GFAR Vice-Chair Raffaele Maiorano organized the 60^th Anniversary meeting of ANGA (Giovani di Confagricoltura - the Italian national association of young farmers) at the Confagricoltura headquarters, Rome, on 8 June.  The meeting included a range of high profile speakers including UN SDG and climate change action advocate Marc Buckley, Pekka Pesonen, the Secretary-General of COPA COGECA and Jannes Maes, President of the European Council of Young Farmers, who gave inspiring speeches about the state – and challenges of sustainable agriculture and the implications of sustainability f

FAO is organizing an International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers at FAO HQ in Rome, November 21-23 2018. Non-state actors interested in attending the Symposium can express their interest in attending here until 31 August 2018.

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.