An Approach to the CGIAR as a Provider of International Public Goods

Description

This report is a revised version of a draft prepared by the authors in March 2008 as a contribution to the work of the CGIAR Independent Review Panel (IRP). We are indebted to Elizabeth McAllister, Chairperson, for the opportunity to work on this subject. We would like to thank IRP members Elizabeth McAllister, Keith Bezanson, Jeff Waage and John Mugabe, IRP secretaries, Ken Watson and Karin Perkins, and John Lyman, Selçuk Ozgediz and the participants in an IRP workshop held in Ottawa in May 2008, for their valuable comments and suggestions. Dana Dalrymple, who for many years has championed the use of the concept of international public goods in agricultural research, made extensive comments to improve the report. We also are grateful to Mario Bazán for his assistance in the preparation of this report. We owe special thanks to Jim Ryan, member of the CGIAR Science Council, who prepared a most useful discussion paper on international public goods and the research continuum at the CGIAR. Ryan’s paper was presented at a Science Council workshop held in The Netherlands in 2006 and, although we were unaware of his paper when preparing the first draft of our report, we found many points in common and a rather high degree of convergence in our views. The revisions introduced in this document take into account discussions that took place in several events and meetings that were part of the CGIAR Change Management Process, as well as material presented in the final report of the Independent Review Panel and its supporting documents.1 Preliminary note .................................................................................................... 3 List of acronyms.................................................................................................... 4 Executive summary............................................................................................... 6 1. Introduction...................................................................................................... 12 2. International public goods and management for results............................. 12 2.1 The concept of public goods.............................................................................. 12 2.2 International public goods.................................................................................. 15 2.3 International public goods and development assistance .................................... 17 2.4 International public goods and managing for results.......................................... 19 3. International public goods, management for results and the CGIAR......... 24 3.1 The CGIAR as a producer of international public goods .................................... 24 3.2 International public goods and the CGIAR continuum from scientific research to development impact........................................................................................ 29 3.3 CGIAR priorities and international public goods................................................. 32 3.4 Some examples of CGIAR activities viewed through an IPG lens...................... 42 3.4.1 Genetic enhancement of high-value species................................................ 42 3.4.2 Knowledge about sustainable income generation from forests and trees..... 47 3.4.3 Genebanks as a CGIAR product and service............................................... 51 3.4.4 Research on science and technology policies and institutions ..................... 54 3.4.5 Institutional capacity for international agricultural research .......................... 57 4. Concluding remarks........................................................................................ 61 Postscript............................................................................................................. 64 ANNEX A: The structure of an idealized “international public goods (IPG) delivery system”.................................................................................................. 65 Knowledge, public awareness and political decision................................................ 65 Global public goods regimes ................................................................................... 68 International organizations and partnerships ........................................................... 70 Financing mechanisms............................................................................................ 71 Operational policies and procedures ....................................................................... 71 Agreements and contracts....................................................................................... 71 National and local entities involved in the provision of an international public good. 72 ANNEX B: International Public Goods: Activities and Outputs....................... 74 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 76 About the authors................................................................................................ 79