16 December, 2014 by CIAT Comunicaciones (comments)

CIAT http://www.ciatnews.cgiar.org/2014/12/16/a-powerful-voice-for-climate-smart-agriculture-in-the-tropics/

An interview by Margaret Zeigler, Executive Director of the Global Harvest Initiative, with Ruben G. Echeverría, Director General of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

With hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers producing food and other agricultural products in the tropics, there is an urgent need to help them adapt to a changing climate, which is already impacting food production systems and farmer livelihoods. In this interview, Dr. Ruben Echeverría, Director General of CIAT, shares a vision of how cutting-edge research and focused programs make farming more resilient, sustainable, and profitable.

Rice production near Treinta-y-Tres, Uruguay. CIAT’s Rice Program, in collabration with partners, has made significant progress in improving the crop’s yields, pest tolerance, nutritional quality, and resource use.

Margaret: Having worked in agricultural development for over 30 years, what do you think are some of the greatest food security challenges in the world’s tropical regions?

Ruben: Parts of the humid tropics have the potential to become future breadbaskets for the world.  They are where some 70 percent of the world’s poor people now live, and they contain most of the world’s biodiversity. Climate change poses a serious threat for these smallholder farmers, who already face significant challenges from poor soils, volatile rainfall patterns, lack of knowledge on best cultivation practices, and lack of investment in new technologies that can help them. We need to forge stronger policies and better institu  tions to preserve and manage biodiversity in the tropics, and to invigorate public research on agriculture and the environment in these countries.

Margaret:  What are some specific areas where you have seen success in the tropical zones where CIAT works?

Ruben: CIAT has helped achieve major improvements in the productivity of rice, cassava, beans, and forages for livestock. For example, some 80 percent of the rice grown all the way from Uruguay at the tip of South America to Mexico can be attributed to CIAT’s rice research program. The program works closely with FLAR (Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice), which is among the first public-private partnerships set up by the CGIAR institutions. FLAR’s members represent 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through better collaboration across the Americas, the Fund has made major advances in improving yields, nutrition, quality, and the environmental sustainability of rice production.

Margaret:  How can national governments lead the way to support their farmers as they face climate change in the tropical zones?

Ruben: While research institutions always need to have improved crop germplasm and methods to conduct agricultural research, what we really need are the right policies for market participation and growth. This requires stronger local institutions like national agricultural research systems (NARS).  International centers like CIAT are helping to build human and institutional capacity at these NARS, and one of the best examples is happening right now in Colombia. After 45 years of civil war, Colombia is now making agriculture a priority by strengthening farmers associations in coffee, sugarcane and oil palm.  Other areas of focus will be expanding as well.

Margaret: How did you become interested in international agriculture?

Ruben: During the early 1970s while I was attending high school in Uruguay, where I grew up, I remember reading a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that discussed how population growth would dramatically challenge our ability to feed the planet. It sparked a lifelong interest in agriculture, food security and economics that led to studies in agronomy and agricultural economics.

I was able to attend an exchange program in the U.S. sponsored by Partners of the Americas, where I studied at the University of Minnesota and lived and worked on a family farm, just south of the Twin Cities. I had a great experience with this family farm operation, working on crop and dairy production. At that time, this work was even more labor intensive than today, and I have very strong memories of rising at 5:00 am to milk and feed the cows! This work and study experience prepared me well for future positions with the Ministry of Agriculture in Uruguay, where we focused on extension programs to support family farmers.

I later received a World Bank scholarship to earn a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Agriculture and Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota. It was during this time that I had the great privilege to study under Dr. Vernon Ruttan, a world-renowned agricultural economist. He really made an impact on me, and I began seeking opportunities to apply my experience and skills to global agricultural development, particularly for smallholder farmers.

Margaret:  What was your path to the CGIAR and CIAT?

Ruben: After receiving my Ph.D. at Minnesota, I worked at a research center in the Hague, Netherlands, called the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR). ISNAR was a member of the global network of international agricultural research institutions called CGIAR. The mandate of ISNAR was to strengthen the capacity of developing country agriculture by building the capacity of their National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) and organizations.  I was able to work eventually at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, and then as Executive Director of the Science Council of the CGIAR, which was then hosted at FAO in Rome.

As many readers know, the food price crisis that occurred between 2007-2008 created impetus for major new initiatives in agriculture around the world.  In 2009, the CGIAR Secretariat offered me the opportunity to lead CIAT as Director General, and we have been working since then on exciting new initiatives in tropical agriculture, not only in Latin America, but in many countries across Africa and Asia, to improve beans, rice, cassava, tropical forage for livestock, and to conserve soils and genetic diversity.

Margaret:  Can you share how CIAT helps address agriculture challenges such as climate change?

Ruben: Currently, CIAT works with more than 500 partners, including national agricultural research and extension organizations, advanced research institutes, universities, international organizations, private companies, NGOs, government ministries, and farmers associations.

We are working with the private sector to enhance livestock productivity through better tropical forages. CIAT manages a germplasm bank, which includes one of the greatest and most diverse tropical forage collections in the world, containing over 23,000 samples of legumes and grasses from over 72 countries. We are working with a private sector company now to improve forage grasses that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock in addition to boosting milk