The document provides an update on activities of the CGIAR Consortium since the reform process began. It discusses progress made on several fronts, including the approval and funding of 15 CGIAR Research Programs, signing of additional countries to the Consortium agreement, establishment of board committees, selection process for a new CEO, and development of monitoring principles and reporting templates for research programs. It also outlines current activities like the implementation of a gender strategy, establishment of a strategic research theme on agrobiodiversity, and efforts to improve communications and branding across CGIAR.

1. CONSORTIUM NEWS
Inaugural Issue
Message from the Board Chair March 2012
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Consortium News, a regular bulletin with updates from
the CGIAR Consortium. This issue will provide an update of our current activities as well as
a summary of the main results achieved since the reform process started.
Significant progress has been achieved with regard to the reform process, although it is
acknowledged that much more needs to be done.
I am pleased to inform you that the government of Denmark recently announced that it will
sign the Agreement establishing the Consortium as an international organization, along with
France and Hungary. I will attend the signing ceremony in Paris on 2 March.
All 15 CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) have been approved by the Consortium Board
(CB) and submitted to the Fund Council (FC) for funding. To date, most of the CRPs have
already received funding approval and ten are already in operation. The remaining CRPs
have been submitted for consideration and approval at the March FC meeting.
Our funding situation is also looking positive. According to the CGIAR Fund Office (FO), 25 donors have either started
or completed Contribution Agreements. A few of these donors have also amended their original agreements to make
additional contributions – a strong indication that donors have confidence in the potential of CGIAR research. Funding
for Center operations in 2011 was almost US$700 million, up from almost US$650 million in 2010. A significant
increase is also expected in the unrestricted funding for 2012.
Resource mobilization continues to be a high priority for the Consortium. As such, the CB is collaborating with the FC to
establish a resource mobilization strategy and an action plan. To be successful, resource mobilization needs to be
supported by effective communication. So, in addition to the ongoing redesign of the CGIAR institutional website and
the creation of CGIAR branding guidelines that will enable us to speak with one voice, a collective approach is being
taken to organize and participate in events and activities that will influence the global agenda. The Rio+20 event in
June this year is one such example.
We are also working on the design and implementation of the One Corporate System, a Center-led initiative to increase
CGIAR’s efficiency and effectiveness.
To ensure a smooth and efficient transition of activities after the resignation of the CEO, the CB immediately set up an
Executive Committee (Ex-Co) comprised of four CB members: Carl Hausmann, Ganesan Balachander, Lynn Haight
and myself. During the last quarter of 2011, three members of the Ex-Co spent time at the Consortium headquarters in
Montpellier working directly with CO staff. This face-to-face experience has given all of us a better understanding and
appreciation of our respective roles. The CB also established four other committees with the purpose of improving
communications, transparency and governance within CGIAR: Audit and Risk; Science, Program and Partnerships;
Nominations and Evaluation; and Members Interest.
Following a thorough CEO selection process, two final candidates were retained. In the interest of ensuring full
transparency and broad participation in the final selection, both candidates have been invited to make a presentation to
the joint Directors General/Board of Trustees/CB meeting on 28 February. The CB is expected to make a final decision
on the appointment of the new CEO at the seventh CB meeting in March.
In closing, I would like to say how gratifying it is to be publicly acknowledged by our donors for the work we do. For
example, Bill Gates mentioned CGIAR’s work in his 2012 Annual Letter, when he called for more innovation in
agriculture and described CGIAR’s contribution as being “critical”. This is further evidence that we are on the right track.
I hope you will find the Consortium News useful. It is an attempt to ensure that the Consortium as a whole is kept
informed of the progress being made in achieving the objectives outlined in the CGIAR reform process while keeping
an eye on what still needs to be done.
