An adventure in applied science - IRRI books - International Rice ...

Financing of IRRI 149foreign assistance. In February 1968, W. David Hopper, the agriculturaleconomist in the Rockefeller Foundation’s agricultural program in India anda Canadian citizen, was in the Philippines. I talked with him about broadeningthe financial support for IRRI. Hopper felt there was a good chance that theCanadian Government would be interested. He said he would make arrangementsfor Maurice Strong, who headed the External Aid Office in Ottawa, andKenneth Wardroper, the Canadian director of the Asian Development Bank,to visit IRRI. They did so in late April 1968, while I was on a trip to Burma, India,and Bangladesh, and McClung was their host.As a result of the visit, Canadian interest in providing financial support toIRRI deepened and it was decided that negotiations between IRRI and Canadawould go forward with Wardroper as intermediary.Wardroper and I had a 2-hour conference on 13 May, during which thepossibility was discussed of Canada’s becoming an equal partner with theRockefeller and Ford Foundations by contributing $750,000 annually to IRRI’score budget. Wardroper explained that if Canada did this, it would want toreceive equal credit with the other donors — representation on the Board ofTrustees and an official announcement that IRRI was supported primarily bythe Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Canadian Government.I agreed to report this information to Hill. As chairman of IRRI’s Board,Hill consented to the terms put forth by Wardroper.On 6 July, Hopper was again in the Philippines and he, McClung, and I metwith Wardroper to give him the details of IRRI’s current budget and to discusspossible uses of Canadian funds if a grant should be made in 1969.At that time, IRRI needed additional senior staff. The proposal to Canadawas that it provide full support for three scientists: an agronomist to work inthe area of soil physics and water management, a plant pathologist to deal withbacterial diseases of rice, and an entomologist to work on insect population dynamics.The 6 July conference was followed up by Wardroper on 19 July when hecame to IRRI and showed McClung, Salacup, and me the draft of his proposalto the Government of Canada for a grant to IRRI.In August, my wife and I were on a combined home leave and professionaltrip. On 14 August, by previous arrangement, I flew to Ottawa for a day of conferenceswith several officials in the External Aid Office, including MauriceStrong, the director-general. The conversations were definitely encouraging.I seconded the proposal that Wardroper had submitted, which asked for$355,000 in 1969 for the enlarged program. Strong asked me to submit a requestfor that sum in writing, which I did the following day in New York. At thatpoint, Canada seemed ready to become the third major contributor to theInternational Rice Research Institute.On 28 October, I was in New York presenting IRRI’s 1969 budget estimateto officers of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations. The foundations hadinvited the Canadian External Aid Office to send a representative to themeeting and Stewart Peters was present. In the afternoon, I spent an hour withhim privately and was told that the Canadian authorities had considered the