The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers have agreed to collaborate more closely in order to increase the effectiveness and impact of their work.
According to a declaration of intent, signed in Rome on 12 July by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and Carlos Pérez del Castillo, CGIAR Consortium Board Chair, FAO and CGIAR will implement joint projects and programmes under a future framework agreement.
The two organisations pledged to establish a strong and long-lasting collaborative effort building on the different institutional strengths at their disposal. One particular area of cooperation involves making new breakthroughs and technologies developed by CGIAR and others available to small-scale farmers.
CGIAR research is funded by more than 25 nations and several international organisations and NGOs. It is aimed at reducing rural poverty, increasing food security, improving human health and nutrition, and ensuring the more sustainable management of natural resources.
The CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers integrates and coordinates agricultural research programmes in 15 centres across 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 (CGIAR). The worldwide network of agricultural research centres was created in 1971.
