CGIAR in Ethiopia, transition
and global perspectives
Transforming food, land and water
systems in a climate crisis
Namukolo Covic
ILRI Director General’s Representative to Ethiopia
One CGIAR consultation workshop and Launch event, ILRI,
Addis Ababa, 29-30 March 2023

• International Livestock Centre for Africa
(ILCA)
• Established in Ethiopia in 1974
• Focus on Animal Production
• Genebank, laboratory and farm research
facilities
• Strong capacity development from the start
• International Laboratory for Research on
Animal Diseases
(ILRAD, Nairobi)
- Established in Kenya in 1974
- Focus on Animal Health
- Animal health
laboratories
and farm
ILRI’s History
From ILCA & ILRAD to ILRI

Legal status of ILRI in Ethiopia presents a oneCGIAR example
• Merger of the International Laboratory for Research on Animal
Diseases (ILRAD) and the International Livestock Centre for Africa
(ILCA) in 1994.
• ILRI legally established as an international organization by treaty
signed by Denmark, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sweden, Switzerland and
UNEP and deposited in Berne, Switzerland
• Both Ethiopia and Kenya conferred the newly established ILRI
terms and conditions as its predecessors
• ILRI board includes host country representatives appointed by the
host governments (Ethiopia: HE Dr. Fikru Regassa)
• Host country agreements in Ethiopia and Kenya provide for
organizations (ILRI hosts 16 other organizations in Ethiopia)

4

5

Partners for Africa Rising project
relevant to One CGIAR initiative on Sustainable Intensification
An ecosystem of
partners is needed to
deliver efficiently from
a systems perspective.
One CGIAR integration
will bring and must
bring greater
coherence across this
ecosystems of delivery
Towards country
impacts.

www.cigar.org
CGIAR’s 2030 Research and Innovation
Strategy
Vision
A world with sustainable and resilient food, land and water
systems that deliver diverse, healthy, safe, sufficient and
affordable diets, and ensure improved livelihoods and greater
social equality, within planetary and regional environmental
boundaries.
Mission
To deliver science and innovation that advance
transformation of food, land and water systems in
a climate crisis.
Impact
CGIAR is targeting multiple SDG benefits across five Impact
Areas, with collective global targets for transformation of food,
land and water systems across local, regional and global levels.

www.cigar.org
2030 Research and Innovation
Strategy
Nutrition, health & food
security
Poverty reduction,
livelihoods & jobs
Gender equality, youth
& inclusion
Climate adaptation &
mitigation
Environmental health &
biodiversity
5 impact areas
03
02
Fresh portfolio of 33 multi-
disciplinary Research
Initiatives to deliver a new
10-year strategy
01
New approaches to confront
food, land and water crises
through scaling, action areas,
performance measurement

www.cigar.org
THE FIVE REGIONS OF ONE CGIAR

www.cgiar.org
MoA: Objective of the ten-year strategy
• Improving the agropastoral community's income by increasing the agriculture sector's
productivity and competitiveness in the coming ten years.
• Improving food security and nutrition
• Contributing to the economic transformation of the country through
o Boosting the contribution of the agriculture sector to the country's Gross Domestic
Product (GDP)
o Improving the culture of consuming nutritious food among the farming community
o Improving varieties of agricultural products
o Improving the import-export balance of agricultural products
o Improving the linkage between the agriculture and the industry sector
o Reducing the number of small-scale farming communities gradually
o Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector

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The objectives of Yelemat Tirufat
• Improving food security and nutrition
• Creating job opportunities
• Increasing productivity and substituting import s
Increasing the annual production of
 Cow milk from 5.8 billion to 10.3 billion liters
 Camel milk from 1.1 billion liters to 1.35 billion liters
 Eggs from 3.2 billion to 9.2 billion
 Chicken from 90000 ton to 240,ooo ton
 Honey from 147,000 ton to 296,000 ton
11
Yelimat Tirufat

