the Symposium on Wheats for More Tropical Environments - cimmyt

3 _Keynote Address: Wheatsfor More Tropical EnvironmentsW.T.llashler. seDlor Director. Division for Global andIDterregioDal Projects. UDited Nations neYelopment ProgrammeIt is always a great pleasure for me tobe at CIMMYT. as UNDP and CIMMYThave had a long-standing relationship ofa special nature with each o<strong>the</strong>r. WhenBob Havener and Arthur Klatt kindlyinvited me to come to this conferenceon tropical wheat. I readlly accepted <strong>the</strong>invitation. Whlle I have been asked tobe a keynote speaker at this conference.which is strictly devoted to research ontropical wheat. I would also like to giveyou an overview of UNDP's globalagricultural research and relatedactivities. including support to researchon tropical wheat. To begin with. Iwould like to proVide a brief historicalperspective of <strong>the</strong> Global andInterregional Programme which I havedirected since its inception in 1971.The visit of Paul Hoffman. <strong>the</strong> firstAdministrator of UNDP. to <strong>the</strong>International Rice Research Institute in<strong>the</strong> PhUlppines in 1969. and oursubsequent contacts with CIMMYT. ledto <strong>the</strong> genesis of UNDP's Division forGlobal and Interregional Projects(DGIP). The idea was that UNDP. as <strong>the</strong>world's most broadly based partnershipfor technical cooperation. had both <strong>the</strong>opportunity and <strong>the</strong> obUgation toincrease its involvement indevelopment efforts with potentiallyworld-wide impact. In January 1970.UNDP's Governing Councll approvedsupport for "Global One." aninternational effort to develop highproteinvarieties of maize. a food cropimportant in <strong>the</strong> diets of mlllions ofpersons throughout <strong>the</strong> world. Withthis project. UNDP embarked upon anew form of development support: basicscientific research aimed at finding newsolutions for old problems. in this case.improved nutrition. This began ourlong-standing and fruitful cooperationwith CIMMYT. which in effect helpedcreate <strong>the</strong> concept of UNDP's globalresearch. <strong>the</strong> results of which could bespread to a wide spectrum ofdeveloping countries. Some years havepassed since "Global One" began fullscaleoperations and. during this time.UNDP's Global Program has grown intoa worldwide collaborative researcheffort of <strong>the</strong> highest scientific quality. Acomplementary program of interregionalactivities is designed to spreadresearch results and to assistdeveloping countries in o<strong>the</strong>r areasrequiring international cooperation.Today. <strong>the</strong> combined program spansfive areas of critical importance todeveloping countries:• Food and agriculture• Health. including drinking water andsanitation• International economic relations andeconomic cooperation amongdeveloping countries• Energy• Human resourcesMore than 100 developing countries areparticipating in projects currentlyunder implementation in <strong>the</strong>se varioussectors.Two basic convictions underlie all of<strong>the</strong> GloballInterregional Programme'sactivities. The first is that every seriousdevelopment must be accompanied bya constant search for new knowledgeand new approaches which strike notonly at <strong>the</strong> symptoms but at <strong>the</strong> causesof underdevelopment. The second isthat many problems faced bydeveloping countries can be dealt wi<strong>the</strong>ffectively only within a framework of