The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has announced a doubling of its funding of $500 million in 2008 to $1 billion in 2013.
CGIAR officials say that the commitment could help lift 150 million people in Asia out of poverty through higher rice yields, provide 12 million households in Africa with sustainable irrigation, and prevent 1.7 million hectares of deforestation.
17 December 2013: The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has announced a doubling of its funding of $500 million in 2008 to $1 billion in 2013. CGIAR officials say that the commitment could help lift 150 million people in Asia out of poverty through higher rice yields, provide 12 million households in Africa with sustainable irrigation, and prevent 1.7 million hectares of deforestation.
According to Frank Rijsberman, CEO of the CGIAR Consortium, “The $1 billion in funding will help finance CGIAR’s 16 global research programs and accelerate the development of scientific, policy and technological advances needed to overcome complex challenges – such as climate change, water scarcity, land degradation, and chronic malnutrition, greatly improving the well-being of millions of poor families across the developing world.”
CGIAR anticipates that specific outcomes from its research programs could include, among others: access to vitamin and mineral rich food crops for 50 million malnourished people by 2018; increased harvests of grain legumes providing 2.1 million tons of extra protein in low-income regions by 2022; and a 30% rise in fish production and fish farming in Egypt, also by 2022. [CGIAR Press Release]