Newsletter Special Edition August 2003

In the afternoon of the second day of the conference, stakeholder groups deliberated on their future contribution to GFAR, particularly on issues that each constituency group deemed critical for inclusion in the GFAR Business Plan 2004-2006 and in which they propose to be actively involved in the coming three years. The seven stakeholder groups were asked to provide some feedback on emerging issues outlined by the keynote speakers, and to suggest ways on how to improve their involvement in ARD activities at the sub-regional, regional and global levels. They also deliberated on strategies to improve their representation in various decision- and policy-making mechanisms at these different levels. Comprehensive terms of reference outlining the above discussion issues and others were provided to participants (Boxes 13-17 and 19-21).

Box 13. Guidelines for the Stakeholder Group Meetings

The GFAR stakeholder group consultation sessions provide a unique opportunity for the stakeholder constituencies to discuss and prepare for the full range of topics that have been or are to be addressed during the conference, and to evaluate the outcomes of the conference from a specific stakeholder perspective.

The three specific objectives of these sessions are to:

allow each constituency group to express its evaluation of the conference organization and outputs
formulate its stakeholder statement which will be delivered by a person designated by them at the closing session
discuss a range of issues that the constituency group deems critical for the development of the next GFAR business plan in which the constituency proposes to be actively involved in the coming three years.

Practical arrangements

Grouping in this session will be strictly by stakeholder group and participants are only allowed to join the stakeholder group to which they belong
Each group will be assigned to meet in a given room which will be announced during the conference.

Roundtable mechanics

With the exception of the NARS, management of the groups is left to the groups themselves as no pre-assigned facilitators will be provided. However, to aid in the preparation of a synthesis, the groups must nominate a facilitator and rapporteur. The Chair of GFAR will lead the NARS stakeholder consultation, and no facilitators will be provided. However, the group must select a rapporteur.

The facilitator will animate the discussions and ensure that the objectives are met and that most participants have the opportunity to express their views and opinions on the subject. It is important that the facilitator is able to elicit concrete recommendations on the subject.
The rapporteur will be responsible for capturing the salient points in the discussion. He/she will have to make sure that issues raised and agreements reached are documented. All rapporteurs will meet in the evening with the GFAR Management Team to synthesize discussion outputs which will then be presented the following day in Plenary Session III. Facilitators are welcome to join.

A set of issues for discussion will be provided by the GFAR Secretariat for the consideration of the groups. Background documents, if any, will also be made available.

It will be difficult for the synthesis group to analyze and capture the richness and diversity of discussion in the groups. In order to capture the main contributions of the participants, it is critical that the rapporteurs follow the attached guidelines and report the results in the same format.

Expected output and plenary session reports

The expected outputs of these sessions include:

Stakeholder assessments of the conference as a constituency
Stakeholder statements to be presented at the end of the conference, with mention of the specific points of importance to their constituency and identification of some GFAR activities that they suggest be in the GFAR business plan for the coming three years. These are activities in which they want to be actively involved, and possibly take a leading responsibility in their implementation.

The representatives of RF/SRF of the NARS participating in the GFAR 2003 Conference conveyed their congratulations to the GFAR Secretariat, the local host agencies and the Senegalese government for a successful event. The NARS were very pleased with the outcome of the conference, especially the opportunity provided for all stakeholders to review and strengthen alliances and partnerships and to share successful partnership experiences in ARD and other relevant information.

On the subject of reinforcing the role of the NARS Steering Committee, the NARS continue to be fully convinced that to achieve a strong and relevant GFAR, there must be strong NARS and strong RF/SRF. Therefore, the NARS believe that reinforcing the role of the NARS Steering Committee within GFAR will make the NARS stakeholders more proactive and more involved in working to ensure the strengthening of the NARS and their RF/SRF to enable them to contribute greatly to the effectiveness of GFAR. The NARS Steering Committee should continue to promote and enhance partnerships and contribute to the global knowledge pool for ARD. To ensure that partnerships will flourish and achieve relevance and effectiveness, the NARS recommended that GFAR give priority to the following:

GFAR should develop itself as an effective and strong advocacy and advisory body for promoting ARD issues at the global level. It should be able to sensitize and influence policy-makers in governments of the weaker NARS for an increased investment in agricultural research. To be able to do this, it should strengthen its political dimension by closely linking with the World Bank, donor agencies and political bodies.
GFAR should promote and strengthen inter-regional cooperation on institutional innovations to serve as the venue for information exchange and sharing of priority-setting experiences among NARS and RF/SRF. For example, the NARS in South Asia have initially agreed to organize the Southeast Asian Forum for Agricultural Research and establish a centre for an Agricultural Research Database (SEAFAR-CARD). This is an excellent example of how institutions can become more effective in addressing the needs of our farmers. The NARS need the full support of GFAR together with the existing RF/SRF in this initiative.

