June 2000 Sprouting Up: GFAR IS NOT GOING FAR ENOUGH The triennial plenary of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) was held in Dresden, Germany on May 21-23. Set up in 1996 by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), GFAR is designed to bring together the various “stakeholders” of agricultural research, namely international agricultural research organisations, “Advanced Research Institutes” from the North, National Agricultural Research Systems from the South, donors, the private sector, NGOs and farmers’ organisations. The following are excerpts from a statement by Via Campesina, an umbrella organisation representing many farmers groups, regarding the meeting: Via Campesina expresses dismay that farmers were effectively excluded from participating in the debate. Firstly, representatives of peasants and small farmers were not invited as presenters in the plenary and sub-plenary sessions. Conference delegates only heard academics, theoreticians, and powerful institutions and corporations such as the World Bank, CGIAR and corporations. Secondly, the themes centred around technological solutions, ignoring the more fundamental problems that farmers face in their daily lives. Thirdly, the lack of translation in the small group sessions and sub-plenaries effectively silenced non-English speaking farmers. Moreover, many of the most critical themes were excluded. The conference did not address issues such as the problem of landlessness and the need for genuine agrarian reform, the displacement of peasants and subsequent lack of access to and control over natural resources; increased impoverishment of rural communities; the problem of Third World debt and resultant distortions in food production; the issue of Farmers’ Rights in relation to Intellectual Property Rights; and perhaps most importantly, the need for food sovereignty instead of just food security. The very basis of GFAR must be questioned. There is still a lack of recognition that industry-led research has been a major contributor to world hunger. A new model of agricultural research and rural development is needed which is farmer-driven rather than industry-led. Farmers must be involved as equal partners with research institutions, NGOs and government agencies in designing and implementing the research. It is the responsibility of GFAR to establish the necessary mechanisms to ensure the building of these important partnerships. Farmer-led research is based on traditional knowledge systems. These systems are the result of local realities and have time-tested qualities of environmental and cultural sustainability. On-farm research is being carried out by Via Campesina organisations around the world. Work is being done, for example, on land races by the Movimiento Sem Terra in Brazil; the Karnataka Farmers’ Association in India is working on organic and natural farming methods; the development of farmers’ varieties of seeds is being carried out by the KMP in the Philippines; and the Conseil National de Concertation et Cooperation des Ruraux in Senegal is involved in research on water management, livestock management and policy development. Resources must flow to support such research and development projects. Since GFAR acknowledges that farmers are key actors in food production, we expect that concerns raised here will be fully integrated in the GFAR’s final declaration and plan of action. The future participation of the Via Campesina in the GFAR depends on due recognition and integration of these concerns in the functioning, governance, and future work of the GFAR. Mr. Paroda, president of GFAR, stated that agreement was reached amongst all stakeholder groups on the Dresden Declaration of GFAR entitled "Towards a global system for agricultural research and development." This is not the case: there was no common position amongst the farmers groups present and Via Campesina did not sign the declaration. In order to make GFAR play a useful and active role it has to respect and act according to the following principles: * Agricultural research must be farmer driven. The GFAR should facilitate discussions on farmers’ initiatives to collaborate with indep endent and participatory researchers in which farmers define the research agenda. There must be space in the GFAR for farmer’s organisations and NGOs that work in rural areas. * GFAR should deal with a full range of agricultural, social and cultural issues related to food production as defined by farmers such as the following: access to land, water and genetic resources, income and market policies, education and training. * GFAR must be a forum of open dialogue where differences can be fully expressed and explored. Building a common vision takes time and commitment to work together. Rushing through this process, as we have seen, results in covering up existing and potential conflicts. * Patenting of plant and life forms must be prohibited. IRRI and CIMMYT recently announced their wish to patent their research with the aim of securing free access to the fruits of research and thus avoid appropriation by industry. However, the very aim of patenting has been precisely to limit such access. Research programs must be geared to enhancing the cultivation and conservation of genetic resources rather than leading to the destruction of these resources. For more information on GFAR, visit the following websites: 1) GFAR’s electronic communication hub for the long term: http://www.egfar.org 2) The official GFAR2000 site, where the papers are posted: http://www.fao.org/nars/gfar2000/index.htm 3) The NGO site for GFAR-related material: http://www.gfar2000-ngoactivities.de/