Dear subscribers, partners and colleagues,
As you may be aware, FAO is organizing an International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers at FAO HQ in Rome, November 21-23 2018. The theme is of course highly relevant to GFAR’s work in promoting farmer-centred agri-food research and innovation.
The Food4Foresight initiative is intended to bring together foresight practitioners from around the world, in a global drive to address key issues around the future of food and agriculture. Foresight is a key tool that governments, private sector and civil society can jointly use to better understand future risks and opportunities in food systems, explore possible futures and to adapt.
The Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network, a Partner in GFAR, is a group of volunteers (based in countries in SSA, also Asia, USA and Europe)- linked across the world via an online platform to share findings and seek advice for their practical projects – that have a strong interest in Climate-Smart Agriculture(CSA) and the environment.
On 1-2 June, the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development of the European Commission (EC DG-DEV) organized a workshop for the African continental and regional agricultural research institutions, to which GFAR Executive Secretary Mark Holderness was invited to represent GFAR. The EU is developing a new frame for support to agricultural research and innovation in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and seeks a clear structure and basis for their future support.
Carried out over a number of months by an independent team of experts commissioned by IFAD, an Independent Forward-Looking Learning Review of GFAR has now been published.
The GFAR Steering Committee, EXCO and many GFAR stakeholders were actively consulted during the review process, and a separate desk review study also informed the findings and recommendations presented.
Losses due to pests cost farmers billions of dollars and are a preventable problem in food’s journey from the field to the plate.
Video courtesy of CropLife International, a Partner in GFAR.
This document is the report of the online consultation on “Ethical, legal and policy aspects of data sharing affecting farmers”, organized by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR), the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition initiative (GODAN) and the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) was held from 4 to 8 June 2018 on the e-agriculture platform: http://www.fao.org/e-agriculture/forums/e-consultation-ethical-legal-and-policy-aspects-open-data-affecting-farmers.
GFAR represents stakeholders from outside the international research system as an Active Observer to the work of the CGIAR System Council, the body that manages the direction and central funding of the CGIAR research centers. During the System Council meeting in Berlin in May, a number of themes were explored that have relevance beyond the CGIAR itself and also into many GFAR partner institutions and collective actions:
The 2017 IFAD Annual Report and Highlights have now been published: learn about IFAD's work, investments and results.
Read stories about the rural women and men IFAD empowers, and get the facts and figures shared regularly with Member States and partners.
You can also learn more about IFAD's advocacy efforts to keep the needs of rural communities at the top of the international development agenda.