GFAR e-news: Latest 4 issues

Young professionals – meeting the needs of tomorrow’s agriculture 
10.9.2010

YPARD – the Young Professionals' Platform for Agricultural Research for Development is happy to announce its recent move to its new host, GFAR - the Global Forum for Agricultural Research, in Rome. GFAR has been a long time supporter of YPARD from its beginning in 2005, throughout its development in championing the greater inclusion of young professionals in Agricultural Research for Development (ARD). YPARD provides a global platform through which young professionals can express their ideas and be represented in key ARD policy debates. With a member base of 2000 Young Professionals, it is a growing and dynamic network, now linking with other youth initiatives to increase the visibility and voice of young people in shaping the future of agriculture. With an ageing agricultural sector and fewer young people entering the field, it is more important now, than ever, to support young professionals who bring innovation, fresh perspectives, new skills and knowledge to the ARD sector.

YPARD and GFAR are working together to address issues of agricultural curriculum reform to create socially relevant agricultural education curricula which enable innovative careers and prepare young people to actively contribute to agriculture and their communities/countries. Building on GFAR’s convening power and mandate as the inclusive global forum fostering the transformation of agricultural research for development; YPARD will mobilize its constituency group to bring the perspectives of young people directly into this debate. Reforming agricultural curricula is also key to bringing young people back into agriculture, as an attractive and viable career option. This initiative is critical to addressing the future of ARD, the future of food security and the tenability of the entire global agricultural system. To build a sustainable future, we must start with those who will be living it; the youth.

This initiative is generously supported by the Swiss Agency of Development (SDC), the Dutch Ministry for Development Cooperation (DGIS), Leibniz University Hannover, Germany and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA). As well as helping to mobilize these resources, GFAR Secretariat is now providing the administrative support essential for YPARD’s operations. 

Courtney Paisley-
YPARD Coordinator 
We are also pleased to welcome Courtney Paisley to the new role of YPARD Coordinator. With this step forward, Courtney will work to continue to build upon the successes of YPARD. Her experience includes work in East Africa for the promotion of environmental education and renewable energy and in the agricultural research sector, at the World Agroforestry Centre, promoting the sharing of training materials within the CGIAR and the wider agricultural research community. She received an MSc. from the University of Manchester in Environmental Governance and completed undergraduate studies in International Project Management and Environmental Studies. She is an enthusiastic supporter of improved and dynamic agricultural curriculum development and the promotion of youth in agricultural research for development.

More information on YPARD can be found on: www.ypard.net
More information on GFAR can be found on: egfar.org

Bogor, Indonesia
3-7 October 2010

The Asian Federation of Information Technology Associations (AFITA) has held its International Conference on the theme “Quality Information for Competitive Agricultural Based Production Systems and Commerce”. The Conference has been organized by the Indonesian Society for Agricultural Information at Institute Pertanian Bogor International Centre, Bogor, Indonesia.

More than 60 papers, including Keynote and invited, are being presented at the Conference in addition to two Workshops on ICT Adoption in Agriculture and Agribusiness and Sensor Networks.

The theme of the Conference is of high importance to Asia as its agriculture is emerging rapidly as a commercial enterprise. The Conference has emphasized the intensive use of high quality information and use of advanced Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) to support various critical business processes in agriculture based production systems and commerce. The papers being presented at the Conference cover a range of ICT application in agriculture from those needed for and by small holder producers to advanced data management and processing through neural and sensor networks, modelling and simulation. The innovative use of mobile and handheld computing and communication devices was predominant in the presentations. Some presentations, especially from Japanese scientists and innovators, showed how small holder farmers can benefit from highly “informationalized” and “automated” production systems through use of ICT enabled decision support tools, applications and machinery and foretold of the future to come.

While opening the Conference, the Minister of Agriculture of Republic of Indonesia in his message highlighted the challenges to agricultural production in Indonesia. These echoed the challenges such as of ensuring food and nutritional security of its people, reducing poverty, meeting the challenges of climate change, loss of biodiversity, spread of transboundary diseases etc as discussed at the Asia-Pacific Regional Consultations and GCARD. In his keynote address, Professor Seishi Ninomiya of University of Tokyo, highlighted the acceleration of agricultural research due to use of ICT explaining its use in genomics and simulation through high powered, super computers. Another keynote dealt with “Counter Knowledge” or how information can be misused, if not with appropriate checks, in developing and implementing policies and strategies especially in the push towards market oriented agriculture.

The GFAR Secretariat, represented by Dr. Ajit Maru, who is also an Honorary Board Member of AFITA, led a Workshop on ICT adoption in agriculture and agribusiness. Dr. Maru reviewed challenges of information management and ICT use and adoption for agricultural research and innovation and informed the gathering on some global actions such as CIARD, CIARD.RING, recommendations from GCARD and GFAR’s ICM4ARD activities. These initiatives were also in response to calls to improve information sharing and exchange for agricultural research for development globally to meet current and emerging challenges to agriculture

A distinct feature of this International Conference was the presence of young people, especially women. Women were in a majority at this conference, indicating their emerging, central role in cutting edge, new agricultural disciplines such as ICTs and Information and Communications Management.

