CABI Announces Plan To Strengthen Impact And Ensure Long-term Sustainability

11 September 2025, Africa: CABI – a globally respected intergovernmental organization using science and information to tackle agricultural and environmental challenges – has announced a plan for transformation that will increase its responsiveness to Member Country needs and underpin the scientific quality of its work for the future. The plan will also re-structure and streamline operations to enhance efficiency and secure the organization’s long-term sustainability.

With a legacy of more than 100 years of groundbreaking work, CABI is embarking on this transition to ensure it continues to deliver real-world impact in the face of changing global challenges and financial pressures affecting the wider international development, research and higher education sectors.

“This transformation is essential to ensure we remain impactful, resilient, flexible, and efficient,” said Dr Daniel Elger, Chief Executive Officer, CABI. “By refocusing our efforts and restructuring how we operate, we are positioning CABI to better serve its Member Countries and thereby global food systems and farmers for years to come.”

As part of the plan, CABI will:

Increase its commitment to Member Countries to work with them to address their challenges using CABI’s expertise and resources

Focus on further deepening scientific and technical expertise and outputs through organization-wide centres of excellence

Streamline operations and restructure to achieve significant cost savings and improved efficiency

To align the organization’s structure with these commitments, the plan includes approximately 40 redundancies as part of a wider reduction in total headcount. This decision has not been taken lightly and reflects the need to build a more agile and financially sustainable organization. “While these changes are difficult, they are necessary,” said Dr Elger. “We are committed to supporting our staff through this transition and ensuring CABI continues to deliver on our vision of a world where the sharing of agricultural and environmental knowledge empowers people and protects the planet.”

Her Excellency Chileshe Kapwepwe, Chair of CABI’s Board and Secretary General for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), said: “This refocusing will allow CABI to continue exploiting its key strengths. Its ability to link research with real world agricultural and environmental practice will be critical in creating resilience in a changing climate, delivering sustainable food production and protecting the environment.”

CABI is nearing the completion of its triennial Member Country consultation process, with the final of four regional meetings taking place in Trinidad and Tobago from 16–18 September. These consultations have brought together representatives from CABI’s 48 Member Countries to review progress on CABI’s current strategy and help shape the agenda for 2026–2028. The discussions have focused on aligning CABI’s work with shared priorities, including food security, climate change impacts, greater opportunities for rural women and youth, and the sustainable use of natural resources. This engagement and the evolution of CABI’s operations will ensure CABI remains responsive to Member needs and support the development of new CABI programmes, collaborations and knowledge sharing initiatives.

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