News
Season’s Greetings and GCARD 2
Date: 2011-12-28 12:01:00
Dear Dr Tashmatov,
The year 2011 is approaching its end, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your excellent cooperation and support that allowed us to move forward in reshaping the future of agriculture to improve the livelihoods of poor smallholder farmers.
As you are aware, we will be organizing the second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD 2) in Punta del Este, Uruguay from 29 October to 1 November 2012. The first GCARD, held in March 2010 in Montpellier, France, was a ground-breaking and highly successful international event, which brought together around 1000 participants from all sectors concerned with the role of agricultural research and knowledge as vital tools in international development. Participants rated the conference very highly for its content, discussion and importance and for the new partnerships that it has enabled.
The major outcome of the GCARD 2010, the GCARD Roadmap, provides a clear path forward for all involved in agricultural research for development (AR4D), to transform and strengthen AR4D Systems globally, recognizing clearly that “business as usual” is no longer an option. The Roadmap and GFAR’s role in facilitating these transformations at all levels have now been directly welcomed by Agriculture Ministers of the G20 in their June 2011 Declaration: “Action plan on food price volatility and agriculture”. The G20 Conference on Agricultural Research for Development, held in Montpellier on 12-13 September 2011, recognized the important role of GCARD in addressing the enormous challenges facing today AR4D, and assured of its support.
The GCARD is becoming a Prime Meeting on Agriculture at the Global Level. The GCARD Roadmap presents a framework for action, agreed among all involved, from farmers, to civil society, the private sector and national and international research and development institutions. Its core focus is strengthening and reorienting the systems by which we innovate and share knowledge in agriculture, so that these are directly driven by desired development impacts, meet the many needs of resource-poor farmers in particular and ensure that agricultural research leads effectively to increased food security, sustainably increased agricultural production and productivity, and improved rural incomes.
Our focus now shifts from what needs to be done to how do we make it happen. The GCARD2 will focus on practical ways to improve foresight and partnership for innovation and impact on small-holder livelihoods’. With this, the Conference provides an excellent platform to build cooperation around key forward-looking agendas and plan joint international actions among all stakeholders in concrete research and development programs that can lead through to substantive impacts.
I am writing to you to request your kind support in raising awareness among policy-makers about the GFAR RoadMap and the upcoming GCARD 2. I would also appreciate your encouraging active participation of all AR4D stakeholders and your Forum’s members in the e-consultations in preparation of GCARD 2012 that will start soon. This will help ensure all AR4D stakeholders’ and most importantly, the policy-makers’, commitments to the GCARD process and implementation of the RoadMap.
I also hope that where ever possible, the policy-makers will be willing to help in co-sponsoring the GCARD 2 and/or in catalyzing the regional financial institutions to provide support to the participants from their region.
I trust you have received by now the needed number of copies of the RoadMap. Please do let us know in case if you would like to have more. For your easy reference and distribution to your Forum’s members and senior policy makers. kindly use the following link to access the electronic versions of the RoadMap in various languages: http://gcardblog.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/gcard-roadmap-translations/. I also attach the first flyer of the Conference for your further information.
The success of the GCARD 2 will largely depend on your support, and I look forward to your active involvement in the preparation process.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very happy and prosperous New Year 2012.
Sincerely yours,
Prof. Monty Jones
Chair, GFAR
Regional Brainstorm meeting for Transforming and Strengthening of Agricultural Research and Innovation Systems in Central Asia and Caucasus
Tashkent, 29-30 November, 2011
Samarqand, 01-03 December, 2011
CACAARI meeting, Tashkent. 2008. more» 
