained Afghan researchers through coursesin-country and at CIMMYT in Mexico

CIMMYT has collaborated with Afghanresearchers for over three decades-even dur-ing the war. Thanks to the SwedishCommittee for Afghanistan and the FAO,Afghan researchers maintained contact withthe Turkey-CIMMYT-ICARDA InternationalWinter Wheat Improvement Program (IWWIP)and continued to select the best new wheatsfrom international nurseries. All winter andfacultative wheat cultivars currently registeredin Afghanistan are derived from those nurs-eries.

A new project, “Wheat and MaizeProductivity Improvement in Afghanistan,”funded by ACIAR and others, has includedcollaborative work with farmers and non-gov-ernment and international organizations toverify, in farmers' fields, the performance andacceptability of improved wheat and maizevarieties. In Parwan Province, for example, thewheat variety 'Sohla,' yielded well andshowed superior resistance to diseases likerust. A participatory technology developmentapproach implemented by the Aga KhanFoundation brings farmers to research sta-tions to observe yield trials of promising vari-eties and identify wheat lines for advance-ment and subsequent release. Farmer testingof open-pollinated maize varieties resulted in

the identification of two—Rampur 9433 and PozaRica 8731—as promising, and project participants are working to make seedavailable with the help of local organizations and informalfarmer-to-farmer distribution networks. CIMMYT has conductedfive capacity-building workshops since 2000.

Reinvigorating Agriculture in Afghanistan

An Afghan farmer holds up an ear of maize, one ofCIMMYT's varieties "doing wonders" in Kunduz province.

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From the Science Council ChairPublic Goods and the CGIAR

Answers to three interrelated questionsare of critical importance for the futurepriorities and activities of the FutureHarvest Centers of the CGIAR. The ques-tions are: What is an “international publicgood”? Should the Centers prioritize thecreation of such goods? And, where onthe research-development continuumshould the CGIAR supported activitiesbe? I will address each of the three inturn.

Public goods have two characteristics.First, the use of the good by one individ-ual does not detract from that of anotherand second, it is impossible to excludeanybody from using the good. A publicgood is international, if it is of use acrosscountry borders. But across how manyborders? That is a matter of judgment. Ilike to use the word “several”, meaningmore than a few. Imprecise? For sure. TheScience Council will lead discussions tofurther refine the concept.

My answer to the second question isYES. Why? For two reasons. First,research that produces private ratherthan public goods, i.e., goods that canbe protected with exclusive propertyrights, are likely to be produced by theprivate sector. Second, research results ofuse to many countries may not generateenough benefits to any one country towarrant national research. Adding thebenefits that several countries can obtainjustifies international research. Identifyingthose areas of research that wouldremove the largest number of peoplefrom poverty but that would not beundertaken by the private sector or pub-licly funded national systems, is the mostimportant part of setting priorities withinthe CGIAR.

But what do we do in countries wherethe publicly funded agricultural researchsystem is absent or in very poor shape?

We help strengthen national or regionalsystems. Capacity strengthening is alegitimate activity of the CGIAR. So isadvocacy to get national governmentsand development assistance agencies todo it. Doing the research for them isusually not. It reduces the incentive forthe national government to allocatefunds to a national system and it tendsto crowd out national researchers, whilespending CGIAR money that would bebetter spent generating research resultsof use to several countries. Most CGIARresearch would best be done in collabo-ration with national researchers inselected developing countries. It shouldbe useful to the country where it isdone, but also to several others.Research planning should identify thepathway from the desired research out-put through outcome and impact. Thepathways should be plausible, not guar-anteed.

