Welcome to the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is a permanent forum where governments discuss and negotiate matters relevant to genetic resources for food and agriculture. The main objectives of the CGRFA are to ensure the conservation and sustainable utilization of genetic resources for food and agriculture, as well the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use, for present and future generations. The Commission aims to reach international consensus on areas of global interest, through negotiations.

The Commission was originally established in 1983 as the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources, by the FAO Conference, (Resolution 9/83), to deal with issues related to plant genetic resources. In 1995, its mandate was broadened (Resolution 3/95), to cover all components of agro-biodiversity of relevance to food and agriculture. It was then renamed the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA).

Members of the CGRFA

At present 168 countries and the European Community are members of the CGRFA. Membership is open to all FAO Members and Associate Members, upon request.

See List of Members

Activities of the CGRFA

The CGRFA reviews and advises FAO on policy, programmes and activities related to the conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits derived from the utilisation of genetic resources of relevance to food and agriculture.

The CGRFA deals with policy, sectorial and cross sectorial matters related to the conservation and utilization of genetic resources for food and agriculture. It develops and monitors the Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources; and the Global System for Plant Genetic Resources.

In 1997, the CGRFA established two subsidiary bodies: the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Animal Genetic Resources (ITWG-AnGR) and the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources (ITWG-PGR) to deal with specific matters in these areas.

The Commission's broadened mandate has not yet been implemented for forestry and fisheries genetic resources. FAO has considerable activities on forestry and fisheries genetic resources, and on agricultural biodivesity

The CGRFA facilitates and oversees cooperation between FAO and other relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental bodies, including, the Conference of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD).

The CGRFA holds a variety of meetings. Regular sessions are held every two years and extraordinary sessions are organized as required.

For more details see the Statutes of the CGRFA.

Secretariat of the CGRFA

The Secretariat is located in the FAO headquarters in Rome. The Secretary of the CGRFA is appointed by the Director-General of FAO. The staff of the Secretariat is listed here.

The Secretariat is responsible for the organisation of the Regular and Extraordinary Sessions of the CGRFA. In addition, it prepares and runs, in cooperation with relevant FAO technical units, meetings of the Sectorial Working Groups and other meetings organised by the CGRFA.

The Secretariat keeps the CGRFA informed on recent developments in areas related to genetic resources for food and agriculture, as the basis for policy discussions.

The Secretariat also works with technical units of FAO for the implementation of the recommendations of the CGRFA and cooperates with other international organizations on activities related to genetic resources for food and agriculture.

For more details on the tasks of the Secretariat, see its Functional Statement.