Since the early 1990s, there has been an increasing concern on the impact of agricultural research systems in sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and production and thus contributing to economic growth and poverty eradication. Nowhere has this concern been more pronounced than in sub-Saharan Africa.
The European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD) was established in April 1999 in
Wageningen, the Netherlands. The main objective is to better organize the European agricultural research
community dedicated to development in order to more effectively respond to the needs and global challenges
of poverty and hunger eradication, food security and safety, and sustainable management of natural
resources.
The concept of ¿European Research Area¿ witnesses the willingness of Europe to progressively integrate their national research areas into a European one, itself being part of a global research area. In the specific field of agricultural research for development, the process initiated some years ago is nearly the same, though using the words ¿forum¿ or ¿system¿ instead of ¿area¿.
The purpose of the 2nd EFARD General Meeting is to develop concrete outcomes for each of the Global Research Programme Initiatives, i.e. development of complementary actions based on the 19 EFARD Action Programme Proposals for the EU-NFP-instruments, the GFAR-Global Partnership Programmes and CGIAR-Challenge Programmes. For the preparation of the Forum meeting inputs are solicited from the National Fora to elaborate the 19 proposals in view of the comparative advantages of each of the funding opportunities.
The Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR) is a joint undertaking by all stakeholders of ARD to mobilize the scientific community in order to address the three major challenges of rural poverty alleviation, achieving food security and assuring a sustainable management of the environment. In the development and strengthening of a Global Agricultural Research System (GARS) all stakeholders participate very actively in this process at the national, regional and global levels (NARS, IARCs, NGOs, ARIs, farmers¿ organizations, the private sector and donors).
The European Initiative for Agricultural Research for Development (EIARD) and the European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD) are jointly preparing partnerships with Regional and Subregional Fora and entities in the context of
the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR). Europe has an interest to cooperate with regional organisations in agricultural research for development, based on the EIARD strategy and based on institutional partnerships in the frame of the European Forum. This process is new and it is a learning process.
The main aims of EIARD are: - to promote co-ordination and partnerships in Europe. - to promote co-ordination and partnerships between Europe and developing countries. - to improve the impact of agricultural research