GFAR Newsletter - Issue 16, 04/2006
Newsletter date: 01/04/2006
]In this Issue
This first issue of our newsletter contains news from and about a variety of GFAR stakeholders including the GFAR Secretariat.
The Secretariat provided updates on a number of important activities and events including: a short write up on the GFAR chair designate Dr Adel El-Beltagy who will preside over his first GFAR Management Team Meeting (June 1-2); a note on the 37th edition of the World Farmers' Congress which also coincides with the 60th anniversary of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP); the establishment of GFAR document repository which we hope will facilitate easy access and efficient dissemination of information on EGFAR by stakeholders; recent activities of one of our GPPs - PROLINNOVA - and two developing initiatives - linking farmers to markets and non-timber forest products; the completed GPP evaluation exercise the report of which will be deliberated upon by the Steering Committee during the forthcoming meeting in Sana'a, Yemen. Some information is also provided on the status of the planned second external review of GFAR which started on May 8th 2006.
Contributions to this newsletter also came from some of our stakeholders including Regional Forums - AARINENA, APAARI and FARA which shared some of the activities they carried out in the immediate past - and the CGIAR which featured the new CGIAR research priorities.
Finally we presented a short piece on the forthcoming GFAR 2006 mainly focused on some elements of a developing conference programme, with a promise for more details on the conference in a dedicated site on EGFAR by the end of May 2006.
O.S.
News from the Secretariat
GFAR 2006 Tentative Programme
Details of the conference programme are still being developed, but the draft programme currently features the following elements ...
[Read article >>]
10 years after: GFAR's 2nd External Evaluation
This year, 2006, is GFAR's 10th anniversary. It is also 5 years since GFAR's first External Evaluation of GFAR. The second External Evaluation is taking place this year and contemplates an overview of the institution and its achievements since its creation ...
[Read article >>]
New Chair of GFAR takes over in June 2006
Dr Adel el-Beltagy, the chair designate of GFAR, will take over the mantle of leading GFAR over the next three years from June 1st 2006 when he will preside over his first GFAR Management Team Meeting ...
[Read article >>]
ICM & ICTs
The GFAR document repository
The GFAR document repository has been established with key objective to bring information closer to the people who really need it. In line with the main goals of the re-design of EGFAR and with specific regard to documents ...
[Read article >>]
News from the Secretariat - GPPs
PROLINNOVA 3rd Partners' Meeting
The 3rd Prolinnova Partners' Meeting was held from 5-10 March 2006 in Cambodia. Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun delivered the Keynote Address during the Opening Ceremony held at Juliana Hotel in Phnom Penh ...
[Read article >>]
Global NTFP Partnership launched in Marrakech
On December 2, 2005, the Global Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) Partnership was officially launched in Marrakech. Despite their vital importance for the livelihoods of many millions of rural dwellers, non timber forest products have not received the kind of institutional and financial investments ...
[Read article >>]
GFAR reviews its Global Partnerships Programme Mechanism
A two-man review team composed of Julian Gonsalves (India) and Oumar Niangado (Mali) are in the process of undertaking an internally commissioned review of GFAR's Global Partnership Programme (GPP) mechanism for promoting and learning about building multi-stakeholder partnerships ...
[Read article >>]
Towards a Global Partnership Programme on Linking Farmers to Markets
Important steps are being taken this year to culminate the preparatory phase of a Global Partnership Programme (GPP) on the theme of Linking Smallholder Farmers to Growth Markets. Building on the consultations spearheaded by FAO-AGS and GFAR, and supported by the Post-harvest Action (PhAction) group of institutions ...
[Read article >>]
News from the Regional Fora
News from the Regional Fora - AARINENA
The Meeting of the ad hoc Committee for a GPP on the theme of Linking Smallholder Farmers to Markets
AARINENA has launched the Post-harvest Initiative in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) Region before four years from Cairo. It is the pioneer in confirming the importance of post-harvest, marketing and enterprise related activities ...
[Read article >>]
News from the Regional Fora - APAARI
APAARI and the drafting of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement
APAARI in collaboration with IPGRI organized a meeting of the Asian Representatives nominated by the Chairs of the FAO Regional Groups for the drafting of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) ...
[Read article >>]
The APAARI General Assembly
The APAARI General Assembly will be held in New Delhi, India from the 6th to the 8th of November 2006. The theme of the meeting is "Agricultural Innovations: Linking Farmers to Market" ...
[Read article >>]
News from the Regional Fora - FARA
FARA: New partnership with the African Union
FARA signed an agreement with the African Union in October 2006, in which it becomes the Technical Arm of the AU's Department of rural economy and agriculture. This new development completes the strong link of FARA to African political bodies ...
[Read article >>]
FARA: The African platform for agricultural information and learning systems (RAILS)
Although there have been enormous exchange of agricultural information globally, African national agricultural research systems have been left behind. Several international service providers provide different systems to facilitate exchange of information through internet or other media ...
[Read article >>]
FARA: a Framework for African Agricultural Productivity Programs
FARA is leading the process of developing a framework for African agricultural productivity programs (FAAP) that could provide guidance to the much needed evolution of African agricultural research systems ...
[Read article >>]
News from the other Stakeholders
CSOs
The SSA NGO Consortium
Since the Entebbe meeting, it has been a busy period for the Consortium. In October 2005, the management of the Consortium met with other FARA stakeholders including representatives from the Sub-regional organizations ...
[Read article >>]
CSOs
CSOs: Environmental Alert wins Energy Globe's World Award
Environmental Alert (EA) won the first prize in the category earth of "Energy Globe Award" for its project on Integrated Nutrient Management to attain sustainable productivity increases in East African Farming systems (INMASP) ...
[Read article >>]
Farmers' Organizations
World Farmers Congress in Seoul, May 13th-20th 2006
Farmers from various parts of the globe will converge on Seoul, in the Republic of Korea, for the 37th edition of the World Farmer's Congress. Farmers from the 116 affiliated national organizations spread over 83 countries world wide ...
[Read article >>]
CGIAR
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) defines its research priorities for 2005-2015
The Science Council (SC) of the CGIAR initiated a process of System-level priority setting, in line with its aim to help develop a more cohesive and better-focused, high-quality research program to alleviate poverty, hunger, and malnutrition ...
[Read article >>]
