Blogs – Page 17

International Women’s Day 2014: “Equality for women is progress for all”

Written by on March 10, 2014. Posted in Blogs.

Nearly 40 years after the United Nations established March 8 as International Women’s Day, we have seen great progress in achieving equality for women – there is greater parity in primary education between boys and girls, maternal mortality has declined by around two-thirds and 4 of every 10 jobs in the non-agricultural sector are held by a woman. However, despite a push through the Millennium Development Goals, gender equality and the empowerment of women still have not been achieved. Women continue to face discrimination in access to economic assets, work, education, health care and political participation. As a result, women are more likely to live in poverty, have less access to finance and information and fewer opportunities to break free from this cycle, especially in agricultural sectors.

At CIMMYT, we are working hard to close the gender gap and generate gains in agricultural output, food security, economic growth and social welfare. Across our projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, CIMMYT actively seeks women’s participation in breeding and seed sector development, the value chain and agricultural mechanization. CIMMYT is working to integrate gender into the project design cycle and into project implementation. Both the CGIAR Research Programs on MAIZE and WHEAT have an approved gender integration strategy and in 2014 and 2015 all CRPs will jointly conduct a cross-gender study.

Women are the backbone of the rural economy in the developing world; they constitute much of the agricultural labor force but receive only a fraction of the land, financial credit and training compared to men. The gender gap in agriculture imposes costs not only on women themselves, but on their families, society and the sector as a whole. The FAO estimates that if women had access to the same resources as men they could increase yield on their farms by 20 to 30 percent and would spend this additional income on improving the health, nutrition and education outcomes of their children. If women had equal access to resources, agricultural production in developing countries would be 2.5 to 4 percent greater, feeding up to 150 million more people.

These are important achievements, but the job is not yet done and CIMMYT must place even more emphasis on gender and diversity. Promoting equal access to resources, improving gender awareness in CIMMYT projects and involving women in decision-making at all levels can help to close the gender gap in agriculture. This March, let us look for new avenues to empower women and think about how our interventions empower men and women alike.

International Women’s Day:
How it all Started
In 1908, 15,000 women took to the streets demanding better working conditions, shorter working hours and better pay as part of a garment workers’ strike in New York City. Inspired by these events, International Women’s Day was first celebrated in 1911 with more than 1 million men and women attending rallies across Europe. By World War I, International Women’s Day became a tool for protest. In 1917, Russian women began a strike for “bread and peace,” demanding an end to food shortages and an end to the war. They initiated the February Revolution, the first of two Russian revolutions. The women’s protest started on March 8. Since it was born out of the socialist movement, International Women’s Day was subsequently celebrated chiefly in communist and socialist countries. However, in 1977 the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring March 8 a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

For more information:

http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

http://www.un.org/en/events/womensday/history.shtml

http://www.genderinag.org/content/gender-agriculture-sourcebook

Student reflection: my visit to CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India

Written by on November 6, 2013. Posted in Blogs.

Alex Renaud is a third-year graduate student pursuing a doctorate degree in plant breeding and genetics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.

When given the opportunity to travel to India to work on heat tolerance in maize, I leaped at the prospect. I was excited by the potential for professional development and the chance to experience a different culture. My visit was part of the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) collaborative project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development Feed the Future Initiative. The project supports graduate students in plant breeding to learn about and contribute to completing initiative objectives. HTMA is a public-private partnership (PPP) led by CIMMYT-Asia. Partners include Purdue University, Pioneer Hi-Bred and other seed companies and public sector maize programs in South Asia.

CIMMYT-Asia in Hyderabad, India, provides an ideal environment to evaluate or phenotype maize genotypes for heat stress tolerance. Temperatures regularly reach 40°C or higher and the relative humidity is usually below 30 percent during the reproductive development of maize planted during spring season. Additionally, the CIMMYT facilities in Hyderabad provided an excellent laboratory environment for testing hypotheses concerning the basis of heat stress tolerance in maize.

