CGIAR Partnership Structure

During 2010, the CGIAR opened a new chapter in its history by adopting a revised business model after 2 years of consultations within and beyond the partnership. Until then, the CGIAR had always managed its affairs informally by consensus. The new model features a more business-like approach that should enable the CGIAR to do more and do better in fulfillment of its mandate to fight poverty and hunger while improving the management of natural resources.

The central innovation of the new model is its clear definition of the mutual accountability of those who conduct research and those who fund it. A new Consortium has united the international agricultural research and natural resource management Centers supported by the CGIAR, providing donors with a single point of contact. Similarly, CGIAR donors have come together in the CGIAR Fund, with the aim of harmonizing their contributions to agricultural research for development. This two-pillar management structure is held together by four bridging mechanisms. The most fundamental is the Strategy and Results Framework (SRF), which guides the development of a results-oriented research agenda in line with the CGIAR’s new vision and strategic objectives (see box).

The Consortium takes the lead in formulating and refining the SRF, working closely with Fund donors, research partners, beneficiaries and other stakeholders through direct consultations and the biennial Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD).

The SRF is endorsed by the Funders Forum, a biennial gathering of all contributors to the Fund. Between forums, the Fund Council meets face to face at least twice a year to make decisions on behalf of all Fund donors, who may participate in meetings as observers. The Fund Council is chaired by a vice president of the World Bank and comprises eight representatives from donor countries, eight from developing countries and regional organizations, and six from multilateral and global organizations and foundations.
The Fund Council appoints the Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC), a standing panel of world-class scientists, whose purpose is to provide independent advice and expertise to CGIAR donors through the Fund Council, to which the ISPC reports, and the Funders Forum. The ISPC further serves as a second intellectual bridge between the Fund and Consortium, helping to ensure alignment of the research program with the SRF.

The mutual accountability of the Fund Council and Consortium is ensured by a third bridging mechanism, which consists of legally binding funding and performance agreements. Such agreements also guarantee mutual accountability between the Consortium and its 15 member research Centers. The research carried out under these contractual relationships — both within the CGIAR and between the lead Centers of CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) and their research partners outside the CGIAR — puts strong emphasis on achieving results on the ground.

The research carried out under these contracts is being organized as a portfolio of CRPs. The first two – the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) and the Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) – were approved and launched in November 2010. Others are under development for possible approval in 2011. As with the SRF, the Consortium takes the lead in selecting and defining CRPs. The SRF and CRPs must be closely aligned with the perspectives and priorities of end users, including farmers, forest and fishing communities, and national agricultural research systems, as defined through GCARD and other contacts.

The Consortium is governed by a board with 10 voting members (including the Consortium CEO) and two observers. With the support of the Consortium Office, the Consortium Board oversees the performance of the CRPs and member Centers, as set forth in the funding and performance agreements.

The new CGIAR continues to enjoy a strong relationship with the World Bank. The new Fund Office, which is the support unit of the Funders Forum and Fund Council, is located at World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., as was the old CGIAR System Office. The World Bank further serves as the trustee of the CGIAR Fund, effectuating funding and performance agreements between the Fund and the Consortium and holding in trust the monies Fund donors supply under trust fund administration agreements until their transfer to the Consortium and its members, as allocated by the Fund Council, to finance SRF implementation. Fund donors may designate their funds in one of three ways: unrestricted funding to the entire CGIAR program portfolio, programmatic funding for one or more CRPs, and institutional funding for one or more Centers.

The fourth bridging mechanism joining the Fund and the Consortium is the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework. The funders and implementers of CGIAR research for development are jointly accountable to all users of research results and, along with research partners, have a shared responsibility for ensuring that these results are used to achieve development outcomes. A primary objective of the CGIAR reforms was to streamline review processes, clarify core responsibilities and reduce duplication. The new M&E framework is designed to achieve these objectives while strengthening M&E outputs and meeting the fiduciary requirements of the Fund and the Consortium.

The Consortium Board commissions periodic external evaluations of CRP components and/or work on cross-cutting issues, and every 5 years, it commissions external evaluations of Centers. The Fund Council commissions independent evaluations of CRPs every 4 years. Every 6-7 years, an independent evaluation of the entire CGIAR partnership is commissioned by a reference group constituted for this purpose. All evaluations are publicly disclosed.