Country coordination and convening considers bothOneCGIAR initiatives and bilateral research
1. Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems
2. Sustainable Animal Productivity for Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender
Inclusion (SAPLING
3. Resilient Cities Through Sustainable Urban and Peri-Urban Agrifood Systems
4. Protecting Human Health Through a One Health Approach
5. Mitigation and Transformation Initiative for Greenhouse Gas Reductions of
Agrifood Systems-Related Emissions (MITIGATE+)
6. Sustainable Healthy Diets Through Food Systems Transformation (SHIFT)
7. Rethinking Food Markets and Value Chains for Inclusion and Sustainability
8. Harnessing Gender and Social Equality for Resilience in the Agri food System
(HER+)
9. Harnessing Digital Technologies for Timely Decision-Making Across Food, Water
and Land Systems
10. Ukama Ustawi: Diversification for Resilient Agribusiness Ecosystems in East and
Southern Africa
11. Plant Health and Rapid Response to Protect Food Security and Livelihoods
12. Excellence in Agronomy for Sustainable Intensification and Climate Change
Adaptation
13. SeEdQUAL: Delivering Genetic Gains in Farmers' Fields
12

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Improvement of crop and livestock productivity
Gender equality, youth and social inclusion
Livelihoods and employment creation
Markets and value chains
Regenerative/agroecological practices
Climate change mitigation and adaptation
Sustainable intensification
Dietary choices and food enviornment
Food safety and health
Initiative Bilateral
Which broad policy areas doCGIAR research efforts respond to?

www.cgiar.org
CGIAR Impact: 2017-2020
n.b these data exclude what was generated through bilateral projects
Number of new or significantly
improved outputs including
management practices,
knowledge or technologies
Total
Innovations
4,154
Number of people trained
through CGIAR projects
and programs
Total
Trainees
3.34M
Total Policies
501
Number of policies
informed by CGIAR
research
Total Peer
Reviewed Papers
8,198
Number of CGIAR research
papers published in peer reviewed
journals

www.cgiar.org
Almost
half
the world’s
wheat land is
sown to varieties that
come directly or
indirectly from
research by CGIAR
scientists.
Global economic
benefits of
improved
rice
varieties
developed by
CGIAR, amount to
$10.8 billion
annually.
Nutrient-enriched
biofortified crops have
reached 50 million people
across 40 countries
CGIAR’s work on
modern crop varieties
has reduced
infant mortality
by a third across
the developing world –
averting between 3
and 6 million infant
deaths each year.
A SPIA assessment
demonstrated that CGIAR
innovations in Ethiopia have
potentially reached 11 million
rural Ethiopian households —
nearly 80 % of all
rural households — with
substantial adoption among poor
smallholders, women and youth.
CGIAR: Global impact

www.cgiar.org
11 Genebanks hold collections critical for global food
security
Store our genetic heritage, safeguarding the biological
foundation of our food systems
Enable identification of the traits that make seeds useful for
farmers in different contexts
Seeds that help farmers weather the climate crisis while
preserving biodiversity
Seeds that can withstand drought, disease… be grown with
more saline water in areas where sea levels are rising
A global store of seeds

Objectives of the One CGIAR Consultation
1. Engage the diverse partners on the CGIAR research portfolio for Ethiopia
and how this can be best leveraged to contribute to national goals.
2. Identify gaps that can inform future research and synthesis of research
evidence for national policy and program processes.
3. Identify how potential synergies could be enhanced.

Consultation process to be followed
1. Presentations and panel discussion to provide information on the overmatching
agriculture policy and program perspective within which CGIAR is embedded
2. Armed with this information go and view a share fair of posters of different projects and
initiatives that form part of the One CGIAR research portfolio in Ethiopia. Ask questions
and contribute information that would be useful; identify potential gaps or where existing
evidence could be synthesized for use.
3. Participate in a fish-bowl discussion to share gaps you may have identified for
consideration in ongoing on future efforts.
4. Identify potential entry points for work that you are doing whether in programmes on
research.
5. This information will be synthesized for use in ongoing research or to inform future
research efforts.
6. For the purpose of items 4) & 5) when you provide information on post-its we will ask for
your contact details so that we can be able to follow-up as needed.
7. Thursday we will have a high-level launch event.

THANK YOU