2 September 2009

Contribute to shaping the future of agriculture!

Its time to register for the GCARD 2010 regional e-consultations

Join the regional electronic consultations happening now! The consultations give you an opportunity to debate and build on from the reviews of current policies and research needs identified in your region, and to put forward your point of view.

Each region will be discussing the answers to questions such as:

• What agricultural research does your region need to lessen poverty and boost development?
• What kinds of mechanisms and partnerships are needed to make this happen?
• What is preventing the poor from benefitting more from agricultural research?

Check the available regional reviews at: http://gcardblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/check-now-dates-and-background-readings-for-regional-e-consultations/      

Your input is vitally important. We want to hear from all those connected with agricultural and rural development in any way. Your input will be taken on board in putting together the regional and global action plans for transforming agricultural research.

The electronic consultations will be open to everyone. Depending on the region, they will be in English, French, Russian or Spanish. You can join in the consultation in your region by registering through the links listed below. Summaries of consultations in the other regions will be posted twice a week so that you can follow these too. Your contribution could lead to an invitation to come to Montpellier in March 2010 to take part in GCARD in person.

Share your experiences and your lessons learned
• How have new knowledge or technologies created development impact?
• What made this happen?
• What other factors beyond research were responsible for its success?
• What practical problems were overcome to achieve this?

Schedule for the electronic consultations
The electronic consultations will take place over two-and-a-half weeks in September 2009 (exact dates for each region can be found below). The e-consultations will be structured as follows:  

•  Week 1 Introductions and sharing of experiences and views on the regional impact of agricultural innovation on development.
•  Week 2 Discussion on the key issues identified from the regional reviews.
•  Week 3 Conclusions towards the face-to-face meetings.

When are the dates for the regional consultations? 

Asia Pacific (1-20 September)
http://www.egfar.org/egfar/website/gcard/regional-consultations/ap/participate 

Central Asia and Caucasus (3-23 September)
http://www.egfar.org/egfar/website/gcard/regional-consultations/cac/participate

Europe (2-21 September)
http://www.egfar.org/egfar/website/gcard/regional-consultations/eu/participate  

West Asia and North Africa (2-24 September)
http://www.egfar.org/egfar/website/gcard/regional-consultations/wana/participate

Latin America and the Caribbean (14-30 September)
http://www.iica.org.uy/online/verinforme.asp?id=2497

Sub-Saharan Africa: (7-23 September)
http://dgroups.org/groups/fara-net/GCARD-Africa

How can I get involved?

Getting involved is easy. Simply click on the regional e-consultation of your choice to register. The regional e-consultations are starting NOW, so dont forget to register!

To watch the above video of Simone Staiger, coordinator for the GCARD 2010 regional e-consultations, please click here. To see the video with subtitles in other languages, please click here.