Summary of Conference of Heads of Assistance Agencies. New York, December 3-4, 1970 (Bellagio IV)

Summary of a conference of heads of international assistance agencies organized by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations in New York, December 1970, designated Bellagio IV. The meeting was a follow-up to Bellagio III held in April 1970, and had the same agency participation, with the addition of representatives of France and Japan. It centered around a series of five papers prepared by the IDRC and the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. After generally accepting a review of funding requirements of the four existing centers (IRRI, CIMMYT, CIAT, and IITA) for the coming five years, as presented by Dr. Hill of the Ford Foundation, the meeting turned to the papers:1. A proposal for an international upland crops program,. It was agreed that a technical panel would evaluate scientific requirements to improve sorghum and millet.2. A proposed allocation of responsibility for food legumes to CIAT, CIMMYT, and IITA. It was agreed that work on dry beans, cowpea, pigeon pea, chickpea should go forward, but soybeans and peanuts were of lower priority.3. The establishment in Africa of an animal disease research laboratory, to be located in Nairobi, and a production research and training center. More study was recommended, including the possibility of building on the East Africa Veterinary Research Organization (EAVRO) in Kenya, and a combination of the two centers proposed.4. Irrigation and water management. IDRC was encouraged to move ahead with a symposium on research and training needs.5. A proposal to strengthen policy research at national institutions in Asia, linked by a small international staff. The meeting said that the nations themselves should shape such a plan, and that a similar approach might fit other regions as well.The meeting also briefly discussed possible future consideration of proposals in the related fields of population and education