Newsletter May 2005 - News from the Regional Fora

		May 2005
		Issue 13/2005
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News from the Regional Fora West Asia & North Africa Asia Pacific APAARI Post-harvest Meeting APCoAB activities: updates Sub-Saharan Africa Launching the FARA-RAIS Task Force SSA-CP call for proposals Latin America & the Caribbean Europe Highlights of the Zurich Meeting ERA Net Back to CONTENTS	West Asia & North Africa AARINENA holds a Global Post-harvest Initiative Planning Meeting in Antalya, Turkey The Association of Agricultural Research Institutes in the Near East and North Africa, AARINENA, held a planning meeting at the University of Akdeniz in Antalya, Turkey on 24 and 25 March 2005 within the framework of the Global Post-harvest Initiative (GPhI) - Linking Farmers to Markets, which is jointly coordinated by FAO/AGS, GFAR and PhAction,. The objective of the planning meeting was to a) identify cross-cutting needs of AARINENA's four commodity networks (olive, date palm, cotton and medicinal plants) in the area of post-harvest handling, processing, marketing and enterprise development, b) prioritise three project ideas and c) establish a plan of work for the subsequent development of the ideas into full proposals. The meeting was attended by 18 persons, including the commodity network coordinators, the leaders of the respective post-harvest working groups for each commodity, resource persons and selected national experts and was held back-to-back with a joint AARINENA - FAO-RNE training on marketing and post-harvest handling and processing of fruits, vegetables and flowers. The principal outcome of the two-day meeting was the prioritisation of three project ideas, out of a total of 9 that were considered to be of importance for the networks. The three project ideas, and the persons designated to lead the preparation of the corresponding concept notes, are: Market-orientation for the AARINENA networks and their members, convened by Prof. Abdelouahhab Zaid, Coordinator of the Global Date Palm Network; Innovative and effective market-oriented and demand-driven extension services, convened by Mohamed El-Kholy, who represented farmers� organisations; Organic production of olive, cotton, dates and medicinal and herbal plants, convened by Nabeel Abu-Shriha, who represented the NGO sector in the meeting. The conveners mentioned above will continue to develop the project ideas in consultation with potential partners. It is expected that concept notes will be available by mid-June. In the mean time, the GPhI Coordinating Committee in Rome will decide the extent to which appropriate services in FAO or in other agencies might be approached to provide technical input and backstopping. Once the three concept notes are completed AARINENA, GFAR and FAO will explore donor interest. In the expectation that at least one will attract attention, a follow-up project design workshop is scheduled for later this year to bring together the partners that would execute the project. R.B. Asia Pacific The Global Post harvest Initiative advances in the Regions APAARI Expert Consultation on Post-harvest Technologies for Ensuring Food Security and Value Addition for Enhanced Income in Bangkok, Thailand The Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), in collaboration with Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and FAO, organized an expert consultation on Post-harvest Technologies for Ensuring Food Security and Value Addition for Enhanced Income from 1-2 December, 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand to co-incide with the APAARI biennial assembly attended by senior institutional representatives. The expert consultation main objectives were to assess the role of PHT in connecting resource-constrained farmers with the markets in newly emerging trade environment. In order to capitalize on the assembly of senior personnel from APAARI members, as well as regional expertise in postharvest issues, the consultation also sought to advance implementation of, and agency support for, the �Strategic Framework for a Global Post-harvest Initiative-Linking Farmers to Markets�(GPhI) developed under the auspices of FAO, the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR) and PhAction. An entire session of the PHT Consultation was dedicated to the GPhI. After analyzing the results of the first Asia Pacific Regional Consultation on Post-harvest held in 2001, the outcomes of the International Workshop held in Rome in 2003 which gave birth to the Strategic Framework, and integrating them all with the recent developments and also taking advantage on the �fresh� information which was passed by the previous sessions, four main priority areas where identified: a) Policy, this theme was particularly deemed as a priority by the APAARI region and came out prominently during all the presentations and discussions; b) Food safety and quality, whose importance had been expressed strongly during the meeting; c) Rural enterprise development and supply chain integration, with particular attention on mechanisms for profitably and equitably linking resource poor farmers to emerging