GCARD - 2012. In development!

Presentations

FORESIGHT OF THE CENTRAL ASIA AND SOUTH CAUCASUS REGION by cacaari

Photos

REFLECTIONS ON GCARD2

Participating in the global GCARD2 event, which brought together representatives from a wide range of organizations from more than 100 countries, was truly exciting. I genuinely felt like a member of a large community of researchers and policymakers, a community striving to address global food security issues.

The discussions were extremely rich, and everyone had the opportunity to contribute to the decisions made, to voice their ideas, and to share lessons learned. Food security issues were at the core of all the presentations and discussions. How to make progress, how to implement the GCARD Road Map in practice to meet the needs of smallholder farmers — these were the key questions that were debated and summarized in short notes. From my point of view, one of the most valuable outcomes of GCARD2 is the recognition of the role of partnerships and cooperation in implementing research programs at both regional and global levels. Actions addressing all aspects of food security, including sustainable biodiversity development, transfer of technologies, information, and knowledge, must be developed and aligned through collective foresight analysis to ensure a better understanding of future needs and to identify priority areas.

The public, private, and civil sectors must be closely linked to foster investment and deliver results in an efficient manner.

All the ideas and visions expressed regarding household nutrition factors, gender needs, creating an attractive environment to engage youth in agriculture, linking farmers to markets, and adapting to the impacts of climate change will be reflected in future national and global agricultural research programs to create sustainable and resilient agricultural production systems.

I would like to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to you for inviting me to GCARD 2012. Let me thank all of you for organizing this global event, for the invitation, and for the very dynamic discussions in Punta del Este.

Alvina Avagyan, General Director,
“Armenian Fruits”, Armenia