Introduction
Strategic Planning and Priority Setting
The Research Programmes
Impact
CIMMYT Management
CIMMYT Board
Relations with NARS
Conclusion
Recommendations
This report covers the first major external programme and management review (EPMR) of CIMMYT since 1988. Since that date, external reviews have been limited to a small-scale Interim Review (IER) in 1993, which the Panel chose as the starting point for this review, and a series of Centre-Commissioned External Reviews (CCERs). Judged by the usual timetable for centre reviews, CIMMYT was therefore overdue for a full-scale external review.
Notwithstanding this situation, the timing of the Panel's visit was not ideal since CIMMYT is currently undergoing fundamental changes in the way it operates, under a Director General who has been in office for only two years. The assessment of the Panel has therefore been conditioned by the requirement to review a system in the process of evolution. It has been assisted in this by the Medium-Term Plan (MTP) for the years 1998-2000 which CIMMYT has produced and which currently serves as the Centre's statement of strategy.
Compared with 1988, the duration of the exercise and the extent of travel allotted to the review was much reduced. It was not possible for the Panel to see every aspect of CIMMYT's work at first hand. However, Panel members visited CIMMYT's outreach activities in sub-Saharan Africa, in Asia and in Latin America before returning to Mexico for the main phase of the process. Opportunities therefore arose to consult not only with CIMMYT staff but also with key NARS representatives in the regions and in the Host Country. Some members of the Panel took the opportunity to have discussions with key donors and other participants during International Centres Week in Washington.
"The Panel's overall view of CIMMYT is extremely favourable. The Centre conducts high-quality science and has an impressive record of achievements as well as impact on the daily livelihood of hundreds of millions of rural and urban poor. CIMMYT is well managed, has strong leadership, and is a flagship centre of the CGIAR System". (Chapter 6)
The Panel believes that CIMMYT's mission statement is still valid, despite changes taking place in the external and internal environment of the Centre. CIMMYT's priority-setting process resulted in the MTP proposals that wheat should receive slightly more investment than maize and that Asia should receive rather more than Africa. For reasons discussed in the next paragraph, this allocation has not been achieved. Overall the Panel concluded that CIMMYT's priorities and strategies are consistent with the goals set by the CGIAR.
The Panel was, however, less convinced that the links between priorities and resource allocation in the MTP and from the MTP to the 1998 budget are sufficiently transparent and it urges CIMMYT to design a more rational procedure for allocating resources to the newly defined projects. The Panel recognizes that the increasing proportion of restricted funding (now more than half of the total) makes this task more difficult. The impressive consultative process conducted with partners and stakeholders in the formulation of the MTP is strongly commended by the Panel.
CIMMYT has given some consideration to alternative sources of supply for its products and claims that it confines its activities to those in which it has a comparative advantage. In general, the Panel supports this claim and observes that the Centre's principal products, enhanced germplasm of wheat and maize, continue to exert a huge influence in most developing and some developed countries throughout the world. However, the Panel believes that there are further opportunities for collaboration with ARIs, NARS, and the private sector and encourages CIMMYT to expand its efforts in this direction.
CIMMYT is conscientiously adopting a project-based approach to research as reflected in the MTP 1998-2000. However, the formulation of the projects was at a formative stage of development at the time of the EPMR. While the Panel believes that CIMMYT is on the correct course in this process, it considers that it had insufficient data to make a proper judgement as to how effective the change to the new project mode of operation will be when implemented in 1998. Accordingly, it has recommended that a Board-commissioned external review be conducted by mid 2000 specifically to assess the new system.
The Panel was impressed by the collaboration between CIMMYT outreach staff and the NARS in the four regions which they had the opportunity to visit. In particular, the Panel commends CIMMYT on the impressive catalytic effect which the Centre has had on the operational efficiency of the networks in which it is involved.
The research work has been reviewed by the Panel under the traditional programme structure which was operative for the period of the review. The programmes comprise: Wheat, Maize, Economics, Natural Resources, and the Applied Biotechnology Centre. CIMMYT has improved the organization and enlarged the scope of its work on Genetic Resources, and the Panel has suggested further opportunities for strengthening this important area of research.
