ABSTRACT
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) was founded in 1971, and currently operates under the banner of the 'CGIAR Consortium' with a membership of 15 Research Centres. This chapter analyses the most recent experiences with systems research in the context of the latest reform of the CGIAR, which included the formation of 16 CGIAR Research Programmes (CRPs) that were meant to foster collaboration, reduce competition between the individual Centres, and above all increase development impact. It is based on three years of participant observation by the authors in the CRP on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics. Asserting that systems research remains an important part of the new Agri-food Systems CRPs is one thing, but grappling with questions about the types of systems research that are needed, and how they may be operationalised to enhance development impact is quite another. The new CRPs and site-integration efforts may continue to yield disappointing results.
