This is the Report of an External Review Panel appointed to review the programme and management of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The membership of the Panel and their backgrounds are listed in Appendix I.
This Fourth External Review of IRRI (main phase September 1992) was commissioned in October 1990, simultaneously with the commissioning of the Third External Review of WARDA (main phase January 1993) and the Inter-Centre Review of Rice (main phase February 1993). To provide effective links between the three rice review panels, a member from the IRRI Panel and a member from the WARDA Panel are serving also on the Inter-Centre Panel. The reports of the three rice reviews are scheduled to be considered by TAC in March 1993 and by the CGIAR in May 1993.
The detailed Terms of Reference for the Fourth Review of IRRI are shown in Appendix II. In broad outline, the Panel was asked:
· to assess the recent evolution of IRRI, its mandate, strategy, programmes, organization, and management;· to review the methods and processes used by IRRI to ensure quality and relevance in its activities, services, and outputs;
· to assess the effectiveness of management, including leadership, values, and culture;
· to review the ways in which IRRI collaborates with other institutions within and outside the CGIAR;
· to assess IRRI's achievements and impact; and
· to assess the adequacy of the facilities and resources available to IRRI in relation to its current and future scale of activities.
The information and evidence on which the Panel based its response to the Terms of Reference were gathered in several ways. The Panel spent a week at IRRI in April of this year and three weeks in September, in each case interviewing and meeting with the Board, the management, and many members of the staff and their spouses. In groups or singly, the Panel visited agricultural scientists, government officials, and others knowledgeable about rice in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, India, and Egypt. The Panel also benefitted from the report of a visit to China by the Inter-Centre Review Panel. During the summer, Panel members discussed IRRI with officials of several CGIAR member governments and organizations, and with agricultural scientists familiar with IRRI in some of the industrialized countries. Visits were also made by a Panel member to CIAT, and by Panel staff to IITA and WARDA. A list of institutions and individuals visited is shown in Appendix III.
In addition to visits, the Panel gathered information through several surveys: a questionnaire sent to a wide cross-section of rice scientists and research leaders in developing countries (the results are summarized in Appendix IV); a survey of IRRI Board members; responses to a letter sent to other CGIAR Centres collaborating with IRRI; a survey of IRRI scientists asking their views of the matrix system now being used at IRRI for research management; and responses to a letter sent to all IRRI employees by the Panel Chair inviting their comments signed or unsigned.
Finally, the Panel had access to the full array of reports and databases available at IRRI, and asked IRRI for a number of special reports. We tried to keep the latter to a minimum, and were able to do so because nearly everything we wanted was available as part of IRRI's normal reporting systems. A list of documents made available to the Panel is shown in Appendix V.
Altogether, we believe we were able to obtain sufficient data to enable us to respond with some confidence to our terms of reference. We certainly do not claim to be fully informed on every aspect of IRRI's work and circumstances. But we consider that we have sound evidence on which to base the analysis, conclusions, and recommendations presented in this Report. We hope the Report will be useful to TAC, to the CGIAR, and most of all to IRRI itself.
