Highlights and images for 5 April 2016

3rd Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD3) No One Left Behind: Agri–food Innovation and Research for a Sustainable World

Summary

The 3rd Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD3) formally opened on Tuesday evening, 5 April 2016, at the Birchwood Hotel and O.R. Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg, South Africa. Addressing the overall theme of ‘No One Left Behind; Agri–food Innovation and Research for a Sustainable World,’ the Conference is part of a two-year consultative process to build collective actions to transform and strengthen agricultural research and innovation systems in line with the vision developed through GCARD1 and expressed as joint initiatives among GCARD2 stakeholders. GCARD3 is co-organized by CGIAR and the Global Forum of Agricultural Research (GFAR) and hosted by the Agricultural Research Centre (ARC), South Africa.

In the GCARD3 official opening, welcoming delegates, Shadrack Moephuli, President and CEO, ARC, noted the growing challenge of sustaining agricultural production and reducing poverty and hunger at a time of economic downturns and climatic variations. He called on the agricultural research for development (AR4D) community to tackle chronic hunger and malnutrition and contribute to sustainable agricultural production. Mortimer Mannya, Acting Director-General, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, South Africa, speaking on behalf of Minister Senzeni Zokwana, highlighted South Africa’s target of creating at least one million agricultural jobs and increasing the share of smallholder producers, noting the importance of evidence-based research and smart and innovative solutions.

Juan Lucas Restrepo, Chair, GFAR Steering Committee, noted that GFAR’s first partner assembly on Tuesday had brought together approximately 100 partners to update GFAR’s charter. He encouraged delegates to view GCARD as a process that addresses new issues and includes voices from the different regions, requiring ongoing discussion.

Martin Kropff, Director-General, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, emphasized the challenges of natural resource depletion, water scarcity, climate change, and food insecurity and noted that GCARD3 would help to advance the 16 CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs).

In his keynote address, Hamady Diop, Head, Fisheries and Aquaculture Program, NEPAD Agency, highlighted the need to: ensure research is aligned with and responsive to demand; reset national and global priorities after adoption of major sustainable development agreements in 2015; and take note of changes in key development parameters, including instability of financial markets and the growth of information and communications technology. He identified agriculture and climate change, enhancing water productivity, and biofuels as research priorities for Africa and stressed the importance of empowering national agricultural research systems and the role of farmers and other practitioners in agricultural research.

In her keynote address, Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Chief Executive, Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), highlighted climate change and malnutrition as two "wicked problems" facing the AR4D community. She lauded the work done by the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) and the Africa CSA Alliance, which aims to introduce CSA to six million farming households by 2030, as encouraging examples of practical research. Warning that if current rates of child stunting in Africa continue it will affect the intellectual capacity of future generations, Sibanda urged GCARD3 stakeholders to ensure that “agriculture delivers healthy diets.”

Discussion will continue on Wednesday morning when, following an opening plenary GCARD3, participants will convene in five parallel discussion sessions to develop key messages for inclusion in the GCARD3 Outcome Statement.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage from GCARD3. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has produced a summary report from GCARD3, which is available in HTML and PDF formats.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
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