Biotech Updates

CGIAR Issues Call to Action for Global Leaders Attending Rio+20 Meet

June 22, 2012

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the world's largest publicly-funded research body, has outlined a seven-point plan on how global farm and development research can contribute to a more sustainable, food-secure future.

The seven point plan calls for: adoption of cross-sectoral approaches to facilitate broader partnerships, coordinated regulatory frameworks, and appropriate economic incentives; adoption of measures to address the unequal sharing of natural resources and their benefits through improved governance and technology dissemination; supporting of global knowledge sharing systems, actions to support the wide range of options currently available to restore and better manage degraded environments and ecosystems; measures to strengthen and support local food production groups, livestock herders, and smallholder farmers; endorsement of full implementation of the ITPGRFA (International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture) and actors to make a clear commitment to sustainable agricultural systems that prioritize food and nutrition security to lessen the need for emergency responses.

To read the statement in full, go to http://www.iita.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=7aa0cf59-cf37-41aa-a55e-a72f4f681b0c&groupId=25357.