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

Creation of other international centers 163The CGIAR is formedAt a meeting of the directors of the World Bank, held before the Bellagio IVgathering, authorization had been granted to the Bank to explore with themembers of the Bellagio group, in consultation with FAO and UNDP, thefeasibility of establishing the CGIAR. As stated, the group responded withdefinite enthusiasm. Accordingly, the following month (January 1971) theWorld Bank invited those represented at the Bellagio meetings, and otherdonors as well, to a conference at Bank headquarters in Washington. Theconference was identified as an lnternational Agricultural Research Meeting. Theresponse was eminently gratifying. Representatives came from FAO; UNDP;the World Bank; The Asian, African, and Inter-American banks; OECD;Canada’s IDRC; the Ford, Rockefeller and Kellogg Foundations; Australia,Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UnitedKingdom, and the United States.The World Bank had prepared a staff paper, which formed the basis for thediscussions. There was general agreement that the CGIAR should be formedand that its primary purpose should be to serve as a forum for discussion ofneeds and for coordination of financial and technical support for internationalagricultural research and training activities. Furthermore, it was decided thatmembership in the CGIAR should commit no government agency or privateorganization to support any specific institution or activity, each donor organizationdeciding which institutes or programs it wished to support, yet with fullknowledge of the actions other donors were prepared to take.The World Bank offered to provide the Secretariat for the CGIARand wouldact as a clearinghouse for donor intentions and thus avoid duplication.At the same meeting, it was decided that a Technical Advisory Committee(TAC) should be formed, composed of distinguished agricultural experts fromboth developed and less developed countries, to advise the CGIAR on prioritiesin international agricultural research.The first formal meeting of the CGIAR, as such, took place in Washington19 May 1971, and a second meeting was held 3-4 December 1971. At the firstmeeting, 28 nations and organizations were present, 18 of which (including, ofcourse, the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations) firmly declared that they wouldbecome members of the CGIAR.Although Harrar and Wortman of the Rockefeller Foundation, and DavidBell, Hill, and Hardin of the Ford Foundation played important roles ingaining the initial interest of other foreign aid agencies throughout thedeveloped world, it was McNamara of the World Bank who provided theessential impetus to the movement. He envisioned the idea of a CGIAR;developed infectious enthusiasm for the project, influenced FAO and UNDPto join the Bank as sponsors, and assigned some of his most able personnel(Richard Demuth and, later, Warren Baum) to serve as chairmen of the Group.TAC was formed, with Sir John Crawford of Australia as the first chairman.He was an ideal candidate for the post and TAC got off to an excellent start.FAO agreed to provide the TAC Secretariat at its headquarters in Rome. TAC