Technical Advisory Committee Fifty-Third Meeting, 22-27 October 1990: Report of the Meeting

Report of TAC 53 held in Washington DC, October 22-27, 1990, Alex McCalla presiding. TAC sent the external program and management reviews of IFPRI to the CGIAR with a commentary. It noted recent changes in IFPRI's leadership, and shared the concern of the panels about the absence of a board approved strategic plan. In a joint meeting with center board chairs, the TAC discussed the implications of its completed paper on the expansion of the CGIAR and prepared for the impending presentation of the paper to the CGIAR at ICW.TAC members responded favorably to a proposal from AVRDC and SACCAR for establishment of a vegetable research network in Southern Africa. This was presented as an information item,, since the CGIAR was still considering what action to take about support to AVRDC. The Committee received a progress report from its Standing Committee for Priorities on Strategies on the draft paper on this subject, which was discussed later at a joint meeting with center directors and board chairs. It heard and reacted to a presentation by Susan Poats on women in agricultural research, based on her paper for the CGIAR meeting in May 1990. The TAC comment on the King Baudouin Award given to CIAT and IITA jointly for their research on biological control of the cassava mealybug is attached as Annex IV.