When I assumed the leadership of IFPRI at the beginning of September 2002, I came to a research institute that--due to the wise guidance of my predecessor, Per Pinstrup-Andersen--was both healthy and mature. IFPRI remains healthy, producing research that addresses all policy aspects of the global food system. Our finances are sound. Over IFPRI's 28-year history, it has become widely recognized as second to none in food policy research. Our research partnerships span the globe and include universities and government agencies as well as nongovernmental organizations in both the developed and developing world. IFPRI also enjoys strong cooperation with our sister centers in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

But the environment affecting food policy is constantly and rapidly changing. The disappointingly slow pace of progress in combating hunger and malnutrition leaves no room for complacency, and the long-term global food situation is not secure. Moreover, the number of players involved in making and influencing food policy has grown dramatically. It is no longer sufficient to pass research results on to central government officials in order to have an impact on policy. Technological change offers great promise for advancing food security. But research is needed to identify policies that include poor people and assure that they have access to new technologies. Finally, global health crises, such as the tragic pandemic of HIV/AIDS, impinge enormously on food and nutrition security.

Given these forces, I was very pleased to take on the task given to me by IFPRI's Board of Trustees, namely to prepare a long-term strategy for the Institute's research, capacity strengthening, and policy communication activities during the next decade. Visit our website to download the full strategy paper, which was developed through extensive consultations with stakeholders and approved by the Board. It is available in English, Spanish, and French. The strategy reaffirms IFPRI's mission to provide policy solutions that reduce hunger and malnutrition through research and related capacity strengthening on 12 themes:

1. Global food situation and scenarios of policy risks and opportunities.
2. Globalization, retail food industries, and trade negotiations related to food and agriculture.
3. Managing natural resources of particular importance to food, nutrition, and agriculture-land, water, trees, genetic resources, and biodiversity-and responding to climatic change.
4. Food systems in disaster prevention and relief, and rebuilding after crises.
5. Appropriate roles of state, market, and civil society in food, agriculture, nutrition, and natural resource management policy.
6. Food and water safety policies.
7. Policies addressing hidden hunger, enhanced food and diet quality for poor people, and the nutrition transition in developing countries.
8. Policies and interventions for sustainable poverty reduction and nutrition improvement.
9. Cross-cutting research on country and regional food, nutrition, and agricultural strategies.
10. Food- and nutrition-related science and technology policy (molecular biology, biosafety, and information and communications) serving poor people.
11. The future of smallholder farming in efficient and equitable food systems.
12. Urban-rural linkages and nonfarm rural development.

Some of these themes cover work that is already underway, such as IFPRI research on the most effective and appropriate policies and interventions for sustainable poverty reduction. IFPRI will continue to strengthen the capacity of research collaborators in developing countries to design and carry out food policy research and communication. It also seeks to get food policy research results into the hands of all those who can apply or use them. The emphasis is on reaching the full range of players in the food-policymaking process, including the general public via the news media.

The strategy calls for IFPRI to move into new research areas, such as food and water safety policies. Two major new initiatives are part of the CGIAR's Challenge Programs-one on water, with the International Water Management Institute, and another on biofortification, coled with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. In addition, IFPRI has become the home of a large, new research and capacity-building program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on biosafety, in cooperation with the International Service for National Agricultural Research, and a new joint program with the International Livestock Research Institute on livestock market policies.

IFPRI has reorganized to implement the strategy. The Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division integrates research that was previously handled by two divisions, and the new Development Strategy and Governance Division manages research on how food and agriculture fit into comprehensive development plans and on the role of governance in achieving food security. IFPRI has started to decentralize by opening offices in partner organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America staffed by IFPRI senior researchers.

The ultimate goals of the strategy are to assure that IFPRI remains a trusted global research center that provides the knowledge needed to foster sustainable food security for all, and to advance the Millennium Development Goal of cutting hunger in half by 2015.