The Wheat Programme has an unrivalled record in the contribution it has made, and continues to make to the germplasm which constitutes the world's wheat crop. The Panel endorses the many tributes which this programme has received for its work. Success on such a large scale, however, brings in its train vulnerability to new forms of pests and diseases. The Panel believes that CIMMYT should do more to anticipate this eventuality and has recommended that CIMMYT take the necessary action. The Panel has also recommended that the Wheat Programme should review many of its long-established operational procedures in the light of new technologies now becoming available and re-evaluate their cost-effectiveness. Finally, the Panel has expressed concern over the continuing viability of minor programmes in triticale and in barley (the latter jointly with ICARDA) and recommended that additional funding be sought to avoid eventual closure of the programmes.
The Panel has identified many substantial contributions which the Maize Programme has made to increasing the production and productivity of the crop in developing countries. It is concerned, however, that approximately 40% of the maize area in developing countries is still planted with unimproved material. It has recommended that the reasons for this be thoroughly investigated and has also made several other recommendations designed to assist the Maize Programme to re-position itself to face major challenges in improving maize yields and yield stability in marginal environments.
The Applied Biotechnology Centre was established as an independent programme following a recommendation of the 1993 IER. It has developed rapidly in size and scope and is one of the leading programmes of its kind in the CGIAR System, and is amongst world leaders in work on apomixis in maize. The Panel believes that CIMMYT will need to monitor the future balance between work on transgenics and that on molecular markers to assist the plant breeders. For the present, the Panel is satisfied that this balance is acceptable. A recommendation has been made to enhance existing collaboration between the ABC and the commodity programmes and to promote the uptake by them of new technology.
The Natural Resources Group is small in number and of recent origin. Inevitably, questions arise as to whether it has critical mass. The recommendations of the Panel with respect to this Group are designed to encourage interaction within and outside CIMMYT with scientists of related disciplines, working on the unifying research theme of conservation tillage and related soil and crop management practices.
The Economics Programme is now re-positioning itself following a period of two years without a Director. It has done and continues to do some excellent work. The Panel has made recommendations to the effect that the programme should review the balance of its activities, strengthen its presence in Asia, and move gradually in the direction of placing more emphasis on the effect of macroeconomic policies, as they affect wheat and maize in a few selected countries.
CIMMYT has made a tremendous impact on the production of wheat and maize throughout the developing world. More than 70% of the wheat area in developing countries, excluding China, is planted with CIMMYT-derived material, covering more than 50 million ha. Of the area planted to improved maize varieties in developing countries, 55% or more than 14 million ha of non-temperate maize is now sown to CIMMYT-related cultivars. In China, CIMMYT-related wheat varieties are grown on 10 million ha and CIMMYT-related maize varieties on 1 million ha. CIMMYT-related wheat and maize varieties are worth over US$ 3 billion in extra grain production each year in the developing world.
The role of CIMMYT in training research workers has been equally important and more than 5,000 alumni of the Centre are distributed around the world to strengthen national capacities in maize and wheat research.
Although the primary impact of CIMMYT's activities has been through the uptake of its germplasm, this research activity has been strongly underpinned by the Economics Programme and more recently by the Applied Biotechnology Centre and the Natural Resources Group.
The Panel commends CIMMYT on the quality of the impact studies it conducted.
Management has not been CIMMYT's strongest suit in the past, partly because it was considered, rightly, that the scientific programmes should receive priority of attention from the senior administration. It is to the credit of the previous administration that the financial storms of the early 1990s were weathered with the scientific core of CIMMYT left substantially intact.
The Panel believes that, under the present leadership, CIMMYT has done well in addressing a range of management and organizational issues that emerged as funding trends changed. It also believes that the external environment will continue to be challenging in the period to the next review and has made several recommendations designed to initiate further improvements in managerial efficiency. Particular emphasis has been placed on a move to the preparation of all future budget proposals on the basis of full project costing.
The Board of Trustees is a group of highly qualified individuals who are eager to carry out their responsibilities with interest and dedication. It enjoys experienced and competent leadership. The Panel commends the Board on its intention to improve the gender balance in its composition and to gain specific competencies such as legal expertise in the area of Intellectual Property Rights. Proposals are made in the report for improvements in the quality of information, particularly financial information provided for the Board and for improving the transparency of the linkage between CIMMYT's mission and strategy and the budget decisions taken by the Board.
