Dr Ismahane Elouafi
Executive Managing Director, CGIAR and former FAO Chief Scientist
Dr Ismahane Elouafi is the Executive Managing Director of CGIAR. She previously held the position of Chief Scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. She was earlier the Director General at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) based in the UAE.
Dr Elouafi previously held senior scientific and leadership positions, including Senior Adviser to the Assistant Deputy Minister, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Branch; the National Manager of Plant Research Section; and Director of Research Management and Partnerships Division at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
She worked as a scientist with several international research organizations and has been a member of various strategy expert panels and advisory groups, including the Global Commission on Adaptation and HarvestPlus. She was a board member of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI).
Dr Elouafi was also a member of the Scientific Group for the 2021 UN Food Systems.
ABSTRACT
Transformative International Agricultural R&D: The Road to Future Success
The climate, biodiversity, and health crises are deeply interconnected, demanding integrated solutions. But in overcoming these crises, agricultural R&D faces its own tests: the interconnectedness and complexity of food system challenges; funding constraints; policy and regulatory barriers; and the need to ensure equity and inclusivity. Overcoming these will hinge on collaboration, partnership, and co-design in developing holistic, systems-based solutions. Successful examples can be found in crop breeding partnerships, landscape management collaborations, climate smart villages, capacity sharing in Africa, and more. By highlighting the transformative power of genuine partnerships and participatory research, this keynote aims to demonstrate how collaborative approaches lead to sustainable and impactful outcomes. Through many examples, we can see that robust partnerships, co-designed strategies, and sufficient investment can help ensure food, nutrition, and environmental security for future generations.