25 September 2014: The first CGIAR Development Dialogues held in New York, US, focused on the role of agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, landscapes, and food systems with regard to climate change and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The meeting followed CGIAR’s announcement at the Climate Summit 2014 to dedicate at least 60% of its annual budget to climate-smart agriculture.

Speaking at the Dialogues, Frank Rijsberman, CGIAR Chief Executive Officer (CEO), highlighted agriculture as “the backbone of sustainable development.” He said, “There can be no sustainable development or halting the effects of climate change if we do not pay due attention to the billions of people engaged in agriculture that manage the world’s natural resources and produce the food for ever-increasing population demands.”

Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria, called for greater support of the CGIAR consortium, which hosts 15 agricultural research centers, thousands of scientists and hundreds of partners. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union (AU), called on CGIAR to partner with Africa’s national, regional and continental research systems, “to deliver on the agriculture future Africa wants.”

Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), cautioned against “a loss of welfare for human society” if small farmers’ vulnerability to climate change impacts is not addressed, calling for the CGIAR to “focus on this as an immediate and a long-term goal.”

Johan Rockström, Director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, stated that agriculture could transform “from being the big challenge to being the large solution,” while Jonathan Wadsworth, Executive Secretary of the CGIAR Fund Council, stressed the need for major change; “Incremental change won’t do. The challenges are too many and multi-faceted and the consequences of failure too great.”

The CGIAR Development Dialogues 2014 was a high-level, invitation-only event for 250 participants and was open to the general public through video streaming and social media. [CGIAR Press Release] [Climate Week NYC Announcement]