1.5 Conduct of the Review

The Review started when the Chair and the members of the Panel attended the initial phase from 6 to 10 October 1997 at IFPRI’s Headquarters in Washington, D.C., during which the Institute provided briefings on its programmes and management. The Panel’s consultant on Board matters, who had attended IFPRI’s March 1997 Board meeting, also participated in these discussions. Information on panel composition is provided in Appendix III. Panel members conducted a number of interviews with IFPRI staff and were provided with comprehensive documentation. Members of the Panel subsequently attended the Internal Programme Review from 8 to 11 December 1997 as well the meeting of the Board’s Executive Committee on 12 December. The Panel Chair conducted a series of interviews with IFPRI’s stakeholders in the Washington area during the week of 15 December. Panel members visited the Institute’s outreach operations in Southern Africa (Mozambique and Malawi), interacting with IFPRI’s outreach staff and with national institutes of the region. A number of IFPRI donors, policymakers in developing countries, collaborators, and other stakeholders were also interviewed. In addition to his visits to collaborators in the Washington area, the Panel Chair also visited FAO, IFAD, and IPGRI, all located in Rome, on 10 February 1998.

The main phase of the Review took place from 12 to 27 February 1998, during which the Panel interacted with staff and management, as well as with many of their collaborators, and prepared the following report. Prior to presenting the Panel’s report on 27 February to the Board Chair, the Director General and Senior Management and staff, earlier drafts of the report were shared with the Institute for comments, in particular on factual matters.