I have just returned from 12 days in the UK, over the Christmas and New Year period. While it was great to spend time with my family I did not enjoy the cold, wet and windy weather in Scotland!  It is good to be back to the sunshine in Ethiopia – the land of 13 months of sunshine.

On 18 December I attended the launch of the new ‘Pastoral Areas Resilience Improvement Through Market Expansion’ (PRIME) project. This is a $50M USAID-funded project led by Mercy Corps with CARE and other partners. The project management team is keen to explore how ILRI can support the project and I have invited them to ILRI to discuss opportunities for collaboration.

For the past few months I have been working with Steve Staal and others on the new research management structure for ILRI. This has been the subject of a number of consultations with Team Leaders and others.  Following a further round of consultations and discussions in December we plan to finalise the new structure by the end of January and start to implement it from 1 March.

2012 has been a challenging year for ILRI and especially so in Addis,  as we have come to terms with the changes in the CGIAR system, the ending of core funding, full cost recovery, the implementation of CGIAR research programs, and so on.  This has necessitated a number of changes on the campus, some of which have been implemented and others that are in the process of being rolled out.  However we are laying the foundation for a stronger and larger program of research here.

In 2013, we are planning, with resources from the new CGIAR programs, to create several new research posts in Addis.  Therefore, while the coming year will be challenging, I foresee it as the start of a phase of expansion, building on the creation of a more efficient and effective campus, the implementation of the CGIAR programs and taking advantage of the synergies that are created by being in the unique position of having nine CGIAR Centres on the campus.

We also need to invest in the infrastructure on the campus which is beginning to show its age and in need of upgrading.  We need to secure our water supply, make more efficient use of energy, including exploring the potential of solar power, modernize many of the buildings, including the meeting rooms, hostel, residences, cafeteria, offices, etc.

We will start to put in place a multi-year plan to upgrade many of these facilities and I will be looking to all of you for ideas to contribute to this plan.

I look forward to working with you in 2013.