THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND CGIAR SECRETARIAT
SDR/TAC: IAR/97/9
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Review Panel: |
Mr. Graham Jenkins (Chairman) |
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Dr. Antonio Bahia Filho |
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Dr. Kenneth Cassman |
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Mr. Barrie Keenan |
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Dr. Don Marshall |
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Dr. V. S. Vyas |
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Mr. John Griffith (Consultant) |
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Dr. Ralph Quatrano (Consultant) |
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Dr. Paramjit Sachdeva (CGIAR Secretariat) |
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Dr. Guido Gryseels (Panel Secretary, TAC Secretariat) |
TAC SECRETARIAT
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
November 1997
El Batan, Mexico - 27 November 1997
Dr. Donald Winkelmann
Chair, Technical Advisory Committee/CGIAR
355 East Palace Avenue
Santa Fe, NM 87501
USA
Mr. Alexander von der Osten
Executive Secretary
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
The World Bank
1818H Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20433, USA
Dear Don and Alexander,
It is my pleasure to transmit to you the report of the Panel that conducted the Fourth External Programme and Management Review (EPMR) of CIMMYT. This review was the Centre's first major EPMR since 1988, although a shorter Interim External Review (IER) was conducted during 1993 to allow the period between two regular external reviews to be extended from five to about seven years. Judged by this timetable, CIMMYT was therefore well overdue for a full scale external review.
The timing of the Panel's visit was nevertheless not ideal since CIMMYT is undergoing fundamental changes in the way it operates, under a Director General who has been in office for only two years. The Centre is being transformed from one of commodity-driven programmes into one of multidisciplinary projects which involve major changes in research management that will eventually result in a significant cultural change. However, the formulation of projects, as reflected in the MTP 1998-2000, was at the formative stage of development at the time of the EPMR.
The Panel chose the 1993 IER as the starting point for this review. Its overall impressions are extremely favourable. The Panel is pleased to report that CIMMYT, after a difficult period aggravated by a funding crisis during 1993 and 1994, is undergoing an impressive renewal under widely respected and vigorous leadership. The Centre conducts high quality science, has an impressive record of achievements and impact and is well managed. The Panel has concluded that CIMMYT's contributions to the mission and goal of the CGIAR are truly outstanding. The Centre has expanded its strategic partnerships, enhanced its external relations and improved its funding. The Panel is concerned, however, about the rapidly increasing part of CIMMYT's funding that is restricted. This has significant implications for ensuring a transparent link between the Centre's priorities and the subsequent allocation of resources to projects. Full project costing would help to resolve this problem but many donors are reluctant to pay adequate overhead charges.
In the process of change, CIMMYT is taking steps to position itself strategically to meet the challenges associated with an evolving internal and external environment. The Panel believes that, in general, the steps taken are appropriate.
Overall, the Panel is pleased with the quality and relevance of the research programmes and with the project portfolio proposed in the MTP 98-2000. The Panel has critically reviewed each of these programmes and also the research support, and has made a number of recommendations to help construct an appropriate chart for the future. The Panel acknowledges the steps taken by the new Director General to improve areas of management where change was long overdue, particularly in human resources and financial management. Further improvements are needed, however, particularly in the context of the introduction of project based management. Greater efforts will also be needed to develop and implement a strategy on information technology and to introduce more appropriate management information systems.
The Panel also wants to give credit to the previous administration for their ability to weather the financial storms of the early 1990s with the scientific core of CIMMYT left substantially intact.
As CIMMYT is going through a period of transition, and as the new project based approach to research management will start only in 1998, the Panel has recommended that CIMMYT's Board of Trustees commission an external review to be conducted before mid 2000 to consider progress in implementing this approach.
I would like to express my thanks to the members of the Review Panel for their hard work and very professional approach to the job. We had indispensable assistance from the secretariats of both the CGIAR and TAC. I would like to put on record our appreciation for the excellent collaboration we have had from the Board Chair, the Director General, Management, and staff of CIMMYT throughout the course of this review.
In closing, I would like to thank you for providing me with the opportunity to chair this review. It has been a taxing but enjoyable experience, the fruits of which I hope will ultimately benefit CIMMYT and the CGIAR System.
Yours sincerely,
Graham Jenkins Panel Chair, EPMR
