NETWORKS AND WORKING GROUPS
FAO Regional Working Group on Greenhouse Crop Production in
the Mediterranean Region
In the next millenium, protected cultivation under simple
constructions will continue to act an important role in the
Mediterranean Region.
The FAO Regional Working Group was created to enhance
south/south cooperation among the national scientists in the
member countries of the FAO WG and develop links with cooperating
scientists and institutions in the other norther countries such
Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Spain and Greece. Together, they
formed a network to facilitate inter-country cooperation for the
improvement of greenhouse technology in the Mediterranean
Region.
There are three main points the group is concentrating on: (A)
information management and dissemination, (B) training and
demonstration and (C) project formulation. The group has so far
achieved the following goals:
- a newsletter circulation among the members for sharing
research results, simple techniques and highlights;
- a web site including newsletters and technical documents (http://www.agr.ege.edu.tr/~zffao);
and,
- the formulation of a project proposal for regional
cooperation on "Integrated Production and Protection Management
(IPP) of Crops grown under protected cultivation in the
Mediterranean" for consideration of FAO funding under TCP
program.
In the near future, a database on "Protected Cultivation in
the Mediterranean Region" will be developed.
The Global Network on Mushrooms
The Global Network on Mushrooms was established in 1993
to:
- facilitate technical communication and the exchange of
coordinated information, mushroom strains/ species of interest
for food and agriculture, together with appropriate production
technologies; and,
- strengthen international collaboration among specialized
institutions, to constitute a coordinated global system of
mushroom germplasm collections under the aegis of FAO.
It is composed of the following working groups:
- Mushroom Germplasm Science;
- Mushroom Production Technology;
- Mushroom Biotechnology and Environmental Applications;
- Selective Delignification and Production of Animal Feed;
- Sustainable Exploitation of Forest and Wild Mushrooms;
- Mushroom Economics and Trade Intelligence;
- Task force on research and development of mycorrhizal
mushrooms.
Key achievements made so far by the Global Network on
Mushrooms, are:
The Global Cassava Development Strategy (GCDS)
The development of the GCDS was spearheaded by IFAD since
1996. The strategy is an approach to identifying opportunities
and constraints at each stage of the cassava development cycle
from production to consumption. It is a framework for technical
co-operation in research and technology transfer and for future
debates on global issues affecting cassava.
It is a collaborative effort aimed at promoting cassava as an
important staple food and income source for its producers,
processors and traders. The strategy also aims at promoting
products with good markets for human consumption, animal feed and
industrial use. It calls for a coalition of stakeholders
including cassava producers and their organisations, governments
and policy makers, donors, technical and research institutions
and their networks, NGOs and their networks, and the private
sector.
The strategy presents a vision that cassava will spur rural
industrial development and raise incomes for producers,
processors and traders and it will contribute to food security
status of its producing and consuming households.
The essence of the GCDS is to use a demand-driven approach to
promote and develop cassava-based industries with the assistance
of a coalition of groups and individuals interested in developing
the cassava industry.
At an international forum hosted by FAO and IFAD in April
2000, the strategy was endorsed by participants from 22 countries
representing public sector and private companies, farmers'
groups, NGOs, Universities, researchers (CIAT, IITA, IPGRI,
CIRAD, NRI) and their networks (ACRAC, CEWARRNET, CLAYUCA,
EARRNET, ISTRC-AB), financing and donor agencies (ADB, CFC, IDRC,
IFAD, IFS, USAID) and selected national institutions.
The strategy is expected to influence the formulation,
analysis, funding and implementation of policies, research
programmes and projects aimed at developing the cassava sector,
with the ultimate goal of promoting agricultural development for
the benefit of the poor. Thus, the Implementation Plan adopted at
the forum provides a basic mechanism to facilitate the design of
cassava development activities, spanning around three main areas,
namely:
- co-ordination;
- information and promotion; and
- linkages and Integration
The undertaking of activities in the three areas will need
commitments from a range of institutions and groups of
stakeholders as well as the presence of catalysts and champions.
Actions required at the global, regional and national level are
listed in the implementation plan. A web site including technical
documents related to the strategy has been developed (http://www.globalcassavastrategy.net).
A Co-ordination Group formed by representatives of the
organisations that played an active role in the development and
endorsement of the Strategy will facilitate the co-ordination of
the strategy. Members of the Co-ordination Group are: Marcio C.
M. Porto, FAO – Chair; NeBambi Lutaladio, FAO –
Secretary; Mpoko Bokanga, IITA; Concepción Calpe, FAO;
Hernán Ceballos, CIAT; Guy Henry, CIRAD; Truman Phillips,
dTp Studies; Andrew Westby, NRI; Douglas Wholey, IFAD.
The Inter-American Citrus Network (IACNET)
IACNET was conceived in 1991 to link and strengthen 27
national systems on citrus in Latin America, the Carrebean and
USA. It operates through a General Coordinator and
Programme/Subgroup Coordinators. It is composed of two Subgroups
and seven working groups to assist in identifying technical
personnel working in similar areas, prioritising important
problems confronting citrus production and marketing in the
region, and to plan and carry out joint inter-regional projects
on these problems.
