The wheat Initiative

BACKGROUND

• Proposed by research and funding organisations from several countries

• Originally named International Research Initiative for Wheat Improvement with the acronym IRIWI, changing name afterwards to Wheat Initiative

• Endorsed by the G20 Agricultural Ministers to contribute to improving world food security

• Launched on 15 September 2011

Following a historic agreement between the Ministers of Agriculture of the G20 countries on June 23, 2011 in Paris the International Research Initiative for Wheat Improvement (IRIWI) was launched on September 15, 2011. In May 2013 the Vision Paper was published, when the Wheat Initiative (WI) was conducting activities from France under the direction of Hélène Lucas. The initiative, strongly supported by INRAe, aimed at reinforcing synergies between members of the wheat research community, national and international research programmes targeted to increase food security, nutritional value and safety while taking into account societal demands for sustainable and resilient agricultural production systems. Over time the name was simplified to Wheat Initiative (WI). The WI now provides a framework to identify global strategic research and organisation priorities for wheat research. The Wheat Initiative fosters communication between members of the research community, funders and global policy makers, and aims at securing efficient and long-term investments to meet wheat research and development goals. It also initiates and supports activities to enhance communication and increase access of all to information, resources and technologies.

The world (food) wheat production is not meeting the necessary future demand. With a growing world population the food demand will increase by 60% by 2050, while yields are stagnating. Additionally wheat is particularly susceptible to climate change.

VISION

The Vision of the Wheat Initiative is to encourage and support the development of a vibrant global wheat public-private research community sharing resources, capabilities, data, knowledge and ideas to improve wheat productivity, quality and sustainable production around the world.

MISSION

Increase food security, wheat nutritional value and safety while taking into account societal demands for sustainable and resilient agricultural production systems; and maximising opportunities for gaining added value internationally.

Principles and OrganiSation

The Wheat Initiative governance is driven by principles of transparency and inclusivity. It values its members’ engagement and it promotes the sharing of knowledge, information and resources to increase synergy through collaboration.

The global governance of the Wheat Initiative is set out in its Charter. It is organised around three major committees, the Wheat Initiative Board, the Research Committee and the Scientific Board.