Regional and international conferences:
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The
First International Conference on Biotechnology
An
International Conference on Biotechnology Applications for the Arid Region was
held at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) from 9-11 April
2001. Distinguished Scientist and Academics from different regions of the world
participated and presented seven keynote lectures, twenty five invited lectures
and thirty three posters covering Agricultural, Environment and Food
Biotechnologies as well as Bio safety/Bioethics issues and Regional Activities
related to Biotechnology. A large number of local scientists and academics as
well as researchers from government ministries and agencies participated in the
conference.
The conference contributed to the understanding of the Science of
Biotechnology and its prospects and promises for the betterment of life quality
for the world in general and for the arid semi arid regions in particular. It
was acknowledged that Biotechnology is the most crucial branch of science in the
new millennium as it has direct impact on agriculture, environment and health
systems of this planet.
This conference, the largest and the first of its kind in this region
created a favorable climate and understanding for the needs and potential of
Biotechnology for the socio-economic well being of the arid region. The
conference acknowledged that although the affluent nations nursed and developed
the Biotechnology, it is the developing countries including the countries of
arid region whose hungry, sick and poor people would benefit the most from this
novel technology. The great challenge for the scientists, academics and policy
planners is how to adapt and implement the knowledge of Biotechnology. In this
regard the forum provided by this conference allowed open and in-depth
discussions on how to solve or at least minimize the unique problems of drought,
temperature extremes, salinity, desertification and insect pests as well as
livestock and plant diseases which are prevalent in this region and are the
major deterrent for sustainable agricultural and industrial development.
High population growth rate in many of the arid region countries coupled
with poor food resources is a further aggravation of the problem.
The process of adapting and implementing Biotechnologies for the arid
region countries would require a thorough and careful examinations of the
available technologies in relation to existing facilities and infrastructure as
well as possible constrains which may hinder or slow the technology transfer
from developed to developing and under developed countries. Additionally, due
consideration must be given to the ethical issues including: social, economic,
moral and religious aspects of certain biotechnologies before their
implementation. Likewise strict Bio-safety measures should be practiced in order
to avoid the potential side effects. Risk assessment of the products of
biotechnology is warranted before their release to the consumers. It was also
felt that at this stage, countries of the Arid zone should formulate national
Bio-safety and Bioethics committees which would ensure an acceptable and ethical
approach to implement biotechnologies for the benefit of the society.
To start, the countries of arid regions must set up national task force
to develop national plan of action in Biotechnology. During the course of the
conference it was realized that a great majority of the Arid region countries
have R and D programs in Biotechnology.
The conference provided evidence that a great majority of countries of
arid region is aware of the benefits and prospects of Biotechnology and have
established biotechnology research and academic facilities. However, most of
them have (a) inadequate funding (b) poor human resources (lack of trained
manpower) and (c) limited access to information.
Thus it is recommended that the governments in the region should
cooperate and collaborate with international and regional organizations as well
as research institutes for a speedy and effective technology transfer. The
largest and key areas where the application of biotechnologies will be of
maximum benefit were identified as: Agriculture, Environments and Food.
GFAR/NARS
Meetings in Durban
The GFAR meetings that took place on 19-24th May 2001 in Durban during MTM-2001 were very productive. In both the GFAR-SC and the NARS-SSC significant progress was made in discussing the emerging activities of GFAR and in setting its course for the next three years. The GFAR Donor Support Group also reconfirmed its support to GFAR and to the budget forecast for the first triennium. The main steps that were taken in the three meetings -GFAR Steering Committee, NARS Sub-Committee, GFAR Donor Support Group- may be summarized as follows:
1) The GFAR Steering Committee and the GFAR Donor Support Group approved the proposal of signing a Multi-Donor Agreement with FAO for the support of GFAR. This is a very important step forward, since it does make a very substantial contribution to strengthening the formal institutional basis of GFAR.
2) In Durban, the GFAR Secretariat received approval of the first "GFAR Business Plan and Program of Work for the Period 2001-2003 " and the revised "GFAR Charter".
3) The group of donors that support GFAR confirmed their commitment to continuing the support to GFAR.
4) The CGIAR has adopted a once-a-year meeting pattern (ICW), canceling the practice of a full MTM. In the case of GFAR, the Steering Committee opted for the continuation of two meetings per year, at least until the next General Conference of GFAR that will take place in 2003.
