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Statement from the ICRISAT Governing Board

Statement from the ICRISAT Governing Board

Nairobi, Kenya

On the occasion of its 103rd meeting, the Governing Board1 of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) congratulates the management and staff of the Institute and its partners for 50 years of impactful research that has transformed the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor in the tropical drylands of Africa and Asia.

ICRISAT is prepared for a bright future as a member of the family of International Agricultural Research Centres2 focused on global food and nutrition security and food systems transformation.

ICRISAT’s mandate crops – millets, sorghum and grain legumes, and their cropping systems – are increasingly critical to address persistent malnutrition among marginalized populations across the drylands and to contribute to better diets and agricultural production that is more resilient to climate change. Research on these largely neglected and underutilized crops is urgently needed and ICRISAT’s contribution in this regard is pivotal.

ICRISAT celebrates its continuing and emerging collaborations and partnerships with international, national and regional partners that remain so crucial to continuing the generation of high-quality research that has a transformative impact.

The Board would like to take this opportunity to thank our host countries, our national and international partners, and the talented scientists in the CGIAR and elsewhere for their collaboration. We look forward to continuing to work with partners and colleagues and stand ready to meet current and future critical challenges to ensure dryland areas can support the populations that live within them.

ICRISAT is looking forward to celebrating the United Nations “International Year of Millets 2023.” We are working closely with FAO and India and other national partners to provide the global focus and platform to highlight the significance of millets for food and nutrition security as well as presenting the contributions being made to enhancing the productivity and sustainability of these crops.

We appreciate the recognition of ICRISAT for its scientific innovations in millets given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India during his visit to ICRISAT at its 50th Anniversary celebration earlier this year. We similarly appreciate the awarding of the Africa Food Prize to ICRISAT in 2021 for having improved food security across 13 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Board is grateful for the consistent support provided by our many partners and donors over ICRISAT’s five decades. We would especially like to thank the Government of India which has graciously hosted the Center’s headquarters and reaffirmed ICRISAT’s status as an Independent International Organization. We also appreciate the steadfast support of the governments in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the State of Telanagana where ICRISAT is headquartered, that have facilitated our work and impact together.

For half a century, ICRISAT has been a proud steward of the global repository of ​ genetic resources for millets, sorghum and legumes, held in trust under the auspices of FAO since 1994 and since 2004 implementing the Article 15 agreement with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).

The Board is pleased that the 9th Session of the Governing Body of the ITPGRFA adopted a resolution that calls upon all relevant stakeholders to assist the genebank of ICRISAT financially, as appropriate.

The Board and staff of ICRISAT celebrate a half century of delivering and applying science to address the critical food security needs of more than 2 billion people living in the drylands of Africa and Asia. We embrace the challenges that the future will bring and appreciate the trust that has been placed in our scientists and scientific partners around the world.

We stand ready to build on our collective successes from the past and adapt them to the weighty challenges of the future. ​

Nairobi, Kenya, 5 October 2022

 


Images from ICRISAT's 103rd Board Meeting, Nairobi, Kenya

1 ICRISAT Board Members

  • Prof Prabhu Pingali, Chair (United States of America) 
  • Dr Himanshu Pathak, Vice Chair (India)
  • Dr Jacqueline Hughes, Director General ICRISAT (United Kingdom)
  • Mr Somesh Kumar, Chief Secretary (India)
  • Prof Yaye Kene Gassama, (Senegal)
  • Dr Yilma Kebede, (Ethiopia)
  • Ms Folashade Ogunde, (Nigeria)
  • Ms Cathy Reade, (Australia)
  • Dr Laurie Tollefson, (Canada)
  • Dr Regine Andersen, (Norway)
  • Dr Jim Godfrey, (United Kingdom)
  • Dr Bonnie McClafferty, Board Observer (United States of America ) 

Unable to attend: Shri Manoj Ahuja, Agriculture Secretary India

 

2 ICRISAT is a part of the CGIAR family and the wider community of committed international agricultural research centers. While it remains outside the One CGIAR management arrangement based on the consideration that its mandate crops and host countries are best served this way, we look forward to ongoing and future collaboration with all relevant research centres.

 

 

About The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a pioneering International Organization committed to developing and improving dryland farming and agri-food systems to address the challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and environmental degradation affecting the 2.1 billion people residing in the drylands of Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and beyond.

ICRISAT was established under a Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of India and the CGIAR on the 28 March 1972. In accordance with the Headquarters Agreement, the Government of India has extended the status of a specified “International Organisation” to ICRISAT under section 3 of the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947 of the Republic of India through Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. UI/222(66)/71, dated 28 October 1972, issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

Our offices:

Asia: India (Headquarters - Hyderabad)

East and Southern Africa:  Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe

West and Central Africa: Mali, Niger, Nigeria

For all media inquiries, please email: [email protected]

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
Hyderabad, Telangana, India