GFAR-2000 CONFERENCE OUTPUTS

  1. Dresden Declarations
    In GFAR 2000, stakeholders gather to agree on a Global Vision and a common framework for action that will facilitate the cooperation among them. These two documents are the:
    • Dresden Declaration: Towards a Global System for Agricultural Research for Development ()
    • Dresden Declaration on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculure ()

    N.B. Dresden Declaration of NGOs and Farmers’ Organizations. 21 May 2000, Dresden, Germany was prepared at the NGO/SFO Conference "Food for All: Farmers First in Research", 19-20 May 2000


  2. Case Studies of Successful Research Partnerships
    One of the main functions of GFAR is the promotion of research partnerships among various stakeholders. During the GFAR 2000 Conference, 52 cases of successful research partnerships, which were prepared based on a set of guidelines identified by the GFAR-2000 organizers to facilitate comparison, were analyzed. Factors contributing to the success of these research partnerships, as well as constraints limiting their effectiveness, were identified. These cases fall under four categories, which corresponds to the four priority thematic concerns of the Global Forum:
    • Genetic Resources Management and Biotechnology
    • Natural Resources Management and Agro-ecology
    • International Cooperation on Commodity Chains
    • Policy Management and Institutional Development

  3. New Innovative Research Partnership Proposals
    The GFAR 2000 Conference served as a project marketplace where stakeholders discussed among themselves opportunities for collaboration and how partnership proposals that respond to such opportunities can be forged. Using a set of criteria that were discussed and adopted by GFAR stakeholders for this purpose, 46 proposals for research partnerships were presented in the GFAR 2000 Conference. GFAR stakeholders prepared and developed these new and innovative research partnership proposals in the four priority areas for cooperation in agricultural research for development (ARD). The GFAR Secretariat will be facilitating the further development of these initiatives in coordination with interested stakeholders, but the operationalization and implementation of each partnership proposal is a responsibility of interested partners.
    • Genetic Resources Management and Biotechnology
    • Natural Resources Management and Agro-ecology
    • International Cooperation on Commodity Chains
    • Policy Management and Institutional Development

  4. Main Papers presented and Conclusions reached in the Thematic Areas


    1. Promotion of Innovative Research Partnerships
      Five papers presented different perspectives on different types of research partnerships and the functions they play:
      1. International Cooperation for the Public Good: Agricultural Research in the New Century (by Ismail Serageldin, CGIAR)
      2. A NARS Perspective on Research Partnerships: The EMBRAPA Experience (by Alberto Duque Portugal, EMBRAPA)
      3. Public - Private Partnership: Building a Common Understanding (by Klaus Leisinger, Novartis Foundation)
      4. Research Partnerships in Knowledge Management for Local Innovations (by Ann Waters-Bayer, Forum Umwelt & Entwicklung)
      5. Proposed GFAR Strategy for Research Partnership (by Henri Rouillé d'Orfeuil, GFAR Steering Committee)

    2. Strengthening Partnerships in GRM and Biotechnology
      1. Keynote Paper:
        • GRM and Biotechnology (by Robert Herdt, Rockefeller Foundation)
      2. Background Papers:
        • Key Strategic Issues on Genetic Resource Management: A Concept Paper ()
        • GFAR and Biotechnology Issues ()
      3. Report of the Working Groups:
        • Working Group 1: Genetic Resources Management
        • Working Group 2: Biotechnology

    3. Strengthening Partnerships in NRM and Agro-ecology
      1. Keynote Paper:
        • Natural Resources and Agro-ecology: Research Challenges and Research Partnerships (by Gill Shepherd, ODI)
      2. Background Paper:
        • NRM and Agroecology in GFAR ()
      3. Report of the Working Groups:
        • Working Group 3: Strategic Research Issues in NRM & Agro-ecology
        • Working Group 4: NRM & Agro-ecology: Managing Knowledge for Local Innovation

    4. Strengthening Partnerships in Commodity Chains
      1. Keynote Paper:
        • International Cooperation on Commodity Chains (by Steve Sonka, National Soybean Research Laboratory, USA)
      2. Background Paper:
        • International Cooperation on Commodity Chains ()
      3. Report of the Working Groups:
        • Working Group 5: Under-utilized and Orphan commodities
        • Working Group 6: Global commodity chains

    5. Strengthening Partnerships in Policy Management and Institutional Development
      1. Keynote Paper:
        • Policy Management and Institutional Development (by Per Pinstrup-Andersen, IFPRI)
      2. Background Paper:
        • Policy Management and Institutional Development: Suggested Areas of Opportunity for Research Partnerships ()
      3. Report of the Working Groups:
        • Working Group 7: Policy Environment for Agricultural and Rural Development
        • Working Group 8: R &D Policies and Institutions for a Knowledge Agriculture

  5. Facilitating Information and Knowledge Flows among Stakeholders
    In developing the Global Forum and the active interaction among all stakeholders of ARD in the globalized world of today, intensive use is being made of e-mail and of EGFAR (the Electronic Global Forum on Agricultural Research) as a communication platform among stakeholders. During the GFAR 2000 Conference, a meeting of the five emerging Regional Agricultural Information Systems (RAIS) that are related to the Regional Fora (AARINENA, FORAGRO, FARA, APAARI and EIARD-InfoSys) was held as a special event in GFAR-2000 to discuss information and knowledge flows among stakeholders. The output of this special session is a follow-up to the consultation made on the topic in 1999. In furthering this process, the five RAIS jointly established an electronic discussion group that will operate through EGFAR, in order to exchange continuously ideas and experiences among them, as a way of supporting through South/South and North/South cooperation (among Regional/Sub-regional Fora) the further development of the RAIS. This electronic discussion group is starting to operate as a way of exchanging experiences and of real-time consultation and advise among them. On the basis of the meeting they had in GFAR-2000, the five RAIS are now jointly formulating a project to develop what they refer to as an Information Partnership among the RAIS of the RF/SRF.
    1. Minutes of the Meeting on Regional Agricultural Information Systems (RAIS)
    2. Proposal for Partnership among Regional Agricultural Information Systems
    3. Partnership among Regional Agricultural Information Systems: The RAIS Electronic Forum

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