Carlos Pérez del Castillo
Chair, CGIAR Consortium Board

2. 2 CGIAR CONSORTIUM NEWS
2010 Highlights
During 2010, several important building blocks of the new CGIAR were put in place:
• CGIAR Fund established
• CB formed
• CGIAR Fund Governance Framework (an umbrella for all new institutional documents outlining
mutual accountabilities between the Fund and the Consortium) prepared
• CGIAR Constitution, which sets out the roles, responsibilities and governance of the Consortium
and its relationship with the Centers, approved
• First Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) held
• First two CRPs – Global Rice Science Partnership, and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food
Security – approved by FC
• First Consortium CEO appointed
• Nine Centers and the CO began integrating their project, financial and human resource
management systems into the One Corporate System (OCS)
• Three CB meetings and three FC meetings held
• Montpellier, France, chosen as Consortium headquarters
2011 Highlights
During 2011, institutional reform continued to be implemented:
• Strategy and Results Framework (SRF) approved by the Funders Forum
• All 15 CRP proposals submitted by Centers approved by the CB and submitted to the FC – two
years since the reform process started
• CO staff was recruited and started operating in the new Consortium office at Agropolis
International, Montpellier
• Joint Agreement and Consortium Performance Agreement adopted by the FC and the CB
• Program Implementation Agreement approved by the CB and the Centers
• Consortium-level Gender Strategy developed by the CO and approved by the CB
• Monitoring principles developed by the CO and approved by the CB
• Consortium Intellectual Asset Policy adopted by the CB after extensive consultation with CGIAR
stakeholders, and CGIAR Intellectual Asset Principles draft developed by Centers and donors
• France and Hungary signed the Agreement establishing the Consortium as an international
organization. France’s signature requires parliamentary ratification.
• Five CB committees created with the purpose of improving communications, transparency and
governance within CGIAR.

3. CGIAR CONSORTIUM NEWS 3
2011 Outreach Activities
• Consortium and the Stockholm International Water Institute signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to collaborate on water management issues – November
• Consortium and the French Commission de la recherche agricole internationale (CRAI) signed a
joint declaration – Montpellier, September
• CGIAR celebrated its 40th Anniversary: one event hosted by World Bank (July) and another hosted
by FAO (December)
• Consortium hosted media briefing and learning event: The “Food Crisis in the Horn of Africa:
challenges and opportunities for mitigating drought-induced food crises” – Nairobi, September
• Consortium actively participated in G20 Conference on Agricultural Research for Development, the
first G20 conference to focus on issues of international agricultural research for development –
Montpellier, September
• Board Chair made a presentation on the developments of the CGIAR reform process at 37th
Session of the Committee on World Food Security – Rome, October
• Consortium website launched – May
• Design and development of the new cgiar.org website begun – October
Current Consortium Activities
Acquisition Process of International Organization Status
The Agreement establishing the Consortium as an international organization (IO) was signed by France
and Hungary during the closing session of the G20 meeting last September in Montpellier, France. Since
then, the Agreement has been open for signature by other countries at the French Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in Paris. All CGIAR donor countries have been invited to sign the Agreement and, in addition, the
Consortium has been engaged in discussions with many potential signatory countries regarding their
signature. Denmark is scheduled to sign the Agreement on 2 March 2012, while many other countries have
expressed interest in signing too. As France’s signature requires parliamentary ratification, IO status will be
granted as soon as another country that does not require parliamentary ratification (such as Denmark)
signs the Agreement.
Consortium Board Committees
As well as setting up the Ex-Co, the CB established four other committees as the result of an ad hoc
committee (made up of two CB members and two Center representatives) working on governance issues:
Audit and Risk; Science, Program and Partnerships; Nominations and Evaluations; and Members Interest.
Following decisions made at the Cali CB Meeting, the Ex-Co drafted the charters for the five committees
and submitted them to the CB on 20 January 2012 for their comments. After a number of adjustments, the
five charters were approved by the CB on 30 January 2012.
The Nominations and Evaluations Committee (NEC), comprised of Carl Hausmann, Ganesan Balachander,
Ian Goldin, Paul Zuckerman (Centers’ Board Chair representative), and Robert Zeigler (Centers’
representative), has been working on the evaluation of the CB in order to explore the best practices of a
highly effective board over time. Instead of conducting a self-evaluation of the CB, the NEC agreed to allow
a designated representative from each of the Centers to participate in the evaluation. This process is
assisted by an external evaluation firm, which designed two survey questionnaires, one for the CB
members and the other for the Centers, and circulated them on 15 January. The firm will evaluate the
responses and send a final report to the NEC by mid March.