The Technical Subgroup has the following working groups:
- Genetic Resources and Propagation;
- Bioclimatology;
- Integrated Pest management;
- Post-harvest.
The Economic Subgroup consists of the following working
groups:
- Citrus cost;
- Economic Trade Data;
- Trade Policy Regimes.
From 1994 main IACNET’s activities have been the
following:
- Organisation of National Citrus Networks;
- Production and distribution of IACNET’s
Newsletter;
- Organisation and conduction of several regional workshops and
training courses;
- Promotion of National Citrus Networks;
- Meeting of IACNET’s Board (Havana, January 1996).
- Launching of Regional programmes;
- Participation in the Global Citrus Germplasm Network;
- Promotion of regional projects;
- Extraordinary IACNET’s meeting held in Manzanillo,
Mexico from 28 - 30 April 1999.
The INTERNATIONAL CACTUS PEAR NETWORK (CACTUSNET)
Cactus pear plays an important social role in the production
of fruits, forage, vegetables and natural dyes in subsistence
agriculture mainly in the arid and semiarid regions of the world.
It is a crop that is capable of establishing a sustainable system
that will increase the efficiency and economic viability of small
and medium-sized farms of low-income farmers, and women farmers
benefit as they participate in the process of selection and
packing of fruits and nopalitos (young cactus stems). As a result
cactus pear has potential for major development projects in
semi-arid areas of Latin America,Africa, and the Indian
subcontinent.
CACTUSNET was established, on volontary basis, in 1993 with
the following objectives:
- To collect and disseminate information on production and
planting, trade and markets, crop research, postharvest and
processing and cochinilla on cactus pear;
- To cooperate in the collection, conservation, exchange,
evaluation and utilization of germplasm and monitor progress and
usefulness of such exchanges.
- To promote the ecological and social benefits of cactus
pear.
- To develop new food and carminic acid uses.
- To exchange expertise and organize training courses,
workshops and meetings of experts in order to improve technical
capability in the individual institutions.
The Network General Coordinator is based at INRAT in Tunisia.
He is assisted by five Regional Coordinators located in:
- South America, at the Universidad Nacional de Santiago del
Estero, Argentina;
- North America, at the Universidad Autónoma Agraria
Antonio Narro, Saltillo. Mexico;
- Mediterranean Basin, at the Università di Catania,
Italy;
- Central and South Africa, at the University of South Africa,
Republic of South Africa; and,
- West Asia, Secretary of Agriculture, Punjab, Pakistan.
Network activities are conducted under the following Working
Groups:
- Plant Genetic Resources Collection, Conservation and
Evaluation, at INIFAP, Mexico.
- Agroindustrial Transformation and Postharvest handling, at
the Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
- Biology, at the University of California Los Angeles,
U.S.A.
- Fruit Production at the Università degli Studi di
Sassari, Italy (proposed).
- Cochineal, at the Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico
(proposed).
- Forage and Rangeland Management, at INRAT, Tunisia.
- Pests and Diseases, at the University of the Free State,
South Africa.
Two new working groups are being formed on Nopalitos
Production and on Socio-economics and rural development. A
Sub-Network on Pitayas (Stenocereus spp.) and Pitahayas
(Hylocereus spp. y Selenicereus spp.) has also been
recently formed.
Key achievements made so far:
- Newsletters have been circulated among members;
- An FAO publication on "Agro-ecology, cultivation and uses of
cactus pear” (English version 1995; Spanish version
1999);
- Introduction of cactus pear clones for forage to India;
- Introduction of cactus pear clones for forage , fruit and
nopalitos production to various countries; and,
- Working group meetings, network meetings and international
congress on Cactus in three Continents.
Red Latinoamericana de Frutales Tropicales (RELAFRUT)
Objetivos:
- Promover la cooperación para el intercambio de
conocimientos y experiencias en aspectos sobre la
conservación de los recursos genéticos de frutales
tropicales y sub-tropicales, producción sostenible y
mercadeo.
- Propiciar la formación de redes nacionales, de manera
que en cada país se establezca la mayor cooperación
posible dentro del sector de los frutales tropicales,
particularmente facilitando el acercamiento y la
cooperación entre las instituciones públicas,
privadas y académicas y los productores.
- Identificar y promover el análisis de los problemas
comunes, su estudio y búsqueda de soluciones,
principalmente a través de la elaboración de
proyectos conjuntos de investigación-desarrollo que
permitan acceder a fuentes de financiamiento nacionales e
internacionales.
- Fomentar el incremento del comercio internacional de estas
frutas a través de campañas de difusión de
la información y promoción de consumo. Mejorar la
información disponible sobre producción exportable,
mercados, regulaciones y estadísticas pertinentes.
Creada en 1998. Coordinación General: Instituto de
Investigaciones de Cítricos y Otros Frutales (Cuba).