market opportunities; d) Capacity building of different actors and service providers, linked to the stages of development of the post-harvest sector and emphasising technical, policy development and human resource management dimensions. Working Groups were formed around these four themes, trying to achieve a balance in country representation and relating to the specific interest of the respective institution that each participant was representing The GPhI session encouraged commitment of stakeholder institutions and organizations to examine their country, institutional needs, roles and resources that could be marshalled in support of the initiative. It also clarified key elements and gaps that could be addressed through regional and/or sub regional programmes. In wrapping-up the Consultation, Dr Paroda acknowledged the very great interest that has been generated by the Consultation, which both confirms the felt need for concerted actions in the post-harvest area and the imperativeness of complementing the outcomes of the meeting with follow-up actions. He assured the participants that, following further analysis of the results of the Consultation, and in particular the working groups, a plan of action will be developed for their consideration. This could take the form of a consortium, similar to the one established by APAARI for the biotechnology area, or through the selection of specific topics for development into regional or global partnership programs. A.S. Asia Pacific A Brief Up-date on APCoAB's Activities The Second Steering Committee Meeting of APCoAB was held on 30th November, 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand. The minutes were circulated to all the members in January 2005. This brief is about some activities that were undertaken since then: Meetings Organized A Workshop on "Public Private Partnership in the Use of Agribiotechnology for Sustainable Solutions to Brassica Pest Problems" was organized in New Delhi on 10th February, 2005.The meeting was co-sponsored by AVRDC, APAARI/APCoAB and CIMBAA (Collaboration for Insect Management in Brassica in Asia and Africa). It was attended by professionals from various ministries, representatives from Indian and overseas universities; farmer representatives; international organizations and Private Sector. The issues discussed were related to Public Private Partnership (PPP) for Sustainable Control of Insect Pests of Brassicas, particularly Diamond Black Moth (DBM); biosafety; resistance management; economics and public acceptability of GM vegetable crops. The meeting supported formation of a Consortium (Nunhems Seed Company from private sector and Indian Agricultural Research Institute from public sector) and voiced that international organizations such as FAO should support such initiatives. The partners must ensure acceptability of the technology (also socially and ethically), biosafety issues (in terms of long term impact on environment and management of insect resistance). The technology as far as possible should be scale neutral and thus should benefit both small and marginal farmers. Dr. Vibha Dhawan, APCoAB Coordinator actively participated and provided logistic support. APCoAB also organized a Brainstorming Session on "Public Private Partnership in Agricultural Biotechnology" on March 14, 2005 in New Delhi. The meeting was Cahired by Dr. Raj Paroda, Executive Secretary, APAARI and it was inaugurated by Dr. G Kalloo, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences), ICAR. He advocated introspection and reorientation of the research being carried out in public sector and the kind of partnership that can emerge in the field of biotechnology. He highlighted the need of investments in cutting edge technologies such as gene pyramiding; development of gene constructs, molecular markers etc. All participants felt that the Public-Private Partnership is the need of the hour and must be addressed in its right perspective. Dr. Nagarajan, Director, IARI voiced that in fast changing environment, researchers in public institutions must be assisted by Business Development Cell to take care of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), Material Transfer Agreement (MTA); benefit sharing etc. The participants discussed in detailed the changing world scenario making PPP to be highly relevant and discussed various possible models of partnership. A clear message that emerged was the need of a mutual trust between the partners. Also there is a need to change the entire mindset and bring in corporate culture in public sector institutions. Capacity building should be done in the field of scientific policy and legal matters. It was also voiced that private sector must invest in basic research as well and must have a balance between their profits and meeting their social obligations. In terms of infrastructure, there is a need to set up incubation facilities specially for nurturing start-up companies thereby encouraging early stage innovations through appropriate partnership mechanisms. A brief report highlighting important recommendations of this meeting is attached (Annexure I). These can also be viewed at APCoAB's