ERA-ARD

www.era-ard.org

Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) plays a critical role in fighting poverty and hunger and in supporting more rapid and sustainable development in the poorest countries of the world. Most developing countries rely on agriculture as the engine for their economic growth, and more than 70% of the poor live in rural areas. In Europe, agriculture and food chains are increasingly confronted with challenges such as food safety, animal health and welfare, agro-biodiversity which clearly have a global dimension.

For historical, socio-economic and cultural reasons, European Member States have developed a unique field-based scientific expertise in ARD, and support ARD directly or indirectly through their bilateral and multilateral programmes. With the European Commission, the Member States also contribute to the funding of the international agricultural research centres of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), providing more than 140 million euros per year. The European Commission also supports ARD through its development assistance programmes, and under the international dimension of the 6^th RTD Framework Programme.

In Member States, the responsibility for ARD programme planning and funding is often dispersed and shared between different ministries, public institutions and/or foundations. This means that there are substantial potential efficiency gains from enhanced cooperation and coordination. This project fulfils an urgent need to better understand how ARD programmes are identified, selected, designed, funded and managed at the national level. These mapping exercises will facilitate the construction of a shared vision and a strategic agenda on ARD in Europe. Innovative approaches and institutional arrangements will then be explored and used to implement joint and, during the second half of the project, transnational ARD activities.

The expected benefits for Europe will be a greater contribution towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, through an increase in the effectiveness and efficiency of its research for development; the development of a more coherent European ARD offer; facilitated access to European ARD expertise; and the strengthening of Europe’s contribution to, and impact on, regional and global ARD systems.