Monday, July 16, 2012

FAO and CGIAR join research


The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has reached agreement with CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) Consortium to collaborate more closely in order to increase the effectiveness and impact of their work.

They have pledged to establish “a strong and long-lasting collaborative effort building on the different institutional strengths of both organizations”.

The CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers integrates and coordinates agricultural research programs of 15 centres around the world.

The Consortium, together with its financing arm, the CGIAR Fund, was established in 2010 in a reform of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, a worldwide network of agricultural research centres created four decades earlier.

One particular area of cooperation involves making new breakthroughs and technologies developed by CGIAR and others available to small-scale farmers.  

CGIAR research in 2010 accounted for $673 million or just over 10 percent of the $5.1 billion spent worldwide on agricultural research for development.
The benefits are estimated to be billions of dollars, and it is estimated that one dollar invested in CGIAR research yields about nine dollars in increased productivity in developing countries.

CGIAR research is funded by more than 25 nations and several international organizations and NGOs (non-government organizations).

It is aimed at reducing rural poverty, increasing food security, improving human health and nutrition, and ensuring the more sustainable management of natural resources.