During the first GFAR Conference held in Dresden, Germany, in May 2000, the responsibility to
explore ways and means to develop and strengthen research partnerships for ¿Under-utilized and
Orphan Commodities¿ (UOC) was assigned to a specific Working Group. This Working Group
strongly recommended an involvement of GFAR in this topic of UOC in order to: (a) increase the
visibility and valorize the work already done on neglected commodities at all levels; and (b)
stimulate activities at the regional level, as it is seen as the most appropriate level to deal with
neglected commodities. However, while emphasizing the regional dimension, the Working Group
also suggested that there should be a ¿facilitation mechanism¿ operating at the global level and
recommended, as a first step in this direction, to set up a Task Force including FAO, ICUC and
IPGRI.
To implement this recommendation, the GFAR Secretariat took the initiative to call an informal
brainstorming session between a few representatives of FAO, ICUC and IPGRI who were joined
by a representative from Germany and one from IFAD, considering their vested interest and
commitment to support activities on this topic