The NARS recommended that GFAR give emphasis and priority attention to addressing two common concerns which should be considered as a focus of discussion in the next triennial conference.

Weak research and extension linkages - Many technologies have been generated by research institutions but have not reached and benefited the target clientele. Linkages between farmers, research and technology transfer institutions need to be strengthened at the local, national, regional and international levels by establishing effective mechanisms and modalities.
Need for impact assessment on agricultural research and research outputs - This is an expressed need to enable NARS to achieve relevance and effectiveness.

The NARS concurred and expressed the feeling that it should be opened up to new stakeholders including extension agents/workers, representatives from national extension systems and experts. They should be more represented in GFAR undertakings as well as in RF/SRF activities. This is considered an effective way of bridging the gap between research and extension.

No issue raised on the topic of the RPS exercise and this was regarded as a positive indication that the outcomes are acceptable. The NARS agreed that they must develop long-term or master plans guided by their own set of priorities. The plan must be a product of grassroots consultation and with the widest possible participation of all stakeholders. The plan should be periodically reviewed vis-à-vis new emerging priorities and relevance. The RF/SRF should then take cognizance of the NARS priorities, which should be brought to GFAR's attention for possible sourcing of funds.

The NARS felt they were in various stages of capacity-building advancement. One commonality was that they all need strengthening in one way or another and in various aspects. Some of the more urgent capacity-building needs that the NARS would like to have addressed include (1) the establishment of a functional information system at both the national and local levels to provide easy access to technologies and important information for farmers and scientists; and (2) a more systematic and effective priority-setting methodologies and decision support tools to be established and easily used by the NARS.

Lastly, the NARS expressed their commitment to work closely with other GFAR stakeholders for stronger partnerships and strategic alliances aimed at more effectively tackling global issues and concerns related to poverty alleviation, food security and promotion of sustainable natural resource use.

Box 14. Regional & Sub-regional Fora of the NARS: Issues for Discussion

There is a general feeling at the level of the GFAR Secretariat that the NARS Steering Committee could be more proactively involved in determining what GFAR could do in strengthening the RF/SRF of the NARS and conversely what the RF/SRF could do in ensuring a better-functioning and more effective GFAR. During the NARS consultations, it is requested that the NARS stakeholders discuss how they would like to see the NARS Steering Committee re-engineered to play some of these important programmatic functions. Some of the pertinent questions for discussion are:

How can GFAR benefit from the biennial gathering of such considerable expertise on ARD from the developing countries of the south?
What should be the contribution of the NARS Steering Committee to the development of the GFAR's business plan?
What kinds of requests should the RF/SRF address to GFAR?
What kinds of support should the RF/SRF expect from GFAR and vice versa?

Opening up the RF/SRF of NARS to new stakeholders

Researchers constitute only one group among the various stakeholders that are involved in ARD. Some of the major clients that researchers service in addressing the challenges of poverty, hunger and sustainable development are women's groups, fisher folk, livestock owners and farmer groups. There is often a disconnection between researchers and some of these groups as the latter are often inhibited from fully participating in policy formulation, decision-making, identifying problems, seeking solutions and identifying areas for action. Compelling empirical evidence suggests that partnerships can bridge the gap between these groups. The expectation is that discussions will identify the new stakeholders and determine how, when and where to bring them on board as part of an expanded NARS and their RF/SRF.

Follow-up of RPS exercise

All five of the RF/SRF have been involved in cataloguing what their priorities are. Are the outcomes of the RPS satisfactory and what are the next steps? Bearing in mind that priorities change over time, NARS stakeholders need to discuss: how often they would like to review these priorities for present-day relevance? What activities and actions should be put in place in response to the real priorities? How their true priorities are reflected in the activities of GFAR?

Capacity-building

The NARS and their RF/SRF are in various stages of development. One commonality is that all need strengthening in one way or another (institutional, infrastructural, fiscal). What are some of the more urgent capacity-building needs that the NARS would like to have addressed?

Print version

GFAR Secretariat
c/o FAO, SDR, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla - 00100 Rome, Italy
Tel. +39.06.5705.3413 Fax +39.06.5705.3898
E-mail: