The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) gratefully acknowledges the countries, organizations, partners and individuals that supported its agricultural research for development in 2019. We also thank all funders that support this work through their contributions to the CGIAR System.

CGIAR Research Programs and Platforms, through contributions from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, the Global Crop Diversity Trust, India, Ireland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the World Bank

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER)

Cornell University, through contributions from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom

Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)

HarvestPlus, through contributions from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health, the European Commission, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the United Kingdom, and the United States (Feed the Future initiative) 

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Walmart Foundation

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

CIMMYT concluded the 2019 financial year with an overall deficit of US$1.8 million, compared to a surplus of US$0.9 million in 2018. Total grant income decreased by 11.6%, from US$119.7 million in 2018 to US$105.8 million in 2019.

In 2019, a reduction in bilateral funding and cautious research spending led to lower indirect cost recovery than expected. This lower indirect recovery, in combination with several crucial investments in institutional functions, the effect of actuarial losses as a result of lower interest rates, and financing costs related to employee termination provisions, were large contributing factors to this deficit. However, through mitigation and adaptation to major funding cuts, CIMMYT has successfully limited the operating loss to only US$1.1 million.

For 2019, CIMMYT maintained a strong CGIAR Research Program Windows 1, 2 & 3 funding portfolio within a complex environment. At the time of preparing this report, COVID-19 is impacting the global landscape in which CIMMYT operates. Working within these boundaries, CIMMYT and its partners will continue to deliver on research-for-development commitments, while closely monitoring the financial impact of the crisis throughout 2020, as part of the risk management framework.

CIMMYT’s 2020 grant portfolio is strong and increasing, and funders have been outspoken in their ongoing support and acknowledgment of CIMMYT’s impact and its support to the One CGIAR transformation process.

Strong financial health, built up conservatively over previous years, will support CIMMYT to overcome this challenging period and will allow the organization to continue operating to support the 500 million smallholder farmers worldwide with incomes of less than two dollars a day.