In recent years GFAR has actively promoted (and has collaborated in) ICM-related activities in Agricultural Research for Development (ARD), particularly with its ICM4ARD Global Partnership Programme and its participation in the International Information Systems for Agricultural Science and Technology (IISAST) initiative tigether with key partners like FAO, CGIAR, the Regional Fora and other organizations working in the agricultural sector and in information and communication management.

One important result of the ICM4ARD programme has been the establishment of Regional Agricultural Information Systems (RAIS) and the involvement, at regional level, of national information systems (NARIMS).

The main project under ICM4ARD is now the ARD Web Ring, which is now being re-defined following the discussions during the ICM4ARD and EGFAR meetings in September 2007.
 
GFAR is also involved in many multi-stakeholder activities on ICM and ICT related issues (e.g. working groups on content management and sharing, metadata exchange etc.).
The main objective is of course that of improving access to reliable and updated information resources.

In these pages we try to provide all the relevant information about the present situation of ICM4ARD and, wherever possible, links for more information and further reading.