Thread by @IPESfood

#OPINION 📰 Reform of @CGIAR is long overdue. However, IPES-Food is concerned that the current reform process will fall short of the fundamental change that is required, and risks exacerbating major power imbalances in global agricultural #development. 👇

ipsnews.net/2020/07/one-cg…

The process now underway to reform the @CGIAR is of major public interest. Since its inception at the height of the ‘Green Revolution’ in 1971, the #CGIAR has driven advances in crop breeding and agricultural mechanization and modernization across multiple continents.

The CGIAR's mission – to develop knowledge and innovation for #agriculture in the global South – is as relevant today as ever, in light of #climatechange, #COVID19 and a host of additional challenges.

The ‘#OneCGIAR’ process seeks to merge the CGIAR’s 15 legally-independent centres, headquartered in 15 countries, into one legal entity. The impetus has come from some of its biggest funders, notably the @gatesfoundation, the World Bank, & the #US and #UK governments.

However...

1/ Restructuring appears to have been advanced in coercive manner, without genuine buy-in from global South.
2/ Insufficient diversity among inner circle driving @CGIAR reform.
3/ Proposed restructuring fails to equip CGIAR for the urgently-needed paradigm shift in #foodsystems.