Technical Advisory Committee Seventy-Second Meeting, 17-26 March 1997: Report of the Meeting

Report of TAC 72 held at FAO in Rome, March 17-26, 1997, Don Winkelmann presiding. TAC considered external program and management reviews of three centers, and sent each with a commentary to the CGIAR. TAC endorsed panel recommendations for a strategic realignment of research and major institutional change at ICRISAT. ISNAR was urged to respond to a rapidly changing external environment, and to make its research agenda more coherent. TAC shared the view of the panel that IPGRI could benefit from a period of consolidation.The Committee reviewed the medium term plans for the 16 centers for the period 1998-2000 in terms of their implications for CGIAR priorities, prepared a commentary on each, and recommended percentages of total system funding for each center. TAC also revised its 1996 statement of priorities and strategies, for consideration by the CGIAR. It gave special attention to the criterion of relevance for poverty alleviation. It was agreed that a joint working group of TAC and other elements of the system would continue the work on classification of CGIAR activities begun at a workshop in Feldafing in February.TAC reviewed the completed study on research priorities for marginal lands, and decided to commission further studies of relationships between land types and poverty, and between poverty and land degradation. The Committee revised the terms of reference and guidelines for external program and management reviews of centers. Final texts are appended to the report of the meeting