On 6-8 July, I attended a conference at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) on Impacts of International Agricultural Research: Rigorous Evidence for Policy organized jointly by the CGIAR Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) Standing Panel on Impact Assessment (SPIA) and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM). This is a modified version of my address. Continue reading
ILRI ‘Impact book’ In June we have had John McIntire, our former deputy director general (DDG), in Nairobi. John is editing a book that we will be publishing describing the impact of research by ILCA/ILRAD/ILRI over the past 40 years and has been working with the authors of a number of chapters over the past … Continue reading
I made a flying visit (literally) to India over the Easter weekend in April. We have been in discussion for some time with the Government of Odisha (formerly Orissa) in eastern India about a new project to improve livestock feeing systems. Continue reading
International Women’s Day On International Women’s Day (8 March), People and Organizational Development (P&OD) organized a special event to highlight the occasion. I gave a short presentation on diversity and inclusion in the workplace to set the scene, which then led into other presentations and discussions on gender in the workplace at ILRI and gender … Continue reading
Supporting the Department of Veterinary Services, Nairobi In January our neighbours in Nairobi at the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) suffered a fire which destroyed much of their administrative building. Following a visit by Jimmy, Dieter, Edward Okoth, Eric Fevre, Bernard Bett, Keith Huma and myself we agreed to provide some computer equipment, IT support … Continue reading
Addis Party IMC met in Addis Ababa on 11-12 January, which was followed by the Addis End of Year Party. It was good to be back in Addis to celebrate with friends and colleagues. Meeting with Indian Council of Agricultural Research At the end of the month I spent a couple of days in Delhi … Continue reading
As we have moved to implement the Program Management Framework we have also taken the opportunity to revise the job descriptions of Program and Project Management staff. We have had a plethora of job titles and job descriptions (Program Management Officers, Program Assistants, Program Coordinators, Project Coordinators, etc.) In some cases we have had people … Continue reading
This is my final blog posting for 2016. December was rather a short month work-wise as I went on leave on 21 December to travel to Scotland for Christmas. It was good to see my mother and family, albeit only for a week before returning to Nairobi for New Year. Christmas day was the second … Continue reading
IPM We had a very successful IPM on 4-7 October, with the theme Better Science – Better Lives. It provided a great opportunity for those attending to learn more about what ILRI does across the research programs, to hear about and comment on the new program structure, to clarify the role of all parts of … Continue reading
I was on leave for the first three weeks in August visiting family and friends so did not write a blog in August. Since I returned from leave there have been some real high and low points for ILRI. We recently lost three of our colleagues, Alok Jha, Regional Representative for South Asia, Dickens Odhiambo … Continue reading
ILRI Announcements 