CIMMYT Funding
Overview
2001-2002
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Funding at a Glance
The governments and agencies that provided the largest share of our funding in 2001 are shown in Figure 1. The contributions to CIMMYT's budget by CGIAR member
nations, North and South, as well as foundations and advanced research institutes (public and private), are presented in Figure 2. To achieve the five research outputs of the CGIAR, CIMMYT allocated its budget as shown in Figure 3.
Sources of income from grants are presented in the Table. Targeted funding continues to provide the bulk of CIMMYT's research resources (Figure 4). The trend in core unrestricted funding in relation to targeted contributions continues to provide challenges to the Center, as flexibility is reduced and core research on the management and use of genetic resources becomes harder to support. Full costing of projects is more important than ever, including accurate costing and recovery of indirect costs. Indirect costs are currently running at about 28%, whereas net overhead recovery is slightly less than half this rate.
Funding Trends
Funding for 2001 was US$ 41.030 million (including Center earned income), of which 80% came from CGIAR investors and 20% from other sources. Expenditure was US$ 41.3 million.
The budget in 2001 was 4% higher than initially projected for several reasons. First, our research portfolio is highly relevant to the current goals of investors who have traditionally supported international agricultural research. Second, CIMMYT has enhanced efforts to support its research with non-traditional sources of funding. The trend towards diversified sources of income has continued in 2001-2002. CIMMYT's partnerships with foundations and advanced research institutes are expanding.
CIMMYT's alliances with advanced research institutes take the form of partnerships, generally with the public sector in the North and the South. In the case of the former, CIMMYT is interested in alliances that help us to more quickly develop new, appropriate technologies and deliver them to farmers' fields in developing countries. For the latter, we are very cognizant of our role in helping to create an enabling environment for our partners in developing countries. A significant component of CIMMYT's budget in 2001 (almost US$ 5.5 million) was flow-through funding to our partners in the South; this represents trust in CIMMYT by our partners and trust with our investors.
Similarly, our interactions with the advanced research institutes of the private sector have become stronger. These interactions continue to take the form of "win-win" alliances directed at achieving the following outcomes:
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access to proprietary technologies that enable CIMMYT to deliver research outcomes to developing countries more quickly;
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the facilitated transfer of technology, research products, and other benefits to the resource-poor; and
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the leverage of additional resources brought to bear on challenges in developing countries.
A third reason that the Center's budget was higher in 2001 than initially projected is that CIMMYT has vigorously pursued partnerships that enable scientists from developed countries to work at CIMMYT sites worldwide and make a significant contribution to CIMMYT's research agenda. This approach, known as "in-kind contributions," is perhaps best exemplified by the current contribution from France (CIRAD, IRD, INRA),* but there are a number of other examples. Total income in this category for 2001 amounted to almost US$ 2 million.
Prospects for
2002-2003
An important factor in the Center's budget and cash flow scenario in 2001 was that the US dollar remained strong against almost all other currencies in the world. Against this trend, however, the Mexican peso appreciated in value. With 50% of CIMMYT's budget expended in pesos, the Center was forced to produce an effective "efficiency gain" of 57%.
The operation of a Center that has two major plant breeding programs continues to pose challenges for financial management, particularly with regard to cash flow and working capital reserves. CIMMYT's level of working capital is lower than that recommended by the CGIAR and an additional injection is needed. We are using alternative options to increase working capital beyond the current level of about 50 days. We have also taken measures internally to optimize the use of capital funds. For example, we have implemented an internally administered cost recovery system for the vehicle fleet.
Given the volatility of traditional funding resources and the increased competition for resources, both inside and outside the CGIAR, CIMMYT's budget estimate for 2003 is likely to be more conservative. More specifically, CIMMYT and other CGIAR Centers will be affected by changing conditions in the World Bank's general support allocation (replacing the matching formula with a fixed contribution based on the past three years' funding outcomes), most probably starting in 2003. In addition, we have not budgeted funds for the implementation of the Challenge Programs.
* CIRAD (Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement), IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), and INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique).
Table 1. CIMMYT sources of income from grants by country/entity (US$ 000s), 2001.
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August, 2004