The first version of the GFAR Charter was approved by the GFAR Steering Committee (GFAR-SC) in October
1998. In May 2000, a GFAR External Review was carried out and among the outputs of this review was draft
GFAR Charter which was then presented to and approved by the GFAR Steering Committee on 28 October 2000.
In February 2000, an Aide Memoire was signed between FAO and GFAR, providing the basis for the former
hosting the GFAR Secretariat. In May 2003, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between FAO and IFAD was
also signed, providing recognition of the status of and facilitating the transfer of funds for GFAR.
However, given current developments in the agricultural research for development (ARD) landscape as well as
some recommendations put forward by GFAR stakeholders during the GFAR 2003 Conference held in May 2003
in Dakar it may be a worthwhile exercise to revisit the GFAR Charter to make it more responsive to these
developments.