A new platform to promote access to agricultural science: the launch of the new CIARD website

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PRESS RELEASE 
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At the XIIIth World Congress of IAALD held in Montpellier, the new website of the global initiative on Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD) was launched by the principal partners. CIARD is a movement for coherence and collaboration in agricultural research information and communication that brings together institutions and people who want to make agricultural research outputs in the public domain truly accessible to all. The CIARD Manifesto http://www.ciard.net/ciard-manifesto and other tools provide a framework of policy and practices for those holding and creating information and knowledge to share their outputs globally and more efficiently.

The web site provides a virtual platform for institutions to participate in CIARD activities, evaluate their information management practices against a Checklist of good practices, share and follow Pathways towards better accessibility of information and contribute case studies. It also registers their information services in the CIARD RING (www.ciard.net/ring).

The CIARD initiative provided a major attraction at the IAALD Congress, also acting as the central anchor for the “Information Access Marketplace” aimed at engaging participants interested in making their institutions’ research outputs truly accessible, based on a common set of values. The new CIARD website is in three languages and is coordinated by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR). For more information on CIARD, please visit: http://www.ciard.net , and for the Congress visit: http://iaald2010.agropolis.fr/ 




Une plateforme pour promouvoir l’accès à la science agricole: lancement du nouveau site web de l’initiative CIARD 

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COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE
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Mai 2010. Le nouveau site web de l’initiative mondiale « Cohérence de l’information sur la recherche agricole pour le développement » (CIARD) a été lancé lors du XIIIème Congrès mondial de l’IAALD à Montpellier. CIARD est un mouvement pour la cohérence et le partage d’informations issues de la recherche agricole publique. Le Manifeste CIARD http://www.ciard.net/ciard-manifesto et les outils qui l’accompagnent offrent aux institutions qui détiennent et produisent des connaissances un cadre de politiques et de pratiques pour le partage efficace des résultats de recherche agricole au niveau mondial.

Le site web est une plateforme virtuelle qui permet aux individus et aux institutions de participer aux activités CIARD, d’évaluer leurs pratiques de gestion de l’information selon des recommandations, de partager des itinéraires techniques pour un meilleur accès à l’information, de faire part de retours d’expérience, et de donner accès à leurs propres produits ou services d’information à travers le CIARD RING (www.ciard.net/ring).

L’initiative CIARD a été l’un des pôles d’attraction du Congrès de l’IAALD. CIARD a servi de point d’ancrage au « Forum de l’accès à l’information » dont l’objectif était d’encourager les participants à rendre les résultats de la recherche accessibles à tous par l’adoption de principes communs. Le nouveau site web CIARD est disponible en trois langues, sa coordination est assurée par l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO) et par le Forum mondial de la recherche agricole (GFAR). Pour de plus amples informations sur l’initiative CIARD, consulter: http://www.ciard.net , ou le site du XIIIème Congrès IAALD: http://iaald2010.agropolis.fr/  




Una nueva plataforma para promover el acceso a las ciencias agrarias: lanzamiento del nuevo sitio web de CIARD 

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COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
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Mayo de 2010. El nuevo sitio web de la iniciativa global Coherencia en la nformación para la investigación agraria para el desarrollo (CIARD) fue lanzado por sus principales socios durante el XIII Congreso Mundial de IAALD en Montpellier. CIARD es un movimiento que busca la coherencia y colaboración en la información y comunicación de la investigación agraria y reúne a instituciones y personas que desean hacer que los productos de la investigación agraria de dominio público sean verdaderamente accesibles a todos. El Manifiesto de CIARD http://www.ciard.net/ciard-manifesto y otras herramientas proporcionan un marco de políticas y prácticas para que quienes poseen y producen información y conocimientos puedan compartir sus productos mundialmente y de modo más eficaz.

El sitio web ofrece una plataforma virtual para la participación de instituciones en las actividades de CIARD, para que evalúen sus prácticas de gestión de información en función de una Lista de verificación de buenas prácticas, compartan y cumplan con las Vías focalizadas de acceso a objeto de mejorar la accesibilidad de la información y contribuyan con estudios de caso, y permite registrar sus servicios de información en el CIARD RING (www.ciard.net/ring) .

La iniciativa CIARD acaparó la atención en el Congreso IAALD y sirvió de eje central de la “Feria de Acceso a la Información” dirigida a aquellos participantes interesados en hacer que los productos de la investigación de sus instituciones sean verdaderamente accesibles, en base a un conjunto de valores comunes. El nuevo sitio web de CIARD está disponible en tres idiomas y es coordinado por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO) y el Foro Global de Investigación Agropecuaria (GFAR). Para más información sobre CIARD, visite el sitio web: http://www.ciard.net , y sobre el Congreso: http://iaald2010.agropolis.fr/