During a dynamic two-day meeting on 8-9 February, members of the renewed GFAR Steering Committee (SC) met together at the GFAR host organization, FAO in Rome, to set the agenda for this unique global forum on agri-food research and innovation, towards helping to meet the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). GFAR has undergone a major transformation and now brings together a vibrant and fast-growing community of self-declared Partners in GFAR (presently 433 Partner organizations), who recognize that these complex challenges can only be met through working together for success. GFAR is a global network for action and the Steering Committee now comprises 34 elected representatives, from across 13 sectors involved in agricultural research and innovation at international, regional and local levels: farmers and agricultural workers, civil society organizations, private sector, women organizations, youth organizations, international public research, regional fora of public agricultural research and policy bodies, advanced research institutions/G20, rural advisory services, higher education, donor/investment, consumer organizations and GFAR’s facilitating UN agencies. 

Through the meeting, SC members agreed the key areas of focus to be addressed in their next GFAR Medium-Term-Plan and set out ideas and alternatives on the forms of partnership and means of communication needed for collective action and advocacy in these focal areas. The SC addressed the needs outlined in this summary.