Dr. William Dollente Dar (born 1953), an international administrator, was Director General of ICRISAT from 1999 to 2014. Currently, he is the President of InangLupa Movement that actively pursues urgent, collective, and cohesive action towards poverty alleviation, food and nutrition security, and economic prosperity through a New Philippine Agriculture by 2020. In addition, he is also the Strategic Adviser for Global Expansion of Prasad Seeds.
He is a citizen of the Philippines particularly in the town of Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur where he was born, raised and educated. He specialized in horticulture, receiving his doctoral degree from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos. After serving as faculty of the Benguet State University in the northern Philippines, he became the first director of the Philippine Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) in 1988. This was a period when the Philippines started to invest much in building a national system of advanced agricultural research institutes, such as the Philippine Rice Research Institute or PhilRice.
In 1994, Dr. Dar was designated the director of the Philippine Council for Agricultural Research and Rural Development (PCARRD) and served on the governing boards of international research bodies such as the IRRI and CIMMYT and at ICRISAT. He also served for a brief while as Acting Secretary of Agriculture and as Presidential Adviser on Rural Development during the Presidency of Joseph Estrada. He was selected as Director General of ICRISAT in the year 1999 and served three terms as DG in a span of 15 years. Among several books published by Dr. Dar, he has written the book "Feeding the Forgotten Poor", a book launched in 2012 graced by no less than the former president of India, His Excellency Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam during the 2nd Global Agri-business Incubation Conference in New Delhi. In the book’s Foreword, Dr. Kalam wrote, “The book reveals perspectives to grow and provide food to the people wherever they live on Earth, backed by Dr. Dar’s own experiences in multiple countries. Particularly I am impressed with the Chapter Innovate, Grow and Prosper where he deals with strategic science and dynamic development.” This hallmarked Dr. Dar’s commitment and dedication in pursuing food and nutrition security through agriculture with science and innovation as a core and critical foundation. Subsequently, Dr. Dar was conferred with MS Swaminathan Award for leadership in Agriculture on 24 June 2013.
ICRISAT, an international agricultural research center in the consortium of CGIAR centers, had faced multiple crises in the 1990s. The issue at the core had to do with whether ICRISAT should focus entirely on the arid land agricultural challenges of sub Saharan Africa, and move the headquarters to a location in Africa. The continued differences at the level of Governance over this matter had led to lack of clarity in research priorities and programs. During 1997-1999, there were three successive Director Generals. Dr. William Dar is credited with steering this debate from one of India-versus-Africa to a more fruitful discussion on India and Africa. Agencies in India have granted significant financial resources to ICRISAT since 2002. An example is the Dorabji Tata Trust, one of the large charities connected to the House of Tata. In spite of increased support and expressions of relevance of ICRISAT research in India, a set of external reviews commissioned by the World Bank and the CGIAR Science Council in 2003 recommended the shifting of ICRISAT headquarters to a location in sub Saharan Africa. This recommendation was not accepted by the membership of CGIAR in its Annual General Meeting in 2003. Given the turn of events, investor confidence in the stability of ICRISAT has grown. The annual revenues grew from less than US$24 million in 2003 increasing to $52 million in 2009. Major investors now include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, besides the Governments of US (USAID), UK (DFID) and India (ICAR and DBT besides State Governments).
An important development in this period was the formation of a wide range of partnerships with non-corporate as well as corporate private sector in India. Some of the international administrators considered this development a risk to the reputation of an inter-governmental organization and it was included as a term of reference in an externally commissioned review in 2009. This external review in 2009 analyzed the developments and agreed that there was indeed evidence of stability in programs and confidence among partners and investors.
Dr. Dar has received numerous awards. To mention a few, he was awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines and the Outstanding Administrator Award given by the Department of Science and Technology. In 2014 he received the Outstanding MS Swaminathan Leadership Award by India. Last December 5, 2014, the Office of the President awarded Dr. Dar the “Pamana ng Pilipino Award” - 2014 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas, Commission on Filipinos Overseas. Likewise, he was honored by the House of the Representatives of the Philippines for his excellent and transformational leadership in ICRISAT, and in the Philippines.
He served ICRISAT with distinction as the transformational and servant leader for 15 years championing the cause of small farmers in the developing countries of Asia and Africa.
