Conference on National Agricultural Research Systems, Montebello, Canada, June 1-4, 1975 (Bellagio VII)

Report on the Conference on National Agricultural Research Systems held in Montebello, Canada in June 1975, written by J.H. Hulse of IDRC. The meeting, sponsored by IDRC and the Rockefeller Foundation, was foreshadowed at Bellagio VI, and was held at Montebello because the number of participants greatly exceeded the capacity of the Villa Serbelloni. Called, nevertheless, "Bellagio VII," it was the last in the numbered series of meetings of the Bellagio Group. It was part of the process that led to the founding of the IADS by the Rockefeller Foundation, and ultimately creation of ISNAR within the CGIAR.Discussions centered on the needs of national agricultural research systems (NARS) in developing countries, the factors limiting their effectiveness, and the types and organization of financial and technical assistance required to strengthen their capacity to promote agricultural development. Participants discussed the role of the IARCs in assisting, and in some cases inhibiting, the work of NARS. They encouraged increased donor support both to outreach activities of the IARCs and to NARS directly. The consensus was against creating a new institution for this purpose, however, apart from IADS which was being mooted by the Rockefeller Foundation. A number of other actions were suggested to TAC, donors, and the CGIAR.