CSD 8, 24 – 25 April 2000, New York, USA
Multistakeholder Dialogue on Land and Agriculture. During its Eighth Session, held in New York from 24 April to 5 May 2000, the Commission on Sustainable Development reviewed progress on land and agriculture. During the first two days of that session, a multistakeholder dialogue was held, with the participation of representative organizations from five major groups: business and industry, farmers, indigenous people, NGOs and scientific and technological community. The dialogue was organized and facilitated by FAO, in its capacity as Task Manager for Chapter 14. It focused on agricultural production techniques, consumption patterns, best practices in resources management, knowledge, trade issues and economic incentives in agriculture. In its report CSD 8 invited stakeholders to continue their dialogue on SARD in preparation for CSD-10 and the WSSD.
COAG 16, 26 - 30 March 2001, FAO, Rome
The 16th Session of the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) discussed a report entitled “The Place of Agriculture in Sustainable Development: The Way Forward on SARD” in plenary. COAG supported the CSD-8 decisions regarding preparations for WSSD, as follows:
“49. The Committee agreed that, for this agenda item, representatives of major groups (NGOs, farmers, business, indigenous people, etc.) could speak along with Members, without this becoming a precedent. This agreement was in line with the request of the Eighth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-8), which invited FAO to involve diverse stakeholders in the review of SARD in preparation for the Earth Summit in 2002 (Rio+10). Similarly, the Committee also welcomed the Multi-stakeholder Forum on SARD in preparation for Rio+10, which was taking place concurrently with COAG.”
CSD 10 (WSSD PrepCom 1), 31 April - 2 May 2001, UN New York, USA
The tenth session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 10) acted as the global Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the Johannesburg Summit. Four inter-governmental PrepCom meetings were held during 2001-2002 to agree on the agenda for the Summit. Representatives from each of the major groups, including leaders from NGO and business communities, also participated in these meetings.
A key feature of the preparatory process for the WSSD was the decision of CSD10 to give much greater emphasis to implementation processes involving stakeholder partnerships, with active participation of civil society. This led to a call for partnership initiatives to be developed as a primary instrument for implementing Agenda 21.
CSD 10 (WSSD PrepCom 2), 28 January - 8 February 2002, UN New York, USA
Side Event on Land, Food and Agriculture in Agenda 21: Assessing Issues of Land, Water, Food, and Agriculture to Reduce Poverty and Implement Sustainable Development, 31 January 2002. Stakeholders at this event assessed progress, lessons learned, new challenges, and main constraints related to SARD. An important outcome of this meeting and other informal meetings during PrepCom II was the participation by and support received from interested Consumer and Media organizations.
CSD 10 (WSSD PrepCom 3), 25 March - 5 April 2002, UN New York, USA
Informative and consultative meetings that included the participation of NGOs, Governments and Inter-Governmental Organizations were held.
CSD 10 (WSSD PrepCom 4) Ministerial level meeting, 27 May - 7 June 2002, Bali, Indonesia
Ministerial Roundtable on Agriculture, Food Security and Rural Development. A brief presentation on the SARD Initiative was made to Government delegates during this Roundtable, held during PrepCom 4.
Side Event on SARD and the SARD Initiative. Access to resources, a global campaign on fair conditions of agricultural employment and Good practices for SARD were identified as initial areas of possible joint work. This Stakeholder coordination resulted in SARD receiving a more prominent place in the negotiated texts of WSSD. The SARD Initiative framework, as it currently stands, was designed and some Governments, Civil Society Organizations and Intergovernmental Organizations expressed interest in or provided inputs and support for the Initiative.
World Food Summit: five years later, 10 - 13 June 2002, Rome
During the WFS:fyl, a Multistakeholder Dialogue on SARD was organised, and two Side Events on preparations for WSSD were held, one at the NGO/CSO Forum and the other at the meetng of the International Planning Committee (IPC). Diverse groups participated in the Multistakeholder Dialogue and debated extensively on issues such as trade, biotechnology, patenting of life forms, pollution, food safety and the decline in family farms. They called on FAO to encourage more dialogue amongst stakeholders in general.
Electronic Forum on SARD, 24 June - 17 August 2002
In preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), FAO in collaboration with members of Major Groups and Civil Society hosted an Electronic Forum from June 24 to August 17, 2002 to promote SARD (land, water and food security) and to explore and develop modalities for implementing the SARD initiative. Themes covered related to: Access to Resources (land and genetic resources); SARD Good Practices, Principles and Case Studies; and Fair Conditions for Employment in Agriculture.