website (www.apaari.org/APCoAB). These are also being circulated to all concerned and are being printed. APCoAB website The APCoAB website was established as a link to APAARI website. There was some delay in up-dating the information due to Dr. Sahdev Singh�s leaving APAARI. This website will now be operated by APCoAB office directly in New Delhi office and the process of up-dating information has already been initiated. Project Proposals A proposal has been submitted to Dr. He Changchui, ADG, FAO for Ministerial Level Conference to be organized during mid-2006. A project proposal is being submitted to Dr. Ola Smith, Executive Secretary, GFAR for organizing a regional conference on Biosafety and Regulatory Mechanisms. Upcoming APCoAB Publications A flyer on APCoAB was published earlier and circulated widely. There had been some delay in bringing out status reports on Transgenic Maize in Philippines and Bt Cotton in India. These two status reports are being finalized by Dr. Vibha Dhawan. In the transgenic maize paper, there will be a concluding chapter by Dr. Rey Ebora et al. (paper initially attempted by that group) and in the Bt cotton validation is being done by Mr. Raju Barwale and Dr. S. R. Rao. Proceedings of Public-Private Partnership Workshop are presently in the press. Participation in Meetings/Workshop APCoAB Coordinator participated in the following meetings: National Consultation on Liability and Redress in the Context of Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety organized by Prof. Bharat H. Desai, Jawaharlal Nehru Chair in International Environmental Law, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi on 28-29 March, 2005. It was sponsored by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India in association with Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL), New Delhi. Workshop on "The Safety Assessment of Genetically Modified Foods" organized by South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP) on 11-12 April, 2005in association with Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL), New Delhi. Second Meeting of Representatives of Capacity Building Projects in Agricultural Biotechnology Communications organized on 15 April, 2005 by South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP)-India. Recruitment of APCoAB Coordinator In view of Dr. Vibha Dhawan's departure effective 1st May, 2005, steps have been taken to readvertise the position through ICRISAT and last date is already over. The shortlisting of the candidates is being done. It is proposed to have the interviews organized sometime by June end. Meanwhile, the services of Dr. R.K. Arora, former Director NBPGR and Head of IPGRI South-Asia office in New Delhi has been requested to work as Consultant so that work is not disrupted. Sub-Saharan Africa A FARA-RAIS task force is established FARA held a regional consultation on the 11th of January, in Accra, to establish its FARA-RAIS task force following recommendations from stakeholders consultation last April 2004. The participants, were mainly the SROs, GFAR and regional partners to define its Terms of Reference and an action plan. It was agreed that the Taskforce will report to the FARA Executive Secretary who in turn reports to the FARA Executive Committee. This will ensure effective management, considering that FARA-RAIS is one of the region-wide programs of FARA. Full members of the Taskforce are representatives of: FARA, ASARECA, CORAF, SADC/FANR and GFAR. One NARS for each subregion will be nominated by the corresponding SRO to be part of the taskforce but representation will be rotated among the subregion. Observers will be invited and identified either from international organizations and other RAIS depending on issues or areas to be discussed. The Taskforce has the following mandate: To review, discuss and endorse the action plan for the FARA-RAIS program; To monitor progresses of the FARA-RAIS through a standard format; To advice FARA on ICT/ICM issues, including technical and policy guidelines and issues of standards (to the RAIS, S-RAIS and NAIS); To follow-up on current developments at regional and inter-regional levels in order to identify and promote innovations in ICM4ARD; To advice on source of funding; To play the role of "Ambassadors" of the RAIS. During this Meeting, and based on the plan of action presented by SROs, the following common areas of activities were identified: Definition, implementation and monitoring of an Information System on experts (contacts), ongoing activities, institutions and technologies (outputs) relevant in ARD. Dr Giovannetti reminded the participants that this issue was a major output of all the regional consultations held during the Global-RAIS Project, and that this issue is also a major issue in order to foster inter-regional co-operation. The means identified to achieve this Information System were: (i) expert consultations, (ii) face-to-face workshops, and (iii) Open & Distance Learning contents (ODL); NARS leaders sensitisation enabling them to advocate on ICT enabled agricultural information systems; Strengthening FARA-RAIS and its S-RAIS, including development of Communities