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International agricultural research centres
- The CGIAR Annual General Meeting 2005 (AGM05) brought together the world’s leading food and environmental scientists and civil society to strengthen and expand partnerships that stimulate economic growth in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The AGM and associated meetings were hosted in Marrakech, Morocco, December 5-9, 2005.
Information.
- INRA participates actively in this multilateral co-operation,
established by the international system, which aims at bringing
together dispersed competence: multilateral co-operation thus provides
international relations with a specific added value, complementary to bilateral
activities.
INRA is a major and valued partner of some of the 16
International Centres for Agricultural Research which are part of the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR was
set up in 1971. Sponsored by the FAO, the World Bank and the United Nations
Development Progamme, it is financed by an informal association of 57 donors. The
major goal of the CGIAR is the use of agricultural research to promote food
safety in view of sustainable development, by integrating the necessary notions
of environmental protection and natural resources which constitute the basic
assets for development in rural areas.
The research programmes with the
international centres are the result of a dialogue between French research
organisations (CIRAD, INRA, IRD, CEMAGREF) and the Ministries of Agriculture and
Fisheries, Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Higher Education, Research and
Technology. The Commission for International Agricultural Research, set up with
this goal in 1978, defines the scientific priorities in conformity with the
expectations of the partners of the world system.
France has scientific lines
of action which include: management of natural resources (integrated production
and post-harvest, environment-society interaction, agro-ecology, water and soil
conservation), biotechnologies and genetic resource management.
In this
context, INRA has signed, along with the CIRAD and the IRD, framework agreements
with 12 of the 16 centres involved in the projects with France. INRA is
represented by the MRI at the meetings between the French research organisations
and the General Directorates of the Centres when its research teams are involved
in the scientific projects.
Moreover, certain INRA researchers involved in
this type of co-operation are taking part in scientific and strategic analyses
of medium-term plans conveyed by the centres to the donor countries such as
France (which contributed in 1998 2,71 million Euros to the general budget as
well as specific contributions).
The MRI has a specific budget for these
types of partnerships which are ready to be developed and acknowledged. It is the
first French partner of ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural
Research in Dry Areas, Alep, Syria) and of CIP (Centro Internacional de
la Papa, Lima, Peru) and also has co-operation agreements with the
CIMMYT, CIAT and IRRI. With the other centres, the
Institute has more episodic relations for the moment.
Relations with the FAO
France is represented at the FAO
by an Ambassador, (Permanent Representative) and a team of scientific advisors
(assistant Permanent Representatives). The relations between INRA and the FAO
are situated at two very different levels:
- institutional relations with
INRA
- individual relations and field relations between INRA scientists and
the FAO.
Institutional relations
- A co-operation agreement was
signed between the two organisations on the 26 September 2000, for a duration of
3 years. This document defines a general framework for the development of
scientific collaboration which concerns essentially:
- Mutual information on
programmes and activities
- The preparation of studies and the execution of
research and development co-operation projects; the agreement explicitly
anticipates the possibility of sharing staff and experimental and scientific
resources. INRA (MRI) delegates very regularly one of its staff-members to
participate in the French delegation (under the leadership of the SGCI, General
Secretariat of the Interministerial Committee for Agriculture and Food) in the
principal meetings marking the activities of the FAO:
- The Conference, the supreme organ,
which brings together every second year the 183 member States (as well as the
European Commission), in particular to elect the Board of the
organisation and the Director General, to decide on the budget, elaborate
the work programme, etc.
Board
meetings
Board committees (products,
fisheries, forests, agriculture, world food safety) which help the Board.
Regional conferences, particularly
European.
Intergovernmental groups
specialised in a given field (eg: cereals, banana, rice, etc.).
Finally,
INRA accommodates the Head of Information of the Regional Office of the FAO for
Europe in its MRI premises.
Relations with the OECD (Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development)
The OECD is a multilateral intergovernmental organisation of 30
countries, politically democratic and with a market economy. It develops
collaborations with more than 70 other countries, with NGOs and with civil
society. The work of the OECD covers all the economic and social fields, from
macroeconomics to exchanges, education, development and science and innovation.
Their work sets out to encourage the good governing of the public and private
sectors. With this aim, the OECD creates instruments adopted internationally,
decisions and recommendations to promote the multilateral agreements which are
necessary to guarantee the progress of nations in a world economy.
The
Programme : Biological Resources in Agriculture has been adopted for the
2005 to 2009 period and sets out 3 themes :
- Theme I: The Natural Resources
Challenge
- Theme 2: Sustainability In Practice
- Theme 3: The Food
Chain.
See also OECD Grants
Contact: Caroline Keogh (caroline.keogh@oecd.org)
Programme
Secretary, Co-operative Research Programme on Biological Resource Management for
Sustainable Agricultural Systems
Tel: (33-1) 45 24 90 22
Fax: (33-1) 44 30
61 22
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