Coordination

To facilitate the implementation of the Strategy at global, regional and national levels, coordination was essential to avoid duplication, promote cooperative activities and ensure that benefits of the strategy could be shared widely. A coordination group was therefore created by representatives of organizations that played an active role in the development of the Strategy.

The Coordination Group on the Global Cassava Development Strategy is composed mainly of representatives of organizations that played an active role in the development of the Strategy. There are three categories for membership of the Group:

Representatives of the organizations that played an active role in the development and endorsement of the Strategy (IFAD, FAO, CIAT, CIRAD, IITA, NRI).
Representatives of Agricultural Research Organizations (AROs) and advanced laboratories, National Agricultural Research System (NARS), development organizations and private sector.
Representatives of financing and donor agencies.

The Group has the power to broaden its constituency and co-opt other members whenever necessary. The secretariat for the Group is located at the Crop and Grassland Service (AGPC) of FAO, Rome, Italy. The objective of the Group is to promote the Strategy and promote cassava by stimulating its production, processing, utilization and marketing. Coordination basically involves the following:

Making available all documentation related to the GCDS.
A careful monitoring of cassava research and development efforts.
Coordination of efforts of regional networks to optimize cross-fertilization and economies of scale.
Provision of advice for the implementation of the GDCS at national and regional levels.
Responding to outside demand of information on cassava.