Introduction

The European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development, EFARD, was founded in 1997 in Montpellier. EFARD’s mission follows the principles of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), and contributes to GFAR’s Global Plan of Action, in partnership with the other regional fora. At present, EFARD is an informal and voluntary mechanism without its own financial resources, all activities are supported through specific initiatives or by voluntary work by the Chair and Steering Committee members.

EFARD serves as an umbrella for three major networks and coordination mechanisms on agricultural research for development in Europe, EIARD, ERA-ARD, and AGRINATURA, while SCAR (the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research) furthers the attainment of a coherent European Agricultural Research Agenda:

EIARD (The European Initiative for Agricultural Research for Development)

A donor policy coordination mechanism, dealing mainly with support to ARD at the global and regional levels

ERA-ARD (The Agricultural Research for Development dimension of the European Research Area)

Furthers the integration of national ARD programs into the European research area.

AGRINATURA (The European Alliance on agricultural knowledge for development)

Represents the main public providers of ARD and specialised education in Europe, with 35 universities and
research organisations from 18 countries.

 

Key achievements of EFARD in 2010 include the coordination of the European input to GCARD, providing a set of consultation based reports that outline European ARD priorities both in Europe and globally. With support from AGRINATURA, EFARD is coordinating the European side of the Platform for African – European Partnership on ARD (the PAEPARD project), an innovative mechanism intended to involve a wider range of stakeholders, including farmers, civil society and the private sector, in developing research proposals and increasing access of African institutions to European research funding.

A number of Civil Society Organisations’ platforms and coordination mechanisms, such as CONCORD, as well as farmers and private sector organisations have evolved in Europe with a focus on agriculture, food security and rural development. These organisations have recently shown a growing interest in ARD, as evidenced by increasing involvement with EFARD members on programmes such as PAEPARD.

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Download the 2010 EFARD bruchure here

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EFARD's website will be launched in 2011

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EFARD Contact:
David Radcliffe