This brings me to the third question. Inmy opinion, the Centers should prioritizeresearch for development, maintainingclose collaboration with advancedresearch institutions for more basicresearch and with national and interna-tional institutions for adaptation ofknowledge and technology from interna-tional research as well as delivery systems.Facilitating interaction and deliverythrough networks has been effective in anumber of cases. Placing the CGIAR inthe middle of the continuum will, Ibelieve, contribute to the maximization ofimpact per dollar spent, particularly if weoperate within an innovation systemsapproach, in which each institution iscapitalizing on its comparative advantage.But what if there is no delivery system?Then the research results from CGIARresearch will rot on the shelf. Rather thangiving in to the temptation to developdelivery systems for particular communi-ties or countries, a temptation that is par-ticularly strong if donors are ready withmoney, I believe the Centers should

engage in advocacy with national govern-ments and development assistance agen-cies to have such delivery systems devel-oped, either through publicly fundednational institutions, or internationalagencies such as FAO, IFAD, World Bank,the regional banks, NGOs, or private con-sultancy firms. For delivery systems to beeffective, investments are likely to beneeded in rural infrastructure such asroads, markets, credit institutions, exten-sion, and water management infrastruc-ture. To maximize impact, investments inprimary education and health care maybe needed. We in the CGIAR should do amuch better job putting pressure on theappropriate institutions to get these jobsdone, rather than pretending that wehave to do it all.

Having been a Center director, I knowhow difficult it is to say no to a donor,even if the available funds are earmarkedfor activities outside the mandate of theCGIAR. In the short run, it may appearmore important to expand revenues thanmaximizing impact. So, why not getinvolved in technical assistance to helpwith location-specific development activi-ties? The main reason is that it is likely toreduce funding available for researcheither directly by donors or Centers chan-neling money from research with interna-tional impact to development activitieswith local or national impact or indirectlyby failing to apply full costing approach-es. Both would result in less internationalpublic goods and more location-specificactivities better done by others. Centersthat wish to do location-specific develop-ment activities, would probably do theleast damage to the mission of theCGIAR if they create financially independ-ent, wholly owned consulting armsthrough which research results could bemade available. But then, why not enterinto agreements with private consultingfirms instead?

Per Pinstrup-Andersen

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November 2005 9

Integrating biodiversity conservation and developmentThe World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) isjoining hands with ConservationInternational (CI) to promote conservationin the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots,areas with the greatest diversity of wildanimal and plant species that are threat-ened by human activities.

“Our partnership offers a unique blend ofscientific competency and credibility,”said Dennis Garrity, Director General,World Agroforestry Centre. “This willhelp integrate the twin objectives of con-servation and development.” The two organizations are exploring opportuni-ties for joint activities in the tropical

forests of Africa, Southeast Asia andLatin America. Russel Mittermeier,President, Conservation InternationalFoundation, signed a memorandum ofunderstanding launching the partner-ship.

Although biodiversity hotspots coverabout 2.3 percent of the earth's surface,each square kilometer of land supports abig diversity of animal and plant speciesand provides as many as 300 people withshelter and livelihoods. But owing tounsustainable utilization, each of thehotspots has lost at least 70 percent of itsoriginal natural vegetation.

The two organizations bring unique com-petencies to the task. ICRAF's experiencein changing landscapes and livelihoodsthrough agroforestry, and CI's experiencein science-based biodiversity conservationwill help protect biodiversity hotspots.Agroforestry is a viable means of avertingthreats to biodiversity because it enablesfarmers to benefit from, and raise trees,thus preserving biodiversity in rural land-scapes.

For more information, www.worldagro-forestrycentre.org

Agroforestry helps poor farmers to increase incomes while protecting biodiversity.

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Young People Speak Out:Advocate Science-Based Solutions“Poor people with HIV/AIDS across Africa, including Malawi, arelooking for ways to improve their livelihoods, through betterwork opportunities that will integrate them into society” saidMadalitso Magombo, a young aquaculturalist from WorldFishCenter, kicking off a roundtable discussion “Developing CreativeApproaches to Fight HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa” held duringthe World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meet-ings in September.

The audience included Zimbabwe's Finance Minister, Hon.Herbert Murerwa; Zambia's Finance Minister, Hon. NganduMagande, Malawi's Finance and Economic Planning Minister,Hon. Goodall Gondwe, and Frannie Leautier, World Bank Vice-President, among others.

Africa is the region worst affected by HIV/AIDS, with 70 percentof the world's 42 million infected people. In Malawi alone,more than 15 percent of adults have HIV/AIDS and the diseasehas already left close to 400,000 orphans. For poor people,aquaculture and fish farming represents a more accessible andoften cheaper alternative to beef, providing essential proteins,minerals and vitamins, in addition to higher incomes.