Having never been to India, I really enjoyed my stay in Hyderabad, from both research and cultural standpoints. I enjoyed getting to know the research scientists and technicians involved in the research project and had ample opportunities to learn in workshops, trainings, field visits and over dinner. My stay, which was longer than two months, provided me with the opportunity to build both personal and professional relationships. Anyone who has visited Hyderabad in May will understand just how hot it can be. It took time for me to adapt to the heat. As I was leaving the U.S. for India, my hometown received 300 millimeters of snow in 24 hours. During my first week in Hyderabad, the temperatures exceeded 40°C. It was quite a change.

Alex Renaud (middle) with CIMMYT-Hyderabad field staff. Photo: By Alex Renaud

In addition to taking advantage of research opportunities, I visited several interesting cultural sites, including the Taj Mahal. My favorite memories include sampling many different types of food, from Hyderabadi biryani to India’s version of Kentucky Fried Chicken; I never tried anything I did not like! As an aspiring plant breeder, this was a great experience, and I hope to continue my involvement with the PPP as it develops heat-stress-tolerant maize for South Asia.

I would like to sincerely thank Mitch Tuinstra, professor of plant breeding at Purdue University for providing me with this opportunity as well as P.H. Zaidi, senior maize physiologist at CIMMYT-Hyderabad and project leader of HTMA, and his wonderful team for everything that made my two-month stay professionally productive and personally memorable.

Message from Masa: 2006 King Baudouin Award for CIMMYT work in sub-Saharan Africa

Written by on December 15, 2006. Posted in Blogs.

I am very happy to tell you that today is a very good day for all of us at CIMMYT. We have just been presented with the CGIAR’s highest recognition for science for development—the King Baudouin Award—here at the CGIAR AGM in Washington DC. The award has been given to us for our work on stress-tolerant maize in eastern and southern Africa. This is research that has a 20 year history at CIMMYT, starting with the selection of potential germplasm from the gene bank in the late 1980s and continuing through today with the very successful participatory selection work with farmers through the mother-baby trial system and the dissemination of stress-tolerant maize seed on a large sale by national programs, small-scale seed companies, and community-based organizations. The work is a fine example of how research-led development can enhance the livelihoods of the rural poor.

I want to use this message to congratulate Marianne Bänziger and the rest of the CIMMYT team who have worked so hard over the years to make a difference in Africa and also to recognize the amazing partnership of researchers, farmers, national agricultural research systems, and donors that led to the success of the project. Finally, I want to reinforce the fact that Marianne and I received the award not just on behalf of CIMMYT but on behalf of everyone who contributed to this successful work, which is based on long-term scientific efforts and effective partnerships with many collaborators. The work, of course, is not finished. It never is. But the recognition by the CGIAR is an important milestone of which we can be very proud.

The King Baudouin Award is presented every second year by the CGIAR and this is the second time in a row it has been given to the CIMMYT family (in 2004 the Rice Wheat Consortium, in which CIMMYT is a leading participant, was recognized). In the years between King Baudouin Awards, the highest science prize in the CGIAR is the one that recognizes the outstanding scientist in the system. In 2003 it went to Abdul Mujeeb Kazi and in 2005 to Ravi Singh. The quality of CIMMYT science has been recognized as best in the CGIAR for four consecutive years.

Once again let me offer, on behalf of the whole CIMMYT family, congratulations for the outstanding work and effective partnerships!

Message from Masa: CIMMYT’s research

Written by on August 4, 2006. Posted in Blogs.

CIMMYT has a science-based humanitarian mission. One of the main reasons why we work for CIMMYT is that we want to apply our particular areas of technical expertise (for example as geneticist, economist, soil scientist etc.) to make a difference in the lives of millions of the resource poor. This differentiates CIMMYT as workplace from purely academic organizations (e.g. universities) or technology transfer organizations (e.g. development agencies) and was probably part of your motivation for having applied for a CIMMYT job.

