VZCZCXRO8353
PP RUEHRN
DE RUEHRN #0072/01 3382122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 042122Z DEC 09
FM USMISSION UN ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1209
INFO RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEHC/USAID WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0420
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0264
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0319
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 1285

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 UN ROME 000072 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AID FOR SUSAN BRADLEY; TREASURY FOR P.GHANDI; STATE FOR EEB G.CLEMENTS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID EAGR ECON PREL UN
SUBJECT: HOW BIOVERSITY INTERNATIONAL (AS PART OF THE CONSULTATIVE 
GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH) CONTRIBUTES TO GLOBAL 
FOOD SECURITY 
 
REF: USUN Rome 61 (CFS Reform Plan) 
 
Summary and Action Request 
 
--------------------- 
 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  On December 1, the Ambassador met with the Director 
General, Emile Frison, and Deputy DG of Bioversity International 
(BI) - the Rome-based leg of the Consultative Group on 
Agricultural Research (CGIAR) - for an introductory briefing on 
BI's work and its contribution to global food security.  Frison 
provided an overview of BI's Program of Work and its efforts to 
consolidate and reform the CGIAR network.  In terms of support 
to country-led food security strategies, Frison described BI's 
policy work in Rome and abroad, and explained technical 
challenges associated with launching a "Green Revolution" in 
Africa.  They were not invited to attend Rwanda's December 7-8 
food security strategy launch, but have projects in Rwanda and 
staff in Nairobi and Kampala who could attend. 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U) On reform of CGIAR (and its 15 research centers), Frison 
said a new, legally-independent Consortium would be created by 
late-Feb/early-March to give the Group a single voice and higher 
political profile.  The effort is being led by CGIAR at the 
World Bank in Washington.  Frison advocated housing the new 
Board in Rome to complement work underway at the UN agencies 
here, including in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). 
Frison believed that CGIAR's new funding mechanisms, with less 
restricted project funding, would promote greater flexibility 
and sustainability.  The reform effort will help deliver 
research results to the field for practical implementation.  BI 
will also continue to promote strengthened biological diversity 
in agricultural development, improved nutrition, assistance with 
national legislation in key areas, and stronger value chains 
involving government, civil society and the private sector. 
Frison encouraged increased USG funding for Bioversity 
International, in addition to CGIAR.  ACTION REQUEST:  If CGIAR 
is not already represented at the Rwanda event, we recommend 
their inclusion.  If the USG supports having the new CGIAR 
Consortium/Board based in Rome, we see them as adding value 
toward improved coordination of the Rome-based agencies for food 
security.  We welcome Washington thinking on this topic.  END 
SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST. 
 
 
 
Introductory Briefing on CGIAR and Bioversity 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (U) Emile Frison (Belgium) and Kwesi Ateh Krah (Ghana), DG 
and DDG of Bioversity International, respectively, briefed the 
Ambassador on December 1 on the work and ongoing reforms at BI 
and its parent network - the CGIAR.  During their 90-minute 
meeting, Frison detailed the work of BI, its history, and 
provided an overview of the research it does as a key part of 
the larger CGIAR.  Most of the CGIAR centers, he noted, 
maintained valuable agricultural seed banks for local use.  BI 
is developing a "gene portal" for public access to genetic 
materials and maintains a seed bank for banana species.  Its 
real work, however, is focused on global policy issues, given 
its location amidst the Rome-based UN food and agriculture 
agencies.  BI, he noted, is pleased to be speaking more 
regularly on behalf of the CGIAR in Rome and elsewhere, and is 
particularly content with an active role within the reforming 
CFS (reftel). 
 