of Practices (CoPs); Training Need Assessment (TNA), including organization of training workshops on ICT/ICM; Strengthening National Focal Points in order to develop the sub-regional and regional networking. JF.G. & Myra Sub-Saharan Africa Saharan Africa - Challenge Programme call for Expression of interest In mid-December 2004, FARA sent out a call for Expression of Interest in providing Facilitation and Mentoring services, Impact assessment Services and in the implementation of the IARD4D to all stakeholders. Many stakeholders responded rapidly and within the deadline imposed. This shows the great level of interest in the SSA Challenge Programme (SSA-CP). Perhaps more importantly, is the fact that participation in implementing the SSA-CP was open to all stakeholders by FARA, and not limited to only researchers and research institutions. It is also gratifying that stakeholders other than research institutions responded, and as you will see on the FARA website (www.fara-africa.org) NGOs, Farmers' organizations and the private sector responded and will compete with research institutions for the honour of working with FARA. This new way of carrying out research for development reflects the spirit and letter of GFAR, and we commend FARA for this bold step, and hope that this will serve as an inspiration to others. We will continue to monitor the subsequent participation of all stakeholders in this important endeavour. O.S. Latin America & the Caribbean FORAGRO: Highlights of the Panama Meeting ` About 130 persons participated in the 4th International Conference of FORAGRO which was hosted by the Instituto de Investigacion Agropecuria de Panama (IDIAP). The objective of the Conference was to: dialogue and brainstorm in order to provide ideas and suggestions that could be used at national and regional levels for the formulation and implementation of policies and activities for the development of an innovative, knowledge-based agri-business driven agriculture. In order to address this objective, presentations and discussions were organized into 4 sessions: political and economic context and challenges of agriculture and agri-business; global and regional systems of knowledge; institutional dimensions and integration and a final session on conclusion and the final declaration of Panama. These plenary sessions were supplemented with parallel small group discussions focused on thematic issues of: genetic resources and agriculture, sustainable natural resources management; agribusiness innovation; new agro-biotechnologies; management of scientific information, which correspond to the main elements of the FORAGRO plan of action. Some of the highlights of the meeting were: Active participation of representatives of other regional fora. The session on global and regional systems of knowledge comprised four series of panel discussions kicked off first by a panel discussion on Inter-Continental cooperation under the aegis of the Global Forum and Regional Research Fora, followed the second one on Inter-continental Research System of the CGIAR and developed countries, during which representatives of CIRAD from France, INIA from Spain, USDA from the United States, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada from Canada, CIMMYT and the Global Diversity Trust presented their current and future areas of research interests. The third part of this session was devoted to presentations from the various sub-regional programmes of FORAGRO i.e. the PROCIS, as well as FONTAGRO the funding mechanism set up in the region to support agricultural research. Finally the fourth part focused on the FORAGRO plan of action to bring out its priority themes. The idea was to examine areas for potential collaboration among these four distinct entities. The first panel discussion on inter-continental cooperation under the aegis of GFAR and regional fora saw an active participation of all the regional fora including EFARD which sent in a paper for the purpose and NAFAR. The Executive Secretary of GFAR presented an overview paper on global agricultural research partnerships as a response to challenges facing the agricultural sector. He suggested that various forms of research partnerships especially multi-stakeholder and interregional collaboration could provide solutions to some of the problems the facing the sector in several developing countries using the GLOBAL.RAIS project of GFAR as illustrative example. Representatives of the various regional fora then made presentations which high-lighted the characteristics of their respective regions, their own focus areas of research, their strengths and opportunities which could be made available to or shared with other regions in response to the inter-regional collaboration aspect of the work of GFAR. All of the Executive Secretaries of RF present at the meeting later met to brainstorm on how to capitalize on the rich information presented during the session and move forward on the implementation of the planned interregional collaborative activities. The discussion will be continued at the next Executive Secretaries meeting planned for the 8th of June during the FARA General