The roundtable was organized to engage youth practitioners infighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. In her presentation, Ms. Magombo

explained how a joint project between World Vision andWorldFish Center was teaching female-headed households inAIDS-stricken Malawi to produce their own fish, thereby helpingimprove nutrition and generating much-needed income. In addi-tion to Madalitso Magombo, three other youth practitionersfrom Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe also presented their work.

“The roundtable was a once in a lifetime opportunity for youthleaders to have a frank dialogue with their Ministers on the keydevelopment challenges facing their countries” said Phil Hay,Roundtable Moderator and Communications Advisor with theWorld Bank's Human Development Network.

The joint World Vision-WorldFish Center project converts agri-cultural waste into high quality fish protein while reducingecosystem pollution. Community training facilities provide par-ticipatory advisory services on aquaculture and HIV/AIDS pre-vention and mitigation issues, and government extension work-ers supervise farmers after the training to ensure project sus-tainability.

Each of the youth practitioners was a winner of the 2005 WorldBank's Country-level Development Marketplace Award, a com-petitive grant program that directly supports innovative, bot-tom-up development ideas that deliver results.

Equipping East African Women for Leadership in ScienceEleven new awards were given in August to women crop scien-tists working in national research institutes and universities inKenya, Tanzania, and Uganda by the CGIAR Gender andDiversity (G&D) Program.

“The fellowships support professional growth in scientificexpertise and people management, facilitating development offemale science leaders and strengthening their institutions,”said Vicki Wilde, Program Leader, G&D. “It is a holistic programthat allows fellows to interact closely with senior CGIAR scien-tists for mutual benefit.”

The innovative award program provides each awardee with a 2-year fellowship that includes two-way mentoring (first as amentee, then as a mentor), funds to present research at twomajor scientific conferences, support for participation in team andleadership skills, and greater access to professional networks.

“The fellowships are designed to support professional growth,and help ensure continued development and advancement of

female leaders in agricultural science for East Africa,” said PeterMatlon, Director of The Rockefeller Foundation's Africa RegionalProgram. “Congratulations to this year's winners, and to G&Dfor launching an innovative program.”

“Smallholder farmers are my main concern” exults Rose Mongi,an awardee, and plant breeder from Tanzania. “One of myinterests is to work on the so-called orphan crops that are gen-erally neglected in the international scenario.”

The CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program is supported by TheRockefeller Foundation. A recent report, “Strangers in a StrangeLand': A Literature Review of Women in Science,” revealed thatalthough the number of women in science worldwide has dra-matically increased, research consistently documents a 'chilly cli-mate' for women scientists. The research also confirms the'leaky pipeline' syndrome where many women drop out of sci-ence as they move up the ladder.

For more information, www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org

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November 2005 11

On a hot afternoon at San Dionisio inNicaragua's Matagalpa Province, farmerleader Manuel Moreno describes how hehas radically changed the way he marketsagricultural produce. Before, his mainquestions were, “Where can I sell mymaize, and how much can I get for it?”Now, he asks, “What does the marketwant that our farmers association canprovide at a profit?”

A group of about 40 specialists metrecently to help the CGIAR and its part-ners provide stronger and more coordi-nated support for Don Manuel andmany farmers like him, who are eager toseize new market opportunities.Gathering at CIAT in October, experts onall aspects of high-value agriculturalproducts (HVPs)— from production andpost-harvest handling, to processing andmarketing—examined the question of

how poor farmers, especially neglectedgroups such as rural women, can benefitfrom growing markets for these prod-ucts. Convened by the CGIAR ScienceCouncil and Global Forum onAgricultural Research, the workshop wasorganized in collaboration with CIAT,IPGRI, the World Vegetable Center(AVRDC) and the InternationalFederation of Agricultural Producers(IFAP).

The meeting was an important joint ini-tiative following the Science Council's callfor a major expansion of CGIAR researchbeyond its traditional focus on staplecommodities as well as further strength-ening of the Centers' work on fish, live-stock, and forest products.

