Q&A with ERG Member Professor Guy M Poppy, on His Participation in the Launch of a New UK-CGIAR Centre for Collaboration and Innovation in Science and Technology

We caught up with Professor Guy Poppy, member of the IAES Evaluation Reference Group, to shed some light on the pivotal role of the newly established UK-CGIAR Centre for Collaboration and Innovation in Science and Technology. During the interview he was in Washington DC, USA, speaking at the National Academies at their Food Forum.

The new UK-CGIAR Centre for Collaboration and Innovation in Science and Technology intends to spur new collaborations among CGIAR, UK science institutes and research centers in the Global South while also bolstering existing partnerships. As a member of CGIAR’s ERG, how would you  urge CGIAR to evaluate new and existing partnerships? What does success look like here?

I see the UK-CGIAR Centre as a transformative initiative. Collaborating with CGIAR, it leverages the UK’s global science hub status for impactful research and success hinges on forging collaborations between leading UK scientists and counterparts in Kenya, Tanzania, and CGIAR institutes like CIAT and IPRI. My engagement in a Columbia program with CGIAR focused on addressing food security challenges in the agricultural-forest interface. Working in Cali, Colombia, and the Amazonian rainforests with CIAT scientists, we aimed to enhance ecosystem services for improved food security.

Partnerships within the UK-CGIAR Centre vary, some new and others building on existing initiatives. For instance, the John Innes Centre is enhancing global crop genetics, collaborating on a climate-resilient iron  improvement project in Kenya, Pakistan, and Egypt. The introduction of new researchers aims to amplify impact.

Success, for me, is these partnerships combining scientific excellence with development expertise. I envision seamless collaboration accelerating the translation of cutting-edge science into tangible impacts globally. As the UK-CGIAR Centre forms, my vision centers on diverse expertise converging for positive change and sustainable development through science.