– Interactive Report –

Final Celebrations at Headquarters, 8-9 November 2017

8 November

President Juan Manuel Santos joins CIAT50 Celebrations

President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón of Colombia visited the CIAT genebank and awarded CIAT with the National Order for Merit in the degree of Silver Cross on the occasion of CIAT’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Read the president’s speech (in Spanish)

Colombia’s Minister of Finance Mauricio Cárdenas Santamaría addresses the audience and reiterates the importance of the CIAT-Colombia alliance for Colombia and the world

Geoff Hawtin, Chair of the CIAT Board, welcomes the participants on this special day of celebrations

More prestigious participants address the audience

CIAT celebrates its partners

Because its achievements in the last 50 years would not have been possible without its hundreds of partners around the world, CIAT took the opportunity of its 50th Anniversary celebrations to recognize just a few key partners in its host country, Colombia. Our thanks and recognition also go to all our other partners in Colombia and elsewhere. Together we will continue to build a sustainable food future for all.

… and partners recognize CIAT

Joe Tohme, Agrobiodiversity Research Area Director, receives on behalf of CIAT a tribute awarded by the Municipality of Palmira from Jairo Ortega Samboní, Mayor of Palmira, Colombia.

… Even from the distance

CIAT’s Ricardo Labarta presents some of the impacts of 50 years of collaborative research

During 50 years, CIAT has led the development and dissemination of technologies, innovative methods, and new knowledge that better enable farmers to enhance eco-efficiency in agriculture and contribute to building a sustainable food future.

CIAT scientists have compiled an impressive record of achievements. In the interests of accountability to donors and other stakeholders, and to help guide the Center’s strategic research investments, they have also devoted considerable effort to measure the economic impact of their work.

Ricardo presents some of the main impacts of CIAT’s collaborative research.

The first panel of the day discusses the LAC model

Latin America and the Caribbean: a model for agricultural development and sustainable food systems?

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is poised to be recognized as one of the great food baskets of the world. As one of the most urbanized regions in the world, LAC is already in the future, and it is ahead of the curve in other respects too. Some countries in the region have made considerable advances in the way they produce food, are proud and proven early adopters of new agricultural technologies, and have developed groundbreaking policies on issues from ecosystem services to climate-smart agriculture. LAC really can become the precedent for inclusive agricultural development and sustainable food systems that can both inform and inspire the rest of the world.

The World Bank’s Juergen Voegele shares his vision of a sustainable food future

The big discussion: Building a sustainable food future

After addressing food systems in Colombia and Latin America, the panelists and participants discuss the global food systems.

Food systems affect and are affected by the social, economic, and environmental contexts in which they operate. Today, they face a massive array of challenges. About 795 million people currently lack enough food to lead healthy and active lives. By 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach 9.8 billion. To feed everyone, we must ensure access to 60 percent more food in ways that enhance the livelihoods of poor farmers and reduce agriculture’s impact on the environment, and we must do so at a time when land degradation and climate change are disrupting the very ecosystem services that are critical to sustainable agriculture.

We discuss the critical roles of climate change research, private sector involvement, and food systems to build a sustainable food future.

Talk 1: The future of climate change research

Talk 2: Aligning public and private interest to scale up and deliver impact

Talk 3: How to achieve sustainable food systems

CIAT’s Director general Ruben Echeverría wraps up the day

9 November

John Lynam tells the story of CIAT and invites two surprise guests to the stage…

Download: Book   /   Summary

John then facilitates a discussion on social sciences at CIAT

With the following introductory statement – “The mission of CIAT is to accelerate agricultural and economic development and to increase agricultural production and productivity in order to improve the diets and welfare of the people of the world. In addition, CIAT is concerned with increases in buying power of urban residents in the sense that they may be able to purchase more and thus benefit from the increased food supplies.” Later, CIAT’s mission would focus increasingly on raising incomes for smallholder farmers, concentrating on 4 major crops and more recently CIAT has embraced a ‘Sustainable Food Systems’ paradigm. As the CGIAR has evolved into a more development focused organization social sciences become even more important than in the past. What was the original thinking at the beginning of social science at CIAT, and particularly agricultural economics?

Moderator: John Lynam, CIAT Emeritus

Two more partners mark their long-standing collaboration with CIAT

Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla, Head of the Latin American and Caribbean Program, International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI

Daniel van Gilst, Senior Adviser, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)

Luis Calzadilla, Head of Science and Innovation, British Embassy in Colombia

CIAT Director General Ruben Echeverría closes the celebrations

… Before participants head to CIAT’s trial fields

…and to the closing reception