Specialists in HVPs which include fruits,flowers, and vegetables, and livestock

products are quick to acknowledge thatenabling small farmers to avail new mar-ket opportunities is not easy and entailsrisks. While enjoying some advantages,such as the limited economies of scale inmarkets for HVPs, small farmers face sig-nificant challenges, including the need tobetter organize themselves, acquire newknowledge and skills, and gain access tobusiness support services.

The workshop helped participants toreach a shared understanding of whatHVPs are, review strategies used in differ-ent regions for linking smallholders toHVP markets, identify high-priority issuesfor a shared research agenda, and begincreating informal networks and alliancesfor addressing key themes. Overall, theworkshop helped establish solid frame-work for moving forward with realisticactions.

Getting a Handle on High-ValueAgricultural Products

Meeting of Minds:New program attracts talented law students

An innovative program isbringing law students towork on intellectual propertyissues at CGIAR Centers. Ledby the Central AdvisoryService on IntellectualProperty (CAS-IP), the pro-gram is off to an excellentstart. Five students enrolledin the LLM program of St.Edmund's College, Universityof Cambridge, have com-pleted internships at CIAT,CIFOR, CIP, IPGRI and theWorld Agroforestry Centre.

“We are keen to attract topnotch talent to work on the toughissues of intellectual propertyrights,” said Victoria Henson-Apollonio, Head, CAS-IP. “The

interns bring fresh perspectives thatare proving valuable for theCGIAR's mission of mobilizing sci-ence within a public goods frame-work.”

Interns usually spend the first weekat the CAS-IP office which has ahome at IPGRI, followed by anextended stay at a CGIAR Centerof their choice. Work productsinclude revisions and drafting ofpolicy statements on intellectualproperty, reviewing contracts andimplementation guides on IP policy,and drafting data-sharing agree-ments. The program is expected toexpand, ultimately placing a maxi-mum of three interns at eachCenter.

Left to right:Darryl Martin (ICRAF 2005 intern), KayChapman (CAS program assistant), Nina Lyons(CAS/IPGRI 2005 intern), and Sue Anne Teo(CIP 2005 intern).

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Following the Rio Earth Summit, in 1994,the CGIAR established the Alternatives toSlash and Burn (ASB) SystemwideProgram - an initiative that is now a glob-al consortium of over 80 national andinternational research institutes, NGOs,universities, private and communityorganizations, and farmers' groups.

Recently, the ASP Program was reviewedby an eminent panel of scientists, and thefindings were presented to the CGIARExecutive Council in October.

“ASB's systematic, pan-tropical approachof implementing common research proto-cols across a strategically selected rangeof benchmark sites is cited as a standardfor how productive international collabo-ration on natural resource management(NRM) challenges should be organized”said William Clark of Harvard University'sBelfer Center for Science and InternationalAffairs who led the review panel.

ASB partners recognize that deforestationhas no single cause, but rather it is the

outcome of a complex web of factors thatinfluence the landscape mosaics whereenvironmental problems and poverty coin-cide at the margins of the world's remain-ing tropical forests. Research leading to abetter understanding of natural resourcemanagement dynamics in these areas iscrucial if policymakers are to introduceeffective measures that curb deforestationand reduce poverty.

Members of the Review Panel alsoobserved that “Independent research atthese sites would have been valuable, butin the end could only have added incre-mentally to the mass of non-comparableNRM case studies.” In the Panel's view,what makes ASB unusually effective as aresearch program is that it developedstandardized methods and research ques-tions that have been applied at all sites,thereby generating data and knowledgethat can be compared across sites, andindeed, across the tropics.

As the only global partnership devotedentirely to the kind of integrated, multi-

disciplinary research needed to informsuch policy decisions in the humid trop-ics, ASB operates on the leading edge oflocal, regional and global iintegrated nat-ural resource management research(iNRM). The partnership has led to semi-nal contributions to iNRM researchmethodology and capacity building, aswell as significant and measurableimpacts on the ground. As a result, ASBhas become a driving force for articulat-ing a more complex, realistic and inte-grated view of human-environment inter-actions in tropical forests.

