CGIAR has published its first Food Systems Impact Report 2022–2024, providing a comprehensive overview of its long-term impact on global agricultural development and food systems transformation across its 13 global research centers. The report marks the first-ever assessment of CGIAR’s historical outcomes and effectiveness, drawn from a wide evidence base of 125 impact assessments and 1,108 outcome studies across its global portfolio, while laying out a blueprint for CGIAR’s future monitoring and evaluation approach under its 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy.
Between 2022 and 2024, CGIAR collaborated with over 1,250 partners, including governments, the private sector, research institutions, and NGOs, to deliver 471 innovations to more than 20 million farmers across 62 countries. This includes 788 newly registered crop varieties, with 565 climate-resilient and 230 biofortified. Meanwhile, CGIAR’s climate information services helped over 9 million farmers make better-informed decisions amid rising climate risks. Additionally, CGIAR’s tools for measuring women’s empowerment in agriculture have been adopted by 279 organizations in 69 countries, promoting more gender-responsive research and policies. During this period, CGIAR’s research helped mobilize $3.3 billion in third-party investments, supporting 315 policy or institutional changes that advanced wider adoption of agricultural innovation and more equitable food systems.
A key highlight of the report is CGIAR’s cumulative impact since the 1960s. Crop technologies developed by CGIAR have yielded an estimated $1.34 trillion in economic benefits, with recent returns from rice breeding programs in Asia demonstrating benefit–cost ratios as high as 115:1. However, the report also emphasizes the long-term nature of research impacts. Many of the outcomes reported result from investments and innovations made in earlier decades, underscoring the return on investment and the proven need for sustained commitment to agricultural research.
Crucially, the report highlights that the impacts presented are conservative, given that only data supported by robust, publicly available evidence were included. As such, the true scope of CGIAR’s influence is likely much broader.
This milestone report serves not only as a record of past performance but as a reaffirmation of CGIAR’s mission as the world’s largest publicly funded agri-foods research network: to deliver a food-secure, resilient, and equitable future for all. It celebrates a reflection of our shared ambition and accountability, and the collective effort of CGIAR and its partners to lay the foundation for achieving the ambitious goals of the 2025–2030 CGIAR Research Portfolio.
For further information reach out to James Pursey at press@cgiar.org