Dr Dar currently the servant leader of the InangLupa Movement champions and advocates a modernizing and industrializing Philippine agriculture guided by an inclusive, science-based, resilient, and market-oriented development strategy.
Recent Awards:
- Pamana ng Pilipino Award. 2014 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas, Commission on Filipinos Overseas. Given by the Office of the President. December 5, 2014.
- Lifetime Achievement Award. Given byMariano Marcos State University. Dec 16, 2014
- Received Plaque of Recognition from Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College. Dec 17, 2014
- Received Plaque of Recognition from Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University. Dec 19, 2014
- Receives Plaque of Recognition from Benguet State University. Dec 20, 2014
- Commendation by the Philippine Congress given by House of Representatives. Dec 22, 2014
Boards, Committees, Special Assignments – International
- 2007-2009, Chair of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
- 2005, First Filipino Chair, Alliance Executive of the Alliance of Centers
- 2004-2006, Member, UN Millennium Task Force on Hunger
- 2004-2006, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee and the Executive Committee of the CGIAR Consortium for Central Asia and Caucusus (CAC)
- 2004-2006, Member of the Steering Committee of the Asia Pacific Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology (APCoAB)
- 2001-2002, Chair, Public Awareness & Resource Mobilization Committee of the CGIAR
- 1997-1999, Member, Oversight Committee of the CGIAR
- 1997-1999, Member, Governing Board, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
- 1997-1999, Member, Board of Trustees, Centro lnternacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT)
- 1997-1999, Member, Oversight Committee, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
- 1997-1998, Chairperson, Council for Partnership on Rice Research in Asia (COPRA), IRRI
- 1997, Member, Policy Advisory Council, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
- 1997, Affiliate Professor, Institute of Environment Science and Management (IESAM) - UP at Los Banos
- 1996-1998, Member, Executive Committee, Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI)
- 1995-present, Member, Philippine Council for Sustainable Development, National Economic Development Authority
- 1994-present, Member, National Selection Committee, UNDP Global Environmental Facility-Small Grants Programme
- 1994-present, Member, Philippine Sugar Research Institute Foundation, Inc.
- 1994-1996, Chair, Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI)
- 1994-1995, Project Director, Development Support Communication for International Agricultural Technology Transfer Projects (FAO-UNDP)
- 1993-present, Chairperson, National Coordinating Committee, Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management-Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM-CRSP), USAID
- 1993-present, National Coordinator, UN - FAO Underutilized Tropical Fruits in AsiaNetwork
- 1993-present, Member, Academic Consultative Committee- Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)
- 1991-1993, Chair, Governing Board, UN/ESCAP Coarse Grains, Pulses Research and Training Centre (CGPRTC), Indonesia
- 1991-1993, Chairman, Governing Board UN/ESCAP CGPRT Centre, Bogor, Indonesia
Boards, Committees, Special Assignments - The Philippines
- 1998-1999, Presidential Adviser for Food Security and Rural Development, and Secretary of Agriculture
- 1996, President, PCARRD Scholars Association and Honorary Fellow of CSSP
- 1995-1998, Member, Philippine Council for Sustainable Development under the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)
- 1995-1997, Vice President, Conservation Farming Movement
- 1995, President and Life Member, CSSP and the Society for the Advancement of the Vegetable Industry (SAVI)
- 1994-1998, Chair, National Council Committee of the Plant Genetic Resources of the Philippines
- 1994-1995, Project Director, Development Support Communication for International Agricultural Technology Transfer Projects (FAO-UNDP)
- 1994, National Coordinator, UN-FAO Underutilized Tropical Fruits in Asia Network
- 1994, Member of the Technical Panel for Agricultural Education of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
- 1994, Member, Governing Board of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice)
- 1994, Member, Academic Consultative Committee-Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)
- 1994, Member, National Selection Committee for the UNDP Global Environmental Facility-Small Grants Programme
- 1994, Member, Governing Board, Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice)
- 1993, Chairperson, National Coordinating Committee of the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management-Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM-CRSP)
- 1987-1988, Member, Governing Board, Cotton Research and Development Institute (CRDI)
- 1979-1987, Research Coordinator, Highland Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (HARRDEC) – CAR
Office Address:
InangLupa Movement Inc. Office DA-BSWM Building Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines |