Our actions are developed through
a rolling series of global conferences,
national and regional dialogues:
The Global Conferences on Agricultural
Research for Development (GCARD).
To meet the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), agriculture and food
research and innovation must address a
complex series of intertwined challenges,
ensuring that no one is left behind.
The 2015-16 GCARD3 process links
agricultural science and society, with
an agenda that tackles these major
systemic challenges head-on. How
can rural communities shape their own
futures? How can we put the resource-
poor at the centre of our innovations,
and meet their particular needs? Why
are potentially-valuable innovations not
taken up in practice? Why is productivity
still the sole measure used for success,
when agriculture impacts nearly all the
SDGs? And how can we convert agri-
food innovation into enterprise and
opportunity for rural youth, in a world
facing huge social pressures through
the exodus from rural communities?
The GCARD3 process has given rise
to vital new multi-stakeholder actions,
each driven by the Partners concerned
and addressing key practical challenges
in achieving agriculture and food related
SDGs. These Alliances address:
1. Investments and capacities
for integrated innovation.
2. Re-thinking impact metrics for the SDGs.
3. Creating agricultural leaders of the
future and reforming education.
4. Sustaining the business of farming.
5. Re-appropriation of rural futures by
local actors.
Collective action is vital; no single
organization has the capacity to meet all
needs in the complex webs and value
chains of agri-food innovation around
the world and we are all inter-dependent.
Each of us holds a small part of the
picture required, but without the other
pieces we are incomplete.
The G20 has a key role to play here.
Three quarters of all investment and
much of the capacity in the sector
is in the G20 Nations, vital not only
for the G20 themselves, but also for
enabling sustainable development
around the world.
We call on the G20 Nations and their
institutions to now become actively
involved in these processes.
Through GCARD3, we have together set
a clear path forward, in which the future of
agriculture is driven by rural communities
themselves, led by national actions and
commitments, with knowledge shared
regionally, and processes supported
internationally.
We have agreed Collective Actions
that have been readily embraced by all
and which can be delivered in practice.
They address the need to link agricultural
science and society: turning agricultural
research and innovation into enterprise
and impact; ensuring that the resource-
poor farmers have a direct say in shaping
their own futures and are no longer the
left behind.
These actions will resonate around the
world, because they were formulated
through the collective voices of those
who care about the role of agri-food
research and innovation in ensuring
sustainable development for humanity.
Want to get involved in GFAR? Simply
enter your organization’s contacts at:
www.gfar.net/about-us/be-a-partner
There is no financial obligation or
legal commitment involved.
Contact us at: GFAR-Secretariat@fao.
org and see our website www.gfar.net
We look forward to working with you! ■
GCARD is recognized in the 2016 G20
Agriculture Ministers Meeting Communiqué
as an important mechanism for increasing
exchanges in agricultural innovations and
sharing relevant policy experience and
successful practices.
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