4. 4 CGIAR CONSORTIUM NEWS
Last Steps in the Appointment of a New CEO
Immediately following the resignation of the CEO, the CB established an ad hoc CEO Search and
Selection Committee in October 2011. The Committee, which consists of the four Ex-Co members and
Pamela Anderson (the Centers’ CB representative), began working on the search and selection process
with the help of a recruitment firm. During the initial stages, the selection process benefited from the
Centers’ input on both the Terms of Reference for the CEO role, and the suggested nominations. After a
challenging search during which the Committee reviewed over 250 candidates, a long short-list of
candidates was compiled. The Committee then selected four candidates, whom they interviewed in Miami
in early February. After an in-depth discussion, two candidates were retained for the final phase of this
process. In order to maintain transparency and broader participation, the CB has invited the two candidates
to make presentations in response to the question: “What do you believe are the challenges in the CGIAR
System in the short, medium and long terms and how would you address them?” during the joint Directors
General/Board of Trustees/CB meeting in Montpellier on 28 February. The final decision is expected to be
made during the March CB meeting.
Development of 2012 CRP Financing Plan
A 2012 CRP Financing Plan proposal has been developed by the CO in consultation with the Ex-Co. It will
be presented for approval at the seventh CB meeting in Montpellier and then presented at the upcoming
FC meeting in Seattle.
New Staff in the Finance and Corporate Services Unit
A new Finance Officer, Mrs. Denyse Faulkner, has been appointed and will begin work on 27 February
2012. This position ensures that there will be a permanent complement of two professional officers in the
Finance and Corporate Services unit. During 2011 and 2012, the Consortium also engaged the services of
a long-term consultant who is assisting with start-up activities and, more specifically, helping to establish
the OCS for both CGIAR as a whole and the CO.
Improving Management of CGIAR Intellectual Assets
The Consortium Intellectual Assets working group (Ganesan Balachander – Board member; Sara Boettiger
- CIMMYT Board Chair; Emile Frison - Bioversity DG; Bryan Harvey - former IITA Board Chair; Bob Zeigler
- IRRI DG; and Elise Perset - Consortium Legal Counsel) has been working on a new draft of the CGIAR
Intellectual Assets Principles with the FC donors working group, which comprises representatives from the
World Bank, USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Initiative for Agricultural Research
for Development (EIARD), FAO, Japan, Australia, and the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA). After numerous discussions, a face-to-face meeting last year, and several document iterations, a
draft was agreed on and sent to the CB, Centers and donors for wide review in January. The document has
been amended according to the feedback received and, as there are still a couple of unresolved issues, will
be submitted to the upcoming CB and FC meetings for discussion.

5. CGIAR CONSORTIUM NEWS 5
Establishing Monitoring Principles and Reporting Templates for CRPs
After a thorough examination, the CB approved the Consortium-level monitoring principles proposed by the
CO last November. Following this approval, the CO began drafting a chapter on “harmonized reporting” for
the Common Operational Framework (COF). The draft chapter contains reporting templates that are
expected to meet the requirements of donors while also respecting the Consortium-level monitoring
principles. In order to receive formal endorsement of the draft chapter, the CO held several discussions
with a group of interested donors. The CO also formed a working group 1 made up of the directors of four
quite different CRPs—to obtain their perspective on those activities that can (or cannot) feasibly be
reported on an annual basis.
The working group has been providing inputs to the CO for discussions with donors on their reporting
requirements and the associated ‘template’ amendments for annual reporting. Three teleconferences with
donors have taken place so far. The CO re-drafted the chapter, after taking into account donor requests
and inputs from the working group. After the third teleconference, the templates were further amended and
sent to the FC for discussion and use as an interim reporting template for 2012. During the third
teleconference, two donors indicated that they were not ready to approve the draft chapter for inclusion in
the COF. The draft will also be sent to the Centers and CRPs for comments.
Implementation of the Consortium-level Gender Strategy
The Consortium-level Gender Strategy approved by the CB last November will be discussed with
interested donors in a consultation to be jointly organized by the CO and the FO. As part of the Strategy,
the CB hired a senior gender advisor, Dr. Jacqueline Ashby, for one year beginning last December. Dr.
Ashby’s main function is to facilitate the mainstreaming of high quality gender research in all the CRPs
within six months of their implementation. The commitment to gender will be presented in a CRP-level
gender strategy. Dr. Ashby has organized a first meeting with CRP scientists undertaking research on
gender to plan the scope of the research across the recently launched CRP Gender and Agriculture
Research Network. This meeting will precede the CGIAR-sponsored Global Conference on Women in
Agriculture (organized by the Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions) in Delhi in
March.
New Strategic Research Theme on In Situ Management of Agrobiodiversity
In line with the identified gaps in the current portfolio of CRPs raised by the scoping study on genetic
resources, the Consortium asked the CRP on Dryland Systems to design an in situ agrobiodiversity
management component. Centers involved in that CRP submitted a revised proposal following some
iteration with the CO. The Consortium reviewed the submission and concluded that with some minor
amendments it was ready for review by the ISPC. The ISPC will provide further comments that the CRP
can take on board (along with other comments received from donors) during its current inception phase.
The CO has also been working very closely with the Global Crop Diversity Trust to address a request from
the FC that the Consortium develop a sustainable mechanism that will support System genebanks. The
program submitted to the FC for approval includes the design and implementation of a genetic resources
information system that will involve all relevant CRPs and the facilitation of an expert network on emerging
strategic genetic resources issues.
1
The advisory working group consists of: Achim Doberman, director of the largest and longest running crop improvement CRP
(GRiSP); Bruce Campbell, director of the longest running natural resources management CRP (Climate Change, Agriculture and
Food Security); Patrick Dugan, director of the smallest CRP (Aquatic Agricultural Systems, a System-level CRP) and Mark
Rosegrant, director of the social science CRP (Policies, Institutions and Markets).

6. 6 CGIAR CONSORTIUM NEWS
Improving Communications in the CGIAR
• Enrica Porcari was appointed Acting Director of Communications in October. Plans to recruit a
fulltime candidate continue.
• CGIAR needs to communicate with one voice. In addition, the launch of the CRPs and a reformed
CGIAR called for new, clear CGIAR branding guidelines, which have been developed by the CO
following extensive consultations with CGIAR communicators and other relevant groups and will be
presented at the March CB meeting. The CGIAR institutional website (cgiar.org), which is an
important communications vehicle, is being redesigned in close cooperation with the FO, the
Centers and CRP communicators. The official launch is planned to coincide with the Rio+20 event.
• To better communicate for influence and impact, efforts are being made to pursue collective,
cohesive messages with major campaigns. Towards this end, plans have been developed to be
present at both Rio+20 and GCARD with one voice.
• CGIAR’s online presence has increased significantly: a number of training and strategic sessions on
how to optimize online presence for increased reach and impact have been carried out with Centers
and CRPs. In addition, the Consortium has facilitated the publication of opinion pieces, stories of
change and articles covering the impact of CGIAR’s work in a number of media outlets.
OCS: One System Many Gains
The OCS began as an inter-Center initiative to adopt and implement a common enterprise resources
planning system aimed at addressing the project, financial and human resource information needs of the
Centers. Nine Centers and the CO are participating in the initiative, with the first implementations
scheduled for the end of 2012.
By implementing the OCS, Centers can expect to improve operational efficiency at the Center-level in
terms of research, research support, and administrative support, and also facilitate collaboration and
information sharing within Centers, among Centers, and among CRP participating Centers.
IRRI and WorldFish will be the first Centers to implement the OCS – around September 2012. The CO will
implement the system either at the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2013. Bruce Fraser, Finance Officer in
the CO, is representing CO needs by working closely with the OCS team.
Outreach Activities
The Chief Science Officer and a Center Director General are both members of the Organizing Committee
of the next GCARD meeting, which is to be held in Punta del Este, Uruguay. The program for the meeting
has recently been amended by GFAR to reflect comments received from the Consortium, and a new
budget request has also been prepared for submission to the FC. After analysis of the submission, the CB
will present the new budget request and the amended program to the FC. To support the work and
partnership underway with African development partners, two CB members are participating in the
meetings of the Steering Committee working on the joint CGIAR-CAADP (Comprehensive Africa
Agriculture Development Programme) initiatives.
Preparations are also ongoing for the Consortium’s collective participation in the Rio+20 and ‘Planet under
Pressure’ events.

7. CGIAR CONSORTIUM NEWS 7
Developing Three New Memoranda of Understanding
Two Memoranda of Understanding are being finalized. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
CGIAR’s Gender & Diversity Program focuses on how the intellectual assets of the Program are going to
be maintained and passed onto the Consortium in the second half of 2012. The other MOU, with AWARD,
an independent program, stipulates that AWARD is a preferred provider of certain services for the
Consortium and the CRPs. Interested CRPs will have more specific letters of agreement with AWARD
under this umbrella MOU.
Two CB members are working on a third MOU with the African Union, the main objective of which is to
facilitate a strategic partnership within the CRPs’ framework that will support a robust African science
agenda – in the agricultural and natural resources sectors in general, and around the implementation
agenda of CAADP in particular.
New Consortium Office Building to Be Completed by End of 2013
An architect for the construction of the Consortium building in Montpellier, France, has been selected by
representatives of the Region du Languedoc, Agropolis and the Consortium. A call for tender, which was
launched last year, attracted over forty applicants, five of whom were requested to submit an initial project
plan. The selected plan is for a building that will be modern, environmentally friendly and energy efficient.
Completion is targeted for the end of 2013.
Supporting Communities of Practice
The CO will continue to support activities across the Consortium through a series of meetings:
Past meetings:
• An initial meeting of Center intellectual property specialists was held in October 2011. The main
focus was to launch the Consortium Legal /IP Network and to discuss the draft ‘CGIAR IA
Principles’ and the ‘Consortium IA Policy’, as well as the co-development in 2012 of implementation
guidelines and best practices to ensure their coherent implementation in the CRPs.
• The CO organized a science leaders meeting with all the CRP Directors and Center DDGs-
Research. Discussions focused on: (i) the draft Monitoring Principles at Consortium and CRP
levels, (ii) the draft of the Consortium-level Gender Strategy, (ii) the process for Research Priority
Setting and Foresight in the context of the new action plan for the SRF, and (iv) criteria for selecting
a few common research sites among some CRPs.
• The Corporate Services Executive (CSE) met twice in 2011 – in Montpellier (April) and Washington-
IFPRI (September). In addition, a specialist finance working group meeting in December reviewed
reporting and accounting issues in the CRPs and the progress being made with the OCS.
• A meeting of Center human resource managers was held at IRRI in February 2012, as part of an
effort to establish a System-wide HR community of practice.
• The first CGIAR communicators meeting was held in Nairobi in May 2011, during which the CGIAR
branding guidelines, the new cgiar.org, CRP joint communications plans and other cross-System
activities were launched.

8. 8 CGIAR CONSORTIUM NEWS
Future meetings:
• CRP Gender Research Experts – first meeting • ICT Managers Meeting
12 March 16-19 April
New Delhi, India Rome, Italy
• CGIAR Communicators Meeting • Corporate Services Executives Meeting
19-23 March 24-25 May
Rome, Italy Montpellier, France
Upcoming Events
The Consortium will participate in:
• 7th Fund Council Meeting
7-8 March
Seattle, USA
• Global Conference on Women in Agriculture
13-15 March
New Delhi, India
• ISPC meeting
26-28 March
New Delhi, India
CGIAR Consortium, c/o AGROPOLIS INTERNATIONAL
Avenue Agropolis, F-34394, Montpellier, Cedex 5
t (+ 33 4) 67 04 7575
w www.cgiar.org
Printed on recycled paper