Assembly. Another highlight of the meeting was the presence of up to 20 parliamentarians (Parlatino) from the region. They participated actively in the deliberations, and were doubtlessly sensitised to the problems confronting the research system and the importance of policy and political support to the system so that it can play a meaningful role in solving problems confronting the agriculture sector, which is still and will continue to be an important contributing sector to economic growth in the region. The participation of the legislators culminated in the signing of a FORAGRO-PARLATINO agreement designed to provide a new partnership between policy makers and the advocates of Science and Technology development for the benefit of agricultural development and rural prosperity. The agreement also stipulated that the two parties will henceforth invite each other to their respective meetings when appropriate in order to nurture the relationship to their mutual benefits. This is a giant step taken by FORAGRO on the path towards influencing policy makers, and we wish them well. The conference produced a PANAMA declaration from which we reproduce some excerpts to highlight its importance. We, the participants in the Fourth International Meeting of FORAGRO, comprising universities, NGOs, public research institutions, producers, the private sector, the global research system, technical and financial cooperation mechanisms and agencies, advanced research systems and members of the Latin American Parliament, acting on our own behalf, consider that, as part of the process of modernizing agriculture and agribusiness, it is necessary to strengthen a hemispheric agenda for technological innovation and promote greater articulation of same with the global R&D System, with a view to contributing to a significant increase in the production and quality of foods and to the improvement of the agricultural trade balance through competitiveness. The categories of participants listed reflects very well the inclusiveness and strategic partnership concept of GFAR, and we hope this will continue to be reflected in future concrete activities undertaken by FORAGRO. A number of such activities were featured in the declaration some of which we highlight below. To encourage the combined use of traditional, conventional and new technologies to obtain processes, products and services that are socially and economically beneficial, of the highest quality and safe vis-�-vis the environment, agriculture and human health. To promote the implementation of the priority topics agreed upon at FORAGRO Brasilia 2002.... the following being the most important in terms of hemispheric cooperation: Conservation, characterization and use of genetic resources; Sustainable management of natural resources, especially soil, water and biodiversity; Development and use of new agricultural biotechnologies; Development of scientific and technological information systems; Promotion of innovations aimed at the development of agribusiness; Promotion and development of innovations applicable to family agriculture. Within the framework of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research, to participate actively in interregional cooperative research efforts in areas of research that are of priority to and impact on the Americas, through strategic partnerships with the Global Forum and the regional agricultural research forums in other regions of the world. O.S. Europe GFAR active in the European Agriculture Research for Development conference held in Zurich The European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD) held its biannual meeting at the Swiss Federal Institue of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Zurich, Switzerland from 27 to 29 April 2005. Over 300 participants from Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America attended the conference whose theme was 'European Response to Changing Global Needs'. The Conference addressed three themes. Theme 1 dealt with 'Global challenges and Responses of Agricultural Research for Development (ARD)' and was handled in four sub-sessions. Among the major recurring common issues stressed by speakers during the first and second sessions on 'changing global needs' and 'Stakeholder perspectives' were: The multi-functionality of the rural areas, and the need to link across sectors to achieve the poverty and hunger targets of the millennium development goals (MDG) the underinvestment in agricultural research for development by both developed and developing governments the vacuum in developing countries in research and extension as governments have reduced the role of the state the need for more efficient and effective partnerships for tackling the constraints to development, and the economic and moral obligations that governments, institutions and individuals all have to seriously address poverty and hunger. In these two sessions, members of GFAR management and Steering Committee played a prominent role by making 5 out of the 11 presentations. The two remaining sessions in Theme 1 tabled the European response to the above challenges articulated in the Conference Issues