On 23 May 2009, CIMMYT DG Tom Lumpkin told staff that the center needs to double in size in five years to accomplish its mission and confront, among other challenges, a looming global food security crisis. “We’ve got to grow,” he said. “The food situation is getting frightening out there. We need to do a better job of meeting the world’s needs. Otherwise, we’ll become irrelevant and others will take our place.”

Lumpkin and Scott Ferguson, deputy director general for Support Services, spoke to international staff at El Batán and to staff in Nairobi via Skype, about a new business plan being developed for the center, and other issues of common concern in a general meeting.