During the 24. - 28. of March, FAO has opened its doors once again for the international community. In the spirit of "Promoting Diversity for Global Food Security and Nutrition," the 20th session focussed on species and genetic diversity in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. At the meeting, delegates from around the world focused in particular on the sustainable use and conservation of plant, animal, forest, and aquatic genetic resources, as well as microorganisms and invertebrates.
Between the sessions, special attention was given to the publication of the new State of the World Reports on plant and forest genetic resources. They represent two significant milestones in the Commission's work. The presentations were recorded and can be viewed here: Plant; Forest.
A more detailed summary of the results can be found here in the news section.
All information about the Commission meeting and the working papers are available on the FAO Commission website: www.fao.org/cgrfa/cgrfa-20/en
The Commission for Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the central international coordination and negotiating body for biological diversity for food and agriculture. Established in 1983 for the coordination of plant genetic resources, the Commission has been responsible since 1995 for the genetic resources of crops, livestock, forest plants, aquatic genetic resources, microorganisms and invertebrates. Important cross-cutting issues are access to genetic resources and equitable benefit sharing, climate change, monitoring and indicators, and ecosystem approaches.
In its multi-year programme of work on biological diversity for food and agriculture (MYPOW), CGRFA has set goals and milestones. The BMLEH participates in the implementation of the MYPOW with various projects.
The 179 CGRFA member states meet every two years in plenary session to coordinate global activities for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and genetic resources for food and agriculture. At the same time, CGRFA advises other FAO bodies on these issues and coordinates with other international bodies for biodiversity, such as the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Commission has set up 5 Intergovernmental technical working groups (ITWG):
and two expert groups on:
which meet alternately to the plenary every 2 years.