paper, and described the various institutions and coordinating mechanisms available to implement those responses. Theme 2 looked at 'Innovations through Partnerships in Agricultural Research for Development' and was opened by three plenary presentations on the ecological, social, and economic and policy dimension of ARD respectively. The ecological dimension was illustrated through the International Potato Center's approach to integrating research across hierarchies from germplasm through integrated crop management, integrated natural resource management and on to the relation between agriculture and health. The social dimension was illustrated in relation to developing local capacity to innovate and the partnerships among R&D institutions required to achieve success. With respect to the economic and policy dimension, the participants were challenged to spend less time articulating among themselves and more time in engaging with others, especially the policy makers. The speaker said that institutional change needs to be faster, and if the capacity divide between North and South continues to widen, the North's efforts will loose relevance. These presentations were followed by a parallel session with contributions from selected participants on 'ARD Approaches through ARD partnerships' and a session of 11 parallel workshops. For more information on the GFAR organised workshop on North-South partnerships: guidelines, challenges, success stories and the way forward see the summary report in this newsletter. Theme 3 considered the Future Agenda of ARD, with presentations by the European Commission on the 7th Framework Programme for investing in ARD and which clearly illustrated the re-emergence of agriculture on the R&D agenda, by GFAR on the ARD priorities of the regional fora, and by the Polish Minister of Agriculture on strengthening the contribution to ARD of the new EU member countries. These were complemented by a presentation by the Director of the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institution on the extent to which developing countries explicitly address ARD in their poverty reduction strategies. This theme conclude by revisiting the Conference issues paper based on the input received from participants and the presentation and discussion of the Conference Declaration which outlines 10 commitments for EFARD members and (see news item below for further details). In the wrap up of the meeting, participants were encouraged to strengthen their solidarity with the rest of the world, reiterate their commitment to making contributions to meeting the MDG and to increasingly link research on agriculture with other sectors such as food security and health, the environment. R.B. Europe ERA Net: Launching of a �coordinating action� in agricultural research for development in Europe Europe has a strong tradition in Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) and its Member States invest considerably in agricultural research to support sustainable development in the poorer nations. As many as 10 000 scientists are involved in projects in this field, while the total amount of financial resources invested may exceed €1 billion. Yet, despite this substantial commitment, there is very limited coordination between the ARD programmes of Member States, the various European Commission-funded projects, or the numerous European and international bodies currently addressing ARD research. Predictably, this fragmentation leads to conflicts of interest, unnecessary competition and a duplication of efforts - in short, a significant waste of resources. Within the 6th European Union's Framework Programme, an innovative ERA-NET Scheme was established "to step up the cooperation and coordination of national or regional research activities through networking of programmes including their mutual opening and the development and implementation of joint activities". An ERA-NET on ARD (named ERA-ARD) has then been formed to establish coherence and collaboration in European ARD. The ERA-NET brings together decision-makers from ministries, donor agencies and national public research organisations of 11 Member States representing the critical mass necessary to drive forward the harmonisation and integration of Europe's ARD effort. This "Coordination Action" on European ARD has been launched on 1 April 2005 for a total duration of 4 years and a budget close to 3 million euros. It is mapping all ARD activities and administrative structures in participating countries to highlight synergies, duplications and best management practice. Participants will then select two sub-programmes for joint activity, leading to transnational activities with shared funding and administration. This streamlining will benefit developing nations directly, and help Europe meet its commitments to fight global poverty and hunger. For further information: Christian Hoste ERA-ARD Coordinator, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), 42 rue Scheffer, FR-75116 Paris Tel: +33 1 53 70 22 30 Fax: +33 1 53 70 21 33 e-mail : [email protected] website: www.cirad.fr Christian Hoste
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