This page contains the archive of all SARD-related news items published for the months of October through December 2005, with the most recent at the top. Useful links are given at the end of each item and documentary resources are listed in the right sidebar.

For news from SARD-Mountain for 2005, go to: http://www.fao.org/sard/en/sardm/news/2005/index.html

December 2005

Tribute to Dr Alexander Daniel, 21 December 2005, Maharashtra, India. The SARD Initiative is very sad to announce the passing of Dr. Alexander Daniel, a SARD Initiative stakeholder who throughout his life was dedicated to the causes of environmental protection, organic agriculture and rural development. The Institute for Integrated Rural Development, which he founded in 1987, will continue to work towards achieving his lifelong mission of bringing prosperity to India through the development of villages and environmental protection.

For more information about the institute founded by Dr. Alexander Daniel, go to: and Institute for Integrated Rural Development

SARD Initiative Newsletter no. 1, December 2005. The first issue of the SARD Initiative Newsletter was released to electronic subscribers on 20 December 2005 and is now available online. This issue introduces the SARD Initiative and the Italian-funded Sustainable Development Facility project, which is aimed at supporting the sustainability and impacts of FAO field projects.

The SARD Initiative is grateful to the Government of Italy for financial and technical support provided to develop the concept and design the template for this newsletter.

To subscribe, or to submit a contribution for the next issue, contact the newsletter editor at SARD-Initiative@fao.org

For more information about the Sustainable Development Facility, go to: Sustainable Development Facility (under development)
(Contributed by SARD INITIATIVE)

November 2005

Asian Ngo Coalition Training Programme - Sustainable Agriculture: A Viable Alternative for Resource Poor Farmers, 6-25 November 2005, Quezon City, Philippines. This 3-week training programme, organized by Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) covered topics such as issues and trends facing agriculture; sustainable agriculture concepts, principles, practices and models; policy issues and tools for mainstreaming sustainable agriculture; marketing and certification; and field exposure to Philippine rural communities practicing sustainable agriculture.. This was the second module of a three-year series on “Building Capacities of Asian NGOs in Poverty Eradication through Community Action,” organized with major funding support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Interested parties from non-government organizations, farmers’ groups and government agencies attended.

For more information about ANGOC and the ANGOC Training Programme on Sustainable Agriculture: A Viable Alternative for Resource Poor Farmers, go to: www.angoc.ngo.ph and to the Third Country Training Program

18th International Farming Systems Association (IFSA) Symposium and Global Learning Opportunity (GLO), 31 October-4 November 2005, Rome, Italy. The International Farming System Association (IFSA) Global Learning Opportunity (GLO) brought together development practitioners, educators, researchers and representatives of farmer and producer organizations, civil society organizations, private business, bilateral and multilateral organizations and development agencies. The purpose was to discuss, analyze and propose more effective government policies, development pathways, strategies and field practices, building on the IFSA inputs to the ECOSOC High Level Segment on Integrated Rural Development in 2003, in order to capture promising opportunities to attain the Millennium Development Goals. Through sharing relevant experiences, success stories and constraints, participants focused on advancing development priorities and policies, mobilizing resources and forming alliances and partnerships, all of which can lead to making a difference to the lives of small holder farmers.

For more information about IFSA and IFSA Global Learning Opportunities, go to: International Farming Systems Association (IFSA) and IFSA Global Learning Opportunity

SARD Initiative Good Practices Workshop, 2 November 2005, Rome, Italy. As part of the IFSA Global Learning Opportunity (see above), a SARD Initiative workshop was held for the participants of the GLO. Over 60 participants worked in groups to discuss the issues, constraints and solutions of the identification, assessing, sharing and up-scaling of good practices. The outcomes of these discussions have been posted here, and will also be used to inform the process of selecting and disseminating good practices through the SARD Initiative Resource Facility.

For more information on the topic of SARD Good Practices, go to: Resource materials
(Contributed by SARD INITIATIVE)

October 2005

Linking Local Learners Workshop, 30 October 2005, Rome Italy. In the course of the IFSA Global Learning Opportunity (see above), 25 representatives from Civil Society took part in a training workshop on the Linking Local Learners Internet Learning Support Service. This internet service supports groups of local learners from around the world to share both their expertise and their challenges in a community of practice. Diverse groups pool their knowledge together to help each other produce new ideas for progress in establishing farmer demand driven agricultural services, developing market chains from producers to consumers, sharing SARD local practices among civil society actors, among others. Individuals usually work together in learning groups which meet face-to-face. Each group acquires a mailing address and there after becomes a member of a learning team. The learning team is a network of different groups that work on the same subject and exchange ideas across distances. Each learning team may exchange knowledge on a range of different subjects. All learning teams together share the Knowledge Pool. This learning support service functions like any other website.

For more information on the topic of using the internet to link local learners, go to: Linking Local Learners Internet Learning Support Service and Solution Exchange
(Contributed by SARD INITIATIVE)

SARD Initiative Business Meeting, 29-30 October 2005, Rome, Italy. Six of the eight Major Group Focal Points (representing Farmers, Indigenous People, NGOs, Science and Technology, Women and Youth) and the FAO SARD Team met in Rome for a SARD Initiative Business Meeting just piror to the IFSA/GLO (see above). This provided an opportunity for civil society leadership to review the achievements of the SARD Initiative over the past year, and agree on a SARD Initiative Work Plan for 2006, setting out priorities and goals for the next twelve months.

For more information about the achievements and workplans of the SARD Initiative, go to: SARD Initiative Achievements and Plans
(Contributed by SARD INITIATIVE)

World Food Day – Agriculture and Intercultural Dialogue, 16 October 2005, Rome, Italy. The World Food Day theme for 2005 celebrated the contribution of cultural diversity to the fight against hunger which directly affects 850 million people in the world today. It also promoted the important link between agriculture and culture. Eve Crowley, Chapter 14 Task Manager and Facilitator of the SARD Initiative, gave a World Food Day Speech on the theme "Where would be Agriculture without a Culture" in Cuneo (Friday 14 October), Florence (Sunday 16th October), Venice (Monday 17th October), and Rome (Thursday 1st December).

For more information on the WFS 2005 theme, go to: World Food Day 2005
(Contributed by SARD INITIATIVE)

Release of Joint FAO/ILO/IUF Report on Agricultural Workers and their Contribution to Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, 6 October 2005, Rome, Italy. A Report on Agricultural Workers and their Contribution to Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, was released jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) on 6 October 2005. It draws attention to the plight of the world’s 450 million waged agricultural workers, details the unstable and temporary nature of this form of employment, and highlights issues affecting agricultural workers such as low wages, hazardous work conditions, child labour, and lack of human rights. The report calls for the development and promotion of an agenda for fair and decent work conditions in agriculture.

For more information about the IUF, go to: International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations
(Contributed by SARD INITIATIVE)