All the evidence accumulated by the Panel confirmed that CIMMYT is universally held in high esteem by the NARS with which it interacts. In the regions, its impact through networks has been substantial and the benefits derived have been out of all proportion to the costs. CIMMYT continues to devote a substantial part of its effort to training and is now adapting its programme to more the specialized needs of the NARS. During the period, CIMMYT has collaborated with the NARS in developing a number of training initiatives in the various countries. This is mutually beneficial. Relations with the host country are generally good but the Panel has made one recommendation which it considers should enhance the harmony of this interaction.
The Panel is pleased to report that CIMMYT, after a difficult period, is undergoing an impressive renewal under widely respected and vigorous leadership. The need for CIMMYT's work is as strong as ever and the Centre is fully worthy of the improving donor support which it is receiving.
The EPMR Panel recommends that:
The Wheat Programme:
1. Initiate an integrated global programme to monitor the racial composition of the populations of stem, leaf, and stripe rust in the major epidemiological regions of the developing world, and help develop complementary research capacity in key NARS.
2. Move to develop breeding strategies that guarantee CIMMYT germplasm carries effective combinations of genes to all three rust diseases.
3. Develop full costing of the outputs of its present wheat, triticale, and barley breeding programmes and examine potential cost benefits of the incorporation of double haploid and marker assisted selection technologies in these breeding programmes.
4. Make a concerted effort to seek additional funding for triticale and barley research without which the future viability of these programmes is at risk. In the case of barley, this needs to be done in close collaboration with ICARDA. If this is not possible, or not successful, then serious consideration will need to be given to the discontinuation of the breeding of these crops.
The Maize Programme:
5. Place greater emphasis on the development of new heterotic populations that incorporate both improved yield potential and increased stress tolerance, and make these populations available to NARS and the private sector.
6. Increase the flow of information and germplasm between maize researchers in Regional Projects and at Headquarters by convening an annual meeting that includes maize scientists involved in germplasm improvement.
7. Fully incorporate marker-assisted breeding approaches into the mainstream maize breeding effort, which will require clarification of the roles and responsibilities of the Maize Programme and the Applied Biotechnology Centre.
8. Thoroughly investigate the reasons for lack of adoption of improved maize OPVs and hybrids on more than 40% of the maize area in developing countries.
The Applied Biotechnology Centre:
9. In collaboration with the Wheat and Maize Programmes develop clear joint research plans with agreed priorities and focus for wheat and maize biotechnology and genetic engineering. Particular emphasis should be given to how these technologies will be incorporated into the CIMMYT wheat and maize breeding activities.
Natural Resources Group:
10. Make conservation tillage and related soil and crop management practices the primary research focus of the NRG, with the goal of quantifying the effects of conservation tillage on water and nutrient use efficiency, soil quality, and productivity of maize-and wheat-based systems.
11. Establish a critical mass of scientific expertise in Frontier Project 7 to improve research efficiency and the complementation of strategic and applied research on conservation tillage systems.
The Economics Programme:
12. Determine, in discussions with RCC, the balance of its research activities in institution-wide activities, support to other programmes, support to NARS, and its own frontier research.
13. Strengthen its presence in the Asian region through a greater use of affiliate economists working in close collaboration with NARS and ARIs.
14. In view of the increasing importance of macroeconomic policies as they affect maize and wheat, gradually place more emphasis on this aspect of research focusing on a few selected countries.
CIMMYT Management:
15. CIMMYT establish a regular annual review of issues of common interest between INIFAP and CIMMYT, with each organization represented by a small group of senior administrative and research officers.
16. Prepare all future budget proposals on the basis of full project costing, showing both income and all expenditures for all project outputs.
17. Take all the necessary steps and obtain the necessary expert input to develop and implement an integrated strategy for information technology and the operation of CIMMYT's management information systems.
18. Implement a policy of full charging for all samples processed by the various laboratory services and evaluate the relative cost effectiveness and analytical quality of outsourcing the supply of the different types of laboratory analyses.
CIMMYT Board:
19. Ensure that adequate information on the budget and important policy decisions is provided to all Board members irrespective of the specific committee on which they serve; and that the flow of information from committees to the Board, and from management to the committees and Board be improved.
20. Commission an external review (CCER) to be conducted by mid 2000 to assess progress in implementing the project-based approach to research management as outlined in the MTP. This review should include the assessment of progress towards the attainment of development of management systems to support these projects, integration of the financial and human resource databases, the implementation of a strategy on information technology, and the operation of CIMMYT's management information systems.