CIMMYT’s main output is new knowledge relevant to achieving our mission. Journal publication is a very important instrument to disseminate new knowledge and scientific achievements. Science publication is often cited as an example of International Public Goods. I am very pleased that CIMMYT’s journal publication number per IRS has doubled during the last three years compared to the period 1997-2002. In 2005 we recorded 1.6 journal publications per IRS (the highest number in CIMMYT 40 years of history, although still slightly less than the overall CGIAR average).

While I believe that our research agenda and our activities should not be driven by the opportunity to publish, I also believe that we as scientists should have a good record of journal publication. I started my career with the CGIAR as pre-Doc and went through all rank and file positions. Before I moved to a senior management position (DDG-R), I as a CG scientist, had published reasonably well and regarded it as part of my job.

I would like to make few points on the importance of journal publication and how we can achieve it based on my observations and experience over the last 25 years or so within the CG system.

CIMMYT should be influential globally. That influence comes mainly from respect we have earned from others. Good publication is one mechanism to attract respect from our partners. A good publication record gives us our peer’s respect, professional credentials and enhances our marketability. Manuscript writing gives us the opportunity to analyze our own/team achievements and see the scientific challenges still pending.

We too often argue why we are not able to publish. Three main inter-linked arguments people make are: (1) Our main job objective is to produce products (relevant to our target beneficiaries), not to publish. (2) Our specific job responsibility (e.g. regional office, fieldoriented breeding, coordination role, serviceoriented function) does not present publication opportunities. (3) We are all too busy to find time to write manuscripts.

I do not think that any of above arguments really works. We just have to look at some of the CIMMYT staff with a good publishing record. I examined the list of journal publications by CIMMYT staff in 2005. The following names show up frequently (of course this is not an exhaustive list): Zhonghu. He, Richard Trethowan, Manilal Williams, Hugo De Groote, Etienne Duveiller, Ravi Sign, Javier Pena, Ivan Ortiz- Monasterio, Matthew Reynolds, Marilyn Warburton, and Jose Crossa. If they had wanted to use any of above arguments to avoid publishing, they could have easily done so. But they did not, and they command natural respect internally and externally.

During the annual evaluation process, you and your Director discuss publication so that your leader (science mentor) and CIMMYT as workplace can explicitly assist you in that area. I was pleased to note that as a result of last year’s evaluation/ discussion some staff proposed taking time explicitly for publication or proposed ministudy leaves. CIMMYT is very keen to support your professional development including science credential development through journal publication.

Message from Masa: Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia

Written by on July 7, 2006. Posted in Blogs. 1 Comment on Message from Masa: Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia

I visited Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia this week. In Kenya I attended the IRMA Project Executive Committee (ExCo) meeting. We had interesting and critical negotiations to gain access to a new Bt event from a private company and thus enable the development of a robust insect management strategy for poor farmers based on a humanitarian use exception.

I visited the DGs of the three national agriculture research systems, Executive Secretary of ASARECA, and the Minister of Agriculture of Ethiopia. In addition to appreciating our past and on-going partnerships, I discussed with them ways we could work together on two specific projects—the Global Rust Initiative and Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa. Two multi-million dollar proposals have been requested by donor agencies and if they are accepted, swift implementation based on partnership will be extremely important.

These discussions demonstrated again that CIMMYT’s style of partnership is highly appreciated by our NARS partners. We are their preferred partner because:

We consult with them (as opposed to deciding unilaterally).
We give them due credit after working together (as opposed to over-claiming credit).
We deliver on the ground (as opposed to just talk and meetings).
We support their capacity building (as opposed to our taking over their role).
We engage in a continuous professional relationship as colleagues with former trainees (as opposed to one-shot training course).

Those elements are building blocks for long-term relationships based on trust and respect. We will continue to build our future and deliver our mission as the preferred partner. With this trip I was also able to complete my promised series of visits to all CIMMYT’s regional locations.