One strength of the existing CGIAR is that centre scientists are 'in the trenches' every day with national colleagues and farmers Flickr/IRRI Images

CGIAR reforms take research decisions too far away, says Hartmann, director-general of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

This year (2009) marks the end of an era in agricultural research. Not only has Nobel Prize-winning agronomist Norman Borlaug died, but the network of research centres with which he was closely associated is in the throes of radical reform (see A revolution to combat world hunger).

The Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a networking organisation founded in the 1970s to channel funds into agricultural research, was a creative idea that has also proved effective.

Read more… (Science development Network)