5) From the point of view of GFAR programs, and thus of the implementation of the Program of Work 2001-2003, two main elements were highlighted. The first one is the great dynamics that the regional priority-setting function has taken, which is an activity that is being jointly carried out with the TAC Secretariat, with CG international centers and with the various Regional/Sub-regional Fora. A timetable of regional/sub-regional meetings was discussed and approved for the next 8 months, in APAARI, in FARA, in AARINENA, in CAC and in FORAGRO. This is being carried out in very close collaboration with the international centers of the CGIAR located in each region. In the second major function of GFAR, which is that of facilitating research partnerships, the main step forward was the approval of the strategy for facilitating the development of Global R&D Programs in ARD, on the basis of the Guidelines that were presented and adopted at the GFAR-SC Durban Meeting.
6) An example of the interaction among Regional Fora was highlighted, which is that of the interaction between the European Forum on Agricultural Research (EFARD) and the other Regional Fora. EFARD has been formally requested by the EC to facilitate the development of the "European Research Area (ERA)" on Agricultural Research, within the framework of the new 6th Framework Program. This has led to a very interesting dialogue between EFARD and the Regional Fora that the GFAR Secretariat is coordinating, with the purpose of developing a commonly agreed to research agenda that will determine the priorities of the 6th Framework Program of the EC.
At the behest of several
stakeholders, and within the ambit of GFAR, IFAD has agreed to host a workshop
to inform the above processes relating to Programs of a Global Nature (PGN). Mr.
Paroda, Chairman of GFAR, has extended a cordial invitation for up to 3
representatives from AARINENA stakeholder constituency with knowledge and
experience of networking and of global initiatives, to attend this technical
workshop. Dr. Mohamad Roozitalab (Iran) and Dr. Abd El Nabey Fardous (Jordan)
represented AARINENA in the above meeting. The workshop
was an important steppingstone in the ongoing dialogue among a growing number of
stakeholders to learn about how to build stronger partnerships in agricultural
research and development. Its main
success lay in the capacity of the participants to raise critical questions and
to propose and articulate ways to address them.
The
workshop was articulated around two main themes:
(i) stakeholders’ involvement; and (ii) process and mechanisms to
formulate and manage GPPs, together with the underlying questions of funding
strategies and complementarity’s with other global initiatives, in particular
the «Challenge Programmes» (CPs) launched by the CGIAR.
Case studies were identified to illustrate different types and levels of
partnerships on different research themes.
It
was also considered important to seek close coordination with other
regional/global initiatives that are presently developing in international
agricultural research, such as the ongoing process of the emergence of an European
Research Area in Agricultural Research for Development (ERA-ARD),
that was presented and discussed at the Rome Workshop.
The topics that are emerging from the ERA‑ARD process are closely
related to the topics of the emerging GPPs that are presently being developed by
stakeholders in the context of GFAR.
The
full proceedings of the workshop, including the text of all case studies and
presentations and summaries of the discussions, will be soon accessible through
the GFAR website (http://www.egfar.org) and will be widely distributed through
CD-ROMs.
GFAR/NARS
meetings in Washington DC
The GFAR-SC and NARS-SC Meetings were held in Washington D.C. on 27-28th October 2001. The main part of the GFAR-SC and NARS-SC agendas were structured around a presentation and discussion of the main activities that stakeholders are carrying out in implementing the Programme of Work. The President of AARINENA, Dr. Mustafa Yaghi, and Dr. Roozitalab participated in the above meeting.
The
main conclusions and recommendations were pointing the two modes of operation of
Global Collaboration in Agricultural Research: a) Global Partnership Programs
(GPP), GFAR approved in Dresden meeting May 2000 and b) The Challenge Program
(CP), CGIAR described in Durban meeting May 2001. These modes play different but
highly complementary role in the global scientific community of ARD. It was
recommended that other areas in GFAR Business Plan and Program of Work/
2001-2003 need more attention such as Advocacy for ARD and Key strategic topics
of agricultural research. It was agreed to hold the GFAR Conference in
Sub-Sahara Africa in conjunction with the FARA General Conference in 2003. The
tentative themes for this meeting include: (a) " Linking research to rural
innovation, and development" and (b) "from regional priorities to
global action".
The
important decisions of the General meeting of CGIAR were a) Establishment of
Science Council for CGIAR (TAC Transformation); b) Establishment of CGIAR System
Office; c) Establishment of Executive Council for CGIAR with non-rotating and
rotating members which include one representative from CWANA Region; and d)
Formulation and Implementation of challenge programs (CP) based on regional
priorities and bottom-up approach.
Concerning the 10 CP proposed by AARINENA in the fast tracking process, only 3 would be selected and implemented through seeking the contributions and recommendations of the regional fora. The contribution of AARINENA would be to comment and make suggestions about the proposals with regard to the priorities of the CWANA.