The ultimate goal of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research is to develop ¿an
efficient, effective and coherent global agricultural research system¿ (Declaration for
Global Partnership in Agricultural Research, October 1996). At the same time, the
signatories of this declaration recognized that the national agricultural research systems
(NARS) are essential building blocks of the emerging global research system.
This paper aims at illustrating that, in between the national and the global dimensions, a
regional1 approach is indispensable and significantly add value to the process of
globalization of agricultural research for development. It also highlights the proposed
agenda and the activities launched by GFAR to develop and strengthen regional and subregional
organizations, in particular in developing countries.