TAC expresses its appreciation to Mr. Declan Walton and the members of the External Programme and Management Review Panel for a clear, frank and forward-looking assessment of WARDA. The report highlights, in a pragmatic and positive way, the major strategic issues facing WARDA as an institution, and the rice research concerns in West Africa.
TAC congratulates WARDA for the remarkable and successful transformation that has taken place at the Centre - in line with the CGIAR recommendations - since the 1986 Mid-Term Review. TAC is pleased that WARDA was found by the Panel to be depoliticized and well-managed, with a soundly-designed programme.
TAC recalls the circumstances in 1986 that led the CGIAR to facilitate the restructuring of WARDA so that it could receive full CGIAR support. This decision was not made only on the basis of priority for rice research in West Africa, but was a policy decision by the CGIAR to give financial support to a restructured WARDA. TAC also recalls that, in endorsing WARDA's 1989-93 Medium-Term Plan, the Committee had noted that the magnitude of the Plan could not be justified on the basis of a congruence analysis. The Committee further recalls that, in its 1992 review of CGIAR priorities, while noting the growing importance and complexity of the rice situation in West Africa, TAC had recommended that the CGIAR should maintain only a minimum effort that had a reasonable chance of success.
The Committee endorses in general the recommendations of the Panel, and is encouraged that the Centre's response indicates broad agreement with the Panel's findings and recommendations. TAC offers the following Commentary, which was prepared with inputs from the CGIAR Secretariat on management.
Transformation, Financial Hardship and Critical Mass
In transforming itself, WARDA has revised its constitution, established a new and effective governing structure, selected a new site near Bouaké, and signed a headquarters agreement with the Government of Côte d'Ivoire. It has successfully moved from Liberia, constructed a research facility and initiated new programmes that are strongly oriented towards collaboration with NARS. Yet WARDA has not been supported with the level of funding required to meet its objectives in full. Currently, WARDA has only 16 core senior staff, of whom nine are scientists. Staffing has been reduced in administrative support functions and, the Panel contends, former levels should be restored in order to maintain effective operations of financial, administrative and personnel management. TAC notes with concern that, in the Panel's opinion, WARDA as a whole has been reduced close to the level of critical mass, and that management will face a challenge in holding together the excellent team which it has assembled, if the funding trend is not reversed.
Operational Mandate and Focus
TAC commends WARDA for incorporating sustainability concerns into its current strategy, and for adopting a farming-systems approach to research with a strong ecosystems focus. However, TAC agrees with the Panel that there is a need to more clearly define the opportunities for impact in the different rice ecosystems, particularly in the 'continuum' environment. TAC notes that there are no clearly-identified development strategies for rice production in the region, and urges WARDA to help clarify how its NARS partners and beneficiaries in the region can best be served. In this context, the Committee endorses the need to include in the characterization studies a comprehensive assessment of the regional rice sector and the prospects for development.
Viable Programme and the Open Centre Concept
While the Panel considered WARDA to be currently at critical mass, it suggested that 20 core senior staff would be required for a viable Centre. TAC believes that critical mass is a concept that also relates to each particular programme, and the number suggested by the Panel may not necessarily imply that all programmes in the institution are at the level of critical mass.
The Committee agrees with the Panel's view that, for WARDA to be fully viable, it is necessary to include expertise in the fields of hydrology, crop physiology and economics in the Continuum Programme, and of agronomy in the Sahel Programme. However, given the financial difficulties faced by WARDA and by the CGIAR system as a whole, TAC recognizes that the Centre would need to adopt an innovative and perhaps an opportunistic approach to strengthening its disciplinary research. In this regard, the Committee concurs with the Panel that WARDA's open centre concept could permit the Centre to amplify the scope of its programmes and to enhance opportunities for intellectual interactions, provided that overall Centre priorities are not compromised.
