An article on the website of The University of Sheffield describes the CGIAR as a little-known organization which is at the forefront of efforts to alleviate hunger and end poverty.

The CGIAR “can justifiably claim to have made the biggest contribution to global nutritional improvements witnessed in the last 50 years,” says the article, adding that over half of the recipients of the World Food Prize have been CGIAR researchers.

The article summarizes a number of research achievements from the 15 CGIAR centres, including work on soil erosion by the World Agroforestry Centre in the Lake Tanganyika Basin which advises local farmers on appropriate trees to plant that will stabilize soils which increasing farmers’ incomes.

Despite such advances and widespread agreement that boosting agricultural productivity in an environmentally sustainable manner is vital to alleviating poverty, the article says the CGIAR is “seldom mentioned in popular discussions on development” and its future is far from secure, with a budget that has stagnated since 1990.

With an increasing population and climate change threatening agricultural production, “never has the support for a public institution to boost agricultural productivity been more pressing”.

Read the full story: The CGIAR: the most important international organisation you’ve never heard of?