Managing Natural Resources through the Power of Partnership

barn. The advantage of this technique isthe ability to select not only the bestquality of maize, but also the size of themaize plant. Having uniform cropsincreases the yield, which in turn can besold in higher quantities, and thusincreasing farmer incomes and liveli-hoods. Thanks to the new variety ofmaize, and new storage and harvestingtechniques, he was able to harvest 3tons per ha of maize, and 0.7 tons perhectare of beans, almost doubling hisharvest, and generating extra income forhis children's schooling.

Speakers at the event included the co-hosts represented by Ambassador Byron

Blake (Jamaica) for the Group of 77countries, Mr. Shiro Sadoshima, DeputyDirector-General, Economic CooperationBureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Japan, and Ian Johnson, CGIARChairman. Other high-level speakersincluded Pakistan's Minister for Scienceand Technology, Mr. Atta ur Rehman;the Director of Kenya's AgriculturalResearch Institute, Mr. Romano Kiome,and FAO's Deputy Director General Mr.David Harcharik. A paper from IFADPresident Mr. Lennart Bage was tabled,as he could not attend the event.Directors General Joachim von Braun(IFPRI), William Dar (ICRISAT), and EmileFrison (IPGRI) attended the event and

briefed participants about their Centers'work.

A new publication entitled “AgriculturalResearch Matters: Achieving theMillennium Development Goals” createdespecially for the event provided specificexamples of the direct link between theresults of Centers' research and each ofthe eight MDGs. Participants enjoyed a“taste of the future,” a light meal ofCGIAR research commodities such as cas-sava, maize, New Rices for Africa(NERICAs), and tilapia fish.

For more information on the MDGs,www.un.org/millenniumgoals

How agricultural research is making a difference (continued)

Developing alternatives todestructive farming practices such as

slash-and-burn is essential forenvironmental sustainability.

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November 2005 13

A new variety of grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) dubbed 'Wasie' wasrecently released by the Ethiopian Agricultural ResearchOrganization (EARO). The new variety was derived from grasspea germplasm that was supplied to Ethiopia by ICARDA in1999/2000.

"The new variety has broken the fear of paralysis amongEthiopians," commented Ali Abd El-Moneim, a senior foragebreeder at ICARDA.

Grass pea is a popular food and feed crop in Bangladesh, China,Ethiopia, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Since it is resistant todrought, water-logging (floods) and moderate salinity, and cangrow with little external input, it is often the only food sourcefor poor people in periods of drought. Although its seeds are

tasty and rich in protein, consumption of grass pea as the pre-dominant dietary component for prolonged periods can causeneurolathyrism, an irreversible paralysis of the lower limbs due tothe presence of neurotoxins in the seeds.

'Wasie' yields 1.67 tons per hectare without any inputs, is mod-erately resistant to powdery mildew disease, and matures earlierthan local varieties. The variety's low neurotoxin content(0.08%), compared with 0.4% in the local comparator, will helpreduce the number of lathyrism cases in Ethiopia where grasspea area has increased from 50, 000 hectares to 110,000hectares in recent years. The variety is recommended for cultiva-tion in mid- to high-altitude areas (1700-2800 meters above sealevel).

New, Low-Neurotoxin GrassPea Variety Breaks the Fear of Paralysis in Ethiopia

ICRISAT scientists have recently succeeded in obtaining healthyhybrids of chickpea—the world's third most important foodlegume—by crossing a cultivated variety, Cicer arietinum, withthe wild species Cicer bijugum. The technique involving embryorescue and tissue culture methods has the potential for improv-ing disease resistance thereby boosting chickpea yields. Thebreakthrough is in developing chickpea hybrids by crossing culti-vated varieties with wild species, an achievement that had so farproved elusive.

“This breakthrough can result in the cultivation of improvedchickpea,” said William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT.“Thanks to this effort, poor and marginal farmers of the semi-arid tropics stand to benefit.”

Chickpea rests on a narrow genetic base because of its singledomestication and its self-pollinating nature. One of the best andproven means to broaden the genetic base of the crop, and alsoto introduce newer sources of resistance to various biotic andabiotic constraints, is to create interspecific hybrids of the plant,and by utilizing the wild species of chickpea for the purpose.

Chickpea, however, is not easily given to hybridization. Exceptfor two closely related wild species, namely C. reticulatum and

C. echinospermum, noneof the remaining 41 wildspecies are crossable withcultivated chickpea due tohybridization barriers.

