IRRI Pioneer Interview: changes in funding
Channel: International Rice Research Institute
Date: 29/05/2010

The budget of  the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI; http://irri.org ) has grown dramatically over the last 2 or 3 years. But most of those  funds are tightly linked to particular activities. The implications of that particular swing, I think, is not fully understood by the IRRI staff. It's certainly a nuance that our partners in the national systems don't understand. All they see is the bottom line; IRRI has a budget of X million dollars. In a sense, there was a lot of largesse spread around by IRRI through using unrestricted funds in that way. That's no longer the case. 

I'll give you an example right now. The DG has asked me to chair the scientific committee for the International Rice Congress that's taking place in Hanoi in November [2010]. We've been putting together a program and soliciting abstracts for papers and posters. One common request is: "I'd love to present a paper.  Will IRRI support me to attend the conference?" In the past, IRRI provided airfare, registration, accommodation, etc. We would put up several hundred thousand dollars to pay for these people to come to the meeting. That sort of funding is no longer available. Even if we had the same level of budget, it is money of a different type that we can't just take and spend like this or spend like that. It's all tightly linked to a particular contract. So, that is quite a challenge and I hope it won't affect relationships [with the national programs]. 

There is still a lot of funding that is going out to the national programs to support the research links that they are involved in with IRRI. I sign transfers of funding on memoranda of agreement every day. So, they see the money coming, but they still don't fully understand the nature of that funding and that it can't be used for just any sort of activity. I'm sure most of the centers are finding themselves in the same boat.

See complete interview at http://archive.irri.org/publications/today/Jackson.asp