The Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) is a new dynamic initiative aiming to
promote a Global System for Agricultural Research based on cost-effective partnerships and strategic
alliances among the key players involved in agricultural research. The participants at a GFAR
consultative meeting convened in Rome in March 1999 arrived at a major conclusion on the need to
¿build an Enabling Global Framework for Agricultural Research Information for Development¿, as a
first step towards the emergence of a ¿Global Knowledge System in ARD¿. The shared vision could
be summarized as follows: ¿Knowledge, and an equitable access to it, is essential to achieve food
security and sustainable development¿. The enabling global framework will depend on better
articulation between the four levels at which information is generated and is utilized, namely the
International, the Regional/Sub-Regional, the National and the Local/Community level, which
together form a global structure of information systems. This paper concerns the case for building a
Regional Agricultural Information System (RAIS), the possible content of such a system, and the
steps involved in designing and building such a system. The potential stakeholders should consider
the need for development of such regional information systems.