CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Donald L. Winkelmann
Chair
31 August 1995
Dear Mr. Serageldin,
We are pleased to submit to you the Report of the Fourth External Programme and Management Review of IITA which was completed in April 1995 by a Panel chaired by Dr. Eduardo Venezian of Chile. The Report and the response of the IITA Board of Trustees and Management were discussed by TAC at its 67th meeting, held in Rome, 11th - 17th July 1995. IITA was represented at the meeting by the Board Chair and the Director General.
We also attach IITA's response to the Report together with the TAC Commentary which summarized the Committee's reactions both to the Panel's Report and to IITA's response to the Report. TAC's Commentary incorporates the CGIAR Secretariat's views on the management sections of the review.
We are pleased to note that the Panel is positive about IITA. It is clear that IITA has been substantially strengthened over the past five years, and that the Institute is well structured to address its future research challenges. We would like to draw your attention to a number of important and beneficial developments at the Institute, which reflect the positive and effective leadership provided by IITA's Board and Management. These include, the broadening of the geographic and regional scope of activities to embrace parts of the mid-altitude humid and subhumid areas of East and Southern Africa; completion of the transfer of rice research to WARDA; further decentralization of research including a restructuring of the Institute's management organization and procedures, and notable improvements in the internal work environment.
We also draw your attention to the impact IITA has made, particularly through its work on plant breeding and plant protection. We hope that in the future, impact will also be obtained through IITA's research on natural resources management.
We recommend continued strong support to IITA by the CGIAR. IITA has important goals to accomplish, not only in commodity improvement research, but also in the rapidly evolving area of natural resources management.
Yours sincerely,
Donald L. Winkelmann
Chair, TACAlexander von der Osten
Executive Secretary, CGIAR
Mail address: 355 E. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · TEL: (1-505) 988-1284 · FAX: (1-505) 988-1285 · [email protected]