INGER
The Committee is in agreement with the Panel recommendation that INGER-Africa should be maintained as a unitary network for the whole of sub-Sahara Africa, sponsored and managed jointly by WARDA and IRRI, taking into account the special requirements of NARS. TAC also agrees with the Panel that the timing of, and the definitive arrangements for the move to WARDA, should be worked out as part of an overall package that will guarantee the Network's future stability and effectiveness. The Committee is pleased to note that steps have already been taken by WARDA, IRRI and IITA to resolve the issues highlighted by the Panel.
Relationship with IITA
The Panel suggested that the most fruitful approach to WARDA-IITA collaboration should be based on feasible joint projects, rather than on the consideration of mandates, or on ambitious plans for large-scale joint programmes. The Committee is encouraged that the issue of the future relationship with IITA is under discussion in an open and constructive way between the parties concerned. TAC would like to commend both IITA and WARDA for having taken the first steps (with other partners) to develop a joint project/consortium for the inland valley ecosystems in West Africa.
Ecoregional Activities
WARDA has concentrated its efforts on rice-ecosystems which, in the African context, include rice as an integrated part of multicommodity farming systems. In its commodity work, WARDA has given considerable attention to the agroecological dimensions of the research, and the characterization studies may prove essential in retaining and sharpening the ecosystems focus. TAC believes that WARDA can make a significant contribution to ecoregional activities in the humid and sub-humid areas, in close collaboration with IITA. For the irrigated areas of the Sahel, the Committee agrees with the Panel that WARDA should explore with IIMI the possibility of a joint initiative aimed at increasing the performance and productivity of irrigated rice cropping systems.
Collaboration with NARS
WARDA's model of partnership with NARS consists primarily of regional working groups that advise on collaborative activities, and thematic task forces that develop regional plans for sharing tasks based on an assessment of priorities and the particular strengths of collaborators. Research is decentralized into multidisciplinary teams involving WARDA and NARS scientists, and even training is organized through regionally-based itinerant courses.
It is too soon to judge the success of this institutional approach in terms of research outputs and impact. Early indications suggest that the model appears to promote positive relations with national programmes and should assist in building the capacity of NARS; increasing complementarity and thereby the efficiency of rice research activities throughout West Africa, and ensuring that research is relevant to the region's needs. In addition, such an approach increases the likelihood that WARDA's responsibilities can be transferred to NARS at some time in the future, and thus appears to be a model worthy of close examination within the CGIAR system.
Governance, Organization and Management
TAC is pleased by the Panel's assessment that WARDA's Board is operating as a cohesive and effective governing body, which has highly positive relations with Centre management and with its staff. While TAC recognizes that the Board's Programme Committee has expertise that can contribute significantly to the conduct of WARDA's annual in-house review, it agrees with the Panel that any examination of WARDA's activities by the Programme Committee should be conducted in a manner that is clearly separate from the in-house review. In order to perform this and all other Board responsibilities successfully, greater attention needs to be given to the development and implementation of a systematic orientation of new Board members. This is an issue that has been raised in external reviews of other Centres, as has the issue of the succession of Board leadership, which also requires careful thought and better planning by WARDA's Board.
TAC commends the strong and dynamic leadership of the Director General and his management team, and is pleased by the reported efficiency of the financial, administrative and personnel management units at WARDA. However, the Committee is concerned that the effectiveness of these units may be eroded due to the departure of key staff, and urges management to carefully review the situation to ensure the cost-effectiveness of alternative staffing levels.
The Committee wishes to highlight that, although the Panel commends WARDA for the high calibre of its international staff, there are no women among them. TAC agrees with the Panel that management should redouble its efforts to recruit qualified women, especially for senior positions.
Future of WARDA
In the Panel's view, only modest savings could be achieved by merging WARDA with IITA. However, the Panel did not provide the argument and the assumptions which lead to this conclusion. The Committee believes that its considerations with respect to CGIAR support for rice research in sub-Saharan Africa have been further-complicated by the CGIAR's 1986 decision to support WARDA as an institution. The issue of WARDA's future is addressed in the TAC statement 'Strategies for Rice Research in the CGIAR'.