With the development ofembryo rescue and tissueculture techniques forchickpea, it was possible tocross C. arietinum with C.bijugum and obtain healthyhybrids. Green hybrid plantswere produced between cultivated chickpea and the wildspecies C. bijugum, for the first time at ICRISAT, marking abreakthrough in this research.

C. bijugum used in the crossing program has many desirablecharacters such as resistance to Ascochyta blight, botrytis greymold and Helicoverpa—the menacing pod borer. Crossing thecultivated and wild chickpea varieties is expected to produce ahardy plant that will better withstand harsh weather and pestattacks that are the bane of poor farmers in the semi-aridtropics.

Technological breakthrough to produce disease-resistant chickpea

Chickpea holds tremendous potential for poor farmers of the

semi-arid tropics.

Left: ICARDA and Ethiopian researchers discuss the benefits of growing low-neuro-toxin grass pea varieties with Ethiopian

farmers. Right: 'Wasie' growing in a field in Ethiopia

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Forests and Violent Conflict:CIFOR research shows how forest-related conflicts can be averted

Better management of the world's forests can reduce conflictand avoid war is the principal message of a chapter by DavidKaimowitz, Director General, CIFOR, published in FAO's flagshipState of the World's Forests 2005 report.

The report, part of an annual series, examines a number of keyforest issues, including the current condition of the world's for-est resources, offering solutions for conservation and sustain-able use of forest resources.

Over the last 20 years forested areas have been a stagingground for wars in some two dozen countries that are home toover 40 percent of the world's tropical forests. Just a few ofthese include the Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo,India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Uganda. Understandingthe links between forests and conflict is important in addressingglobal poverty, especially since millions of the world's rural poorare adversely affected by violence and wars related to forestresources.

According to Kaimowitz, governments can reduce forest-relatedconflict by involving local ethnic groups in the political system,providing them with basic services and recognizing their rightsover forest resources. Internationally, policies to prevent forest-related conflict could include sanctions that block armed groupsfrom using timber exports to finance their operations.

Research shows that the role of forests varies from war to war.In Mindanao, Philippines, separatist movements successfullytapped into the political disenfranchisement of forest dwellers.

Local discontent over forest issues has also been a factor in pastconflicts in Myanmar and Nicaragua. Sometimes forests alsohelp prolong war. For example, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodiawas heavily dependent on timber sales. In Colombia's forests,cultivating cocaine has helped fund anti-government militias.

Kaimowitz says that while forest-related conflict is almostalways terrible for people, sometimes it can be good for theenvironment.

“No one is saying 'Let's start a war so we can save the forest'.But forests may fare better during war than during peace. Forexample, the presence of land mines or the risk of being kid-napped will discourage logging and other forest-depleting activ-ities,” Kaimowitz says. Ironically, the arrival of peace can bedestructive for forests. Post-war economic recovery initiativescan lead to excessive logging and the resettlement of demobi-lized soldiers and refugees who are likely to take up unsustain-able farming practices. The research recommends investingheavily in forested areas during post-conflict periods to preventrenewed fighting and help protect the forest itself.

The link between the environment and violence is attractingincreasing attention worldwide. When the 2004 Nobel PeacePrize was awarded to Wangari Maathai for her work with the“Green Belt Movement,” it heightened international awarenessof how deforestation contributes to instability in Africa.

“State of the World's Forests 2005” is available atwww.fao.org/forestry/index.jsp

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November 2005 15

Robert Dale Havener (1930–2005)eminent international agriculturalresearch administrator and a long-standing member and supporter of theCGIAR passed away on August 3, 2005in Sacramento, California, after avaliant battle with cancer. Bob leavesbehind a solid legacy, and many closefriends, associates, and admirers withinthe extended CGIAR family. Throughdedicated public service and a life-longcommitment, Bob had a major impacton the lives of millions of small scalefarmers who were the motivation forhis life's work.

