CGIAR Announcement

Ganesan Balachander served as Representative in the Ford Foundation New Delhi Office. Carlos Perez del Castillo, Chair of the Consortium Board of the CGIAR, is pleased to announce the incoming members of the inaugural Consortium Board: Mohammed Ait-Kadi, Tom Arnold, Ganesan Balanchander, Gebisa Ejeta, Ian Goldin and Lynn Haight. These six members join Perez del Castillo and the two Vice Chairs, Carl Hausmann and Bongiwe Njobe, in providing leadership and strategic direction for the newly formed Consortium of CGIAR Centers.

“I am impressed and inspired by the wealth of experience and wisdom these individuals will bring to the Consortium,” said Perez del Castillo. “I am confident that the new Board members will bring the necessary energy, commitment and perspectives to our task of establishing the new Consortium and delivering on the mission and vision of the CGIAR.”

Ganesan Balachander is currently a member of the Board of Trustees at Bioversity International. His career interests have ranged from banking to environmental conservation. He is now starting up a Green Bank intended to have a triple bottom line: good for business, good for the environment and good for poor people. Balachander has represented the interests of South Asia at the Ford Foundation and has long experience in directing and implementing development projects with international and national NGOs.

In 2008, the CGIAR launched its Change Management Initiative to identify how best to adapt to and anticipate global changes and challenges, such as food price volatility, more extreme weather arising from climate change and the global financial crisis. This initiative culminated in the CGIAR's decision in December 2008 to adopt a new business model that will enable the CGIAR do more and do better, as it fulfills its mandate to fight poverty and hunger while conserving the environment.

The core of the new model is a partnership between a Consortium that unites CGIAR research Centers and a new Fund, built on a common vision of mobilizing agricultural research to reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and nutrition, and enhance sustainable management of natural resources in the developing world. Implementation of the new model will take place throughout 2010 under the leadership of the Consortium Board and Fund Council.

For more information on the Consortium and the Consortium Board:http://alliance.cgxchange.org/welcome

For more information on the CGIAR reform: http://www.cgiar.org/changemanagement/index.html