THE HISTORY OF THE OPEC FUND
CGIAR and the OPEC Fund
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), founded in 1971, is the world’s largest publicly funded agrifood research network. Comprising 15 research centers, CGIAR’s work focuses on improving human health, enhancing ecosystem resilience and developing agricultural innovations. The OPEC Fund’s involvement with CGIAR goes back to 1979 when grants were extended to two of the group’s oldest institutions, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the West African Rice Development Association (WARDA). The first ICARDA grant of US$1 million was used for the Barley Research Development Program and the Soil Water and Research Nutrients Program.
The OPEC Fund extended several more grants for the barley project, which enabled ICARDA to extend its research activities, develop improved varieties of barley seed and distribute them to new areas where dry conditions made cultivation difficult. The first US$400,000 grant to WARDA was used for a project to help West African nations achieve self-sufficiency in the vital area of rice production in the shortest possible time by improving rice varieties and quality. The OPEC Fund also supported a project by the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) for improving groundnut production and establishing sustainable farming systems in Asia and a project by the International Potato Center (CIP) to help resource-poor potato farmers
in Latin America develop integrated crop management strategies. The most recent assistance was the provision of three grants for a total amount of US$1.15 million to the Enhancing Food Security in the Arab Region Program in 2017, when the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Islamic Development Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development, the Gates Foundation and ICARDA joined forces to improve the wheat production in the MENA region.
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