Tributes have poured in from far andwide, mourning Bob's passing away,including:

• Margaret Catley-Carlson, Chair, ICAR-DA Board of Trustees: Bob was truly agiant among us … he was as adept inthe corner office as in the cereal field.He was called on to lead great organi-zations, to rescue others, to manageand to govern … To say that he willbe missed is an understatement. Toknow that he will be long remem-bered is a reflection of the quality andqualities of this remarkable man

• Adel El-Beltagy, Director General,ICARDA: Bob was not only one of thefounding fathers of ICARDA, but alsoone who guided its development intoa 'Center of Excellence' to serve thecomplex problems of agriculture inthe world's dry areas

• Mohamed Nour, former DirectorGeneral, ICARDA: Bob's name willforever be marked in the annals ofICARDA's history as one of its bright-est beacons. He was a man with anoble heart

• Ismail Serageldin, former CGIARChairman: Bob was a man for all[CGIAR] Centers

• Meryl Williams, former DirectorGeneral, WorldFish Center: Among

my many memories of Bob was thetouching way he and Liz Havenerled the IRRI staff in a tribute to DrSenadhira, a renowned IRRI ricebreeder tragically killed in a roadaccident when on the job inBangladesh in 1998. At the func-tion, the esteem and affection ofthe staff for their beloved colleagueand boss was openly expressed.Although Bob was just 'holding thefort' at IRRI between DG's appoint-ments, he and Liz quickly becamepart of the social fabric of thisimportant Center

In a note of condolence, Ian Johnson,CGIAR Chairman, and FranciscoReifschneider, CGIAR Director noted thatBob Havener's association with interna-tional agricultural research spannedsome 50 years. He was “fully committedto the well-being of all whose livescould be improved by the benefits ofagricultural science” they said.

A short account of Bob Havener's remark-able career can be found on the familywebsite, www.roberthavener.com

John Vercoe (1936–2005), formerChairman, ILRI Board of Trustees and for-mer Chairman of the CGIAR Committeeof Board Chairs passed away onSeptember 28, 2005, while undergoingheart surgery in Brisbane, Australia.

John Vercoe nurtured the formationof ILRI and helped shape the interna-tional livestock research agenda. Heguided the consolidation of theCGIAR International Livestock Centrefor Africa (ILCA) and InternationalLaboratory for Research on AnimalDiseases (ILRAD) that led to the for-mation of ILRI in 1995.

“John has left a strong imprint onILRI and international livestock-for-

development issues,” said UweWerblow, Chairman, ILRI Board ofTrustees. “He was a good friend as wellas an inspired leader.”

John Vercoe's distinguished record ofpublic service included appointments withCSIRO, Rockhampton, Australia, includingDirector of the Tropical Beef Centre,Rockhampton. He held consultingappointments with ACIAR, QueenslandFisheries Service, Meat and LivestockAustralia, and since 1996, served asCrawford Fund Queensland Coordinator.

His enthusiasm, good humor and dedi-cation to agricultural research will besorely missed.

In Memoriam

Robert Dale Havener

John Vercoe

�

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Africa Rice Center (WARDA)www.warda.org

International Center for Tropical Agriculture(CIAT)www.ciat.cgiar.org

Center for International Forestry Research(CIFOR)www.cifor.org

International Maize and WheatImprovement Center (CIMMYT)www.cimmyt.org

International Potato Center (CIP)www.cipotato.org

International Center for AgriculturalResearch in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)www.icarda.org

International Crops Research Institute forthe Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)www.icrisat.org

International Food Policy Research Institute(IFPRI)www.ifpri.org

International Institute of TropicalAgriculture (IITA)www.iita.org

International Livestock Research Institute(ILRI)www.ilri.org

International Plant Genetic ResourcesInstitute (IPGRI)www.ipgri.org

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)www.irri.org

International Water Management Institute(IWMI)www.iwmi.cgiar.org

World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)www.worldagroforestrycentre.org

WorldFish Center www.worldfishcenter.org

Future Harvest Centers of the CGIAR

Editor Sarwat Hussain e s.hussain@cgiar.orgEditorial coordination M. Caryl Jones-Swahn e m.jonesswahn@cgiar.orgPublished by the CGIAR SecretariatA Unit of the CGIAR System Officet 1 202 473 8951f 1 202 473 8110e cgiar@cgiar.org

cgiarNews

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