 
 
Challenges in Africa 
 
--------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4.  (U) Asked to explain how BI and the CGIAR (set up in the 
1970s) could contribute to the globally-sanctioned food security 
strategy and its emphasis on country-led strategies, Frison said 
 
UN ROME 00000072  002 OF 003 
 
 
BI was already working in many countries around the globe and 
with numerous regional research networks, particularly in 
Africa.  BI had projects in Rwanda, for example, but was unaware 
of Kigali's plans to launch a food security strategy in early 
December.  Nonetheless, if invited, field staff in Nairobi or 
Kampala might be able to attend the event. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (U) Asked why the Green Revolution that helped feed so many 
in Asia during the 1970's had not easily transferred to Africa, 
Frison described some of the challenges.  Unlike Asia and 
elsewhere, Africa did attract the same level of investment to 
develop the necessary infrastructure and "support network" built 
around new and successful seed varieties engineered during the 
Green Revolution in Asia.  Soils in Africa, he said, were more 
difficult and often do not support intensive agriculture, as 
they lose fertility quickly in many areas.  The African 
approach, as a result, is focused less on maximizing production 
as it is on minimizing the risk of major crop failure (due to 
limited extension services, credit, etc).  Nonetheless, on the 
positive side, Frison noted that Africa, due to its shortage of 
intensive agriculture and mechanization maintained tremendous 
agricultural genetic diversity that should be used to benefit 
small-hold and family farmers, improve nutrition, and minimize 
risks of plant disease.  The approach taken by the Gates 
Foundation, he believed, was still too focused on industrial 
agriculture models that may be inappropriate in the African 
context.  Better education and extension services are largely 
what is needed there, he added. 
 
 
 
New Board Structure;  Housed in Rome? 
 
------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶6.  (U) The CGIAR, including BI, is undergoing a major reform 
project set to be completed in the coming weeks and months, led 
by a team at the CGIAR headquarters at the World Bank in 
Washington, DC. A major part of the reform effort will be a 
restructuring of the network's governing structure, aimed at 
providing a single voice and a higher political stature.  Frison 
believes this will help ensure a seat at the table for CGIAR/BI, 
particularly in Rome among the larger UN agencies.  He added 
that the 15 CGIAR centers would form a single consortium, with 
its own legal identity, with a CEO and Board Chairman with 
world-class stature.  Names for those positions are expected to 
be announced soon.  The first meeting of the new Board is 
expected to occur next March, ahead of a key meeting on 
agriculture biodiversity in Montpellier, France also in March 
(http://www.agrobiodiversityplatform.org/wp_m ain/?p=223). 
Frison strongly believes the Board should be located in Rome, to 
take advantage of the work of the UN agencies, IDLO, the CFS, 
and other bodies working to promote global food security. 
ACTION REQUEST:  Post seeks feed-back on whether this is in the 
interest of the USG, and whether we should encourage such a 
move.  END ACTION REQUEST. 
 
 
 
Call for Additional Resources 
 
------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶7.  (U) Before finishing, Frison made a pitch for increased USG 
assistance for BI, in addition to the significant assistance it 
is already giving the CGIAR headquarters at the World Bank. 
Noting that China (USD 160 thousand) was already providing 
approximately one half of the USG contribution to BI, Frison 
welcomed the core funding already given by USAID, but that more 
could be used.  Likewise, additional contacts and coordination 
between donors and the new Board and its individual centers 
would be beneficial for the network, as a whole. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
 
UN ROME 00000072  003 OF 003 
 
 
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¶8.  (U) BI and the broader CGIAR are clearly key players in the 
food security portfolio, and their role should be clearly 
understood and supported, where appropriate.  BI's work to 
establish and maintain seed banks in the developing world, 
promote biological diversity, and nutrition are adding value and 
should also be a part of country led food security planning in 
Africa and elsewhere.  We may want to consider including them in 
our thinking and in future roll-out ceremonies like the one 
hosted next week by Rwanda.  Their work with IDLO to help 
develop seed legislation in developing countries, their 
collaboration with FAO to promote implementation of the Treaty 
on Genetic Resources, work with IFAD and other Rome agencies is 
also adding value and is consistent with Principle Four of the 
Rome Food Summit declaration, that is leveraging multilateral 
institutions.  Their prominent inclusion in the CFS will also 
help retain and encourage a useful focus on nutrition and 
bio-diversity. 
COUSIN