Science and technology aid 450 million small farmers under UN plan

The world’s 450 million small farmers, responsible for the livelihoods of over 2 billion rural poor people, will gain greater access to scientific and technological advances and agricultural research under a United Nations-backed agreement signed today.

The agreement provides for the European Commission (EC) and the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to channel €67.5 million to finance research through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Half the funds are dedicated to Africa.

GCIAR is a strategic partnership whose 64 Members support 15 international centres, working in collaboration with hundreds of government and civil society organizations as well as private businesses around the world.

The new contribution brings the total funding assured by the EC through IFAD to the CGIAR system to €112.5 million, the largest contribution of a single donor to a specific programme through IFAD’s Supplementary Funds.

The programme seeks to develop small-holder agriculture and rural innovation, key to combating the current food price crisis, by investing in research. In particular it will support research on sustainable management of resources and ecosystems, enhancing scientific, technological and institutional innovations and policies.

It aims to boost active participation of low-income smallholder farmers in research programmes, taking into account remote and marginal areas, increasing exchange of information and experience, through scientific and producers’ networks and stakeholder platforms, and fostering collaborative innovation.