Estructura y Mecanismos de Funcionamiento:
A nivel Regional:
- Una Coordinación General y Seis Sub-Redes
Técnicas (Recursos Fitogenéticos, Producción
Frutícola, Protección Fitosanitaria, Poscosecha,
Comercio y Transferencia de Tecnología a
Productores).
A nivel Nacional:
- Coordinadores Nacionales y tantas Sub-Redes Técnicas
similares al nivel regional como sea necesario en cada
país.
Especies prioritarias:
- Aguacate (Persea americana M.)
- Mango (Mangifera indica L.)
- Piña (Ananas comosus M.)
- Papaya (Carica papaya L.)
- Guayaba (Psidium guajava L.)
- Passifloras
- Anonáceas
- Frutales nativos del Continente Americano
- Frutales exóticos.
Los cítricos, las bananas y las cactáceas, de
alto valor hortofrutícola, se excluyen por existir otras
redes especializadas con actividad en Latinoamérica, como
RIAC (Cítricos), INIBAP (banano y plátano) y
CACTUSNET (cactáceas).
Réseau Africain pour le Développement de
l'Horticulture (RADHORT)
Le RADHORT a été constitué en avril 2000
lors de l' Assemblée constitutive pour
l'établissement du Réseau africain pour le
développement de l'horticulture organisée au
siège de la FAO à Rome. Il comprend actuellement 10
pays partenaires: le Burkina Faso, Cap-Vert, Cote d'Ivoire,
Guinée, Guinée-Bissau, Mali, Mauritanie, Niger,
Sénégal et le Tchad. Le réseau
découle d'un projet de coopération régionale
pour le développement des productions horticoles en
Afrique mis au point en 1988 par la FAO grâce au
finamcement du Royaume de Belgique.
Le RADHORT vise l'amélioration de la
productivité et l'étalement de la production de
fruits et légumes sains pour assurer la
sécurité alimentaire, en augmentant la consommation
locale et en permettant les exportations.
Sa structure de fonctionnement est basée sur une
coordination régionale légère. Celle-ci est
relayée dans chaque pays par des coordinations nationales,
elles-memes s'appuyant sur des cellules de nationales de
l'horticulture. Chaque cellule réunit dans son pays les
principaux responsables de la filière horticole, fixe ses
priorités et oriente la diffusion d'acquis techniques
à travers la réalisation de contrats ou protocoles
d'accords.
Le réseau comprend cinq groupes d'animations
régionales qui développent des activités de
recherche/développement sur les thèmes techniques
suivants:
- production et protection intégréess (PPI);
- sélection variétale;
- techniques culturales; et,
- économie et stratégies des filières
horticoles.
Chaque groupe, composé de 10 correspondants, un par
pays, est géré par un animateur régional
responsible des programmes de recherche.
Une réunion de coordination et 4 ateliers techniques de
formation des groupes d'animations régionales sont
organisés chaque année. Depuis 1990, 20 ateliers
techniques ont été tenus au profit de 300
chercheurs et techniciens des pays partenaires du réseau,
sur des problématiques horticoles spécifiques de
l'Afrique.
A chaque atelier correspond un compte rendu ou un guide
technique très largement diffusé dans les pays. Ces
publications servent notamment de base scientifique à
l'élaboration de programmes régionaux de
recherche/développement dans les cinq thèmes
techniques de réseau.
Des protocoles d'accords sont signés entre le RADHORT
et les coordinations nationales pour réaliser les
activités de formation, service-conseils et de
démonstrations.
Les correspondants de l'animation régionale des cinq
thèmes techniques organisent dans leur pays respectifs des
séances de formation sur des thématiques
spécifiques au profit de vulgarisateurs, d'ONG et de
producteurs encadrés. Ils se basent sur des fiches
techniques nationales et assurent au niveau national un
service-conseil sur leur thème d'intervention.
Des démonstrations de techniques culturales, de
matériel végétal amélioré et
adapté, de techniques de PPI, etc. sont organisées
régulièrement chez les producteurs et à leur
profit.
Un bulletin de liaison semestriel est édité et
diffusé aux responsables des filières horticoles
dans les pays partenaires du réseau.
Date Palm Global Network (DPGN)
The meeting to formally establish the DPGN under the auspices of FAO was held from 7
to 9 April 2002 under the Patronage of H.H. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan,
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Chancellor of the UAE University.
It was sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
hosted by the UAE University and organized by the “Date Palm Research and
Development Project” (UAE/2000/002).
The meeting was attended by Government Officials, representatives of research
and development institutions and date palm scientists, for a total of 23 participants from
Chile, Egypt, India, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Namibia, Philippines, Tunisia and United
Arab Emirates. The following international organizations were also represented: IPGRI,
ICBA, UNOPS/UNDP, AOAD and FAO.
The participants agreed on the constitution, on voluntary basis and under the
auspices of FAO, of a Date Palm Global Network.
Objectives and structure of the Date Palm Global Network (pdf file, 0.1 Mb)
Full meeting report (forthcoming)
