Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
Multi-Year Programme of Work





Multi-Year Programme of Work

The Commission, at its Eleventh Regular Session in 2007, adopted its Multi-Year Programme of Work, a rolling 10-year work plan covering the totality of biodiversity for food and agriculture, including plant, animal, forest, aquatic, micro-organism and invertebrate genetic resources. In addition, the Multi-Year Programme of Work covers a whole range of cross-sectoral matters relevant to several or all components of biodiversity for food and agriculture.

The Multi-Year Programme of Work:

  • enables the Commission to implement its multidisciplinary mandate through a planned and staged approach;
  • serves as a planning tool for its Members to improve national policy coordination and mid-term planning of activities;
  • provides a vehicle to strengthen international cooperation with all actors, from research to farmers organizations, involved in the conservation and use of biodiversity for food and agriculture;
  • facilitates cooperation with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, particularly with regard to the supporting components of the Treaty that are overseen by the Commission; 
  • helps the Commission to plan cooperation with the Convention on Biological Diversity in order to support joint implementation of their respective programmes of work; and
  • allows the Commission to advise FAO systematically on the full range of its activities on biodiversity for food and agriculture, and on the priorities to be accorded to such work in FAO’s Programme of Work and Budget.

 

The Multi-Year Programme of Work lays out the major outputs and milestones the Commission aims to achieve during its next five sessions. The Commission, at its Eleventh Regular Session, stressed the need to develop a detailed plan to achieve the agreed outputs and milestones identifying the processes that would be needed. The Commission will consider a Draft Strategic Plan 2010-2017 for the implementation of the Multi-Year Programme of Work at its Twelfth Regular Session.

The Multi-Year Programme of Work foresees for the Sixteenth Regular Session the completion of the first ever State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture.

The Commission also decided to keep its Multi-Year Programme of Work under continuous review. The Multi-Year Programme of Work foresees progress reports and periodic reviews at the Commission’s Thirteenth and Fifteenth Regular Sessions.

THE COMMISSION’S MULTI-YEAR PROGRAMME OF WORK: MAJOR OUTPUTS AND MILESTONES

 

12th Session

13th Session

14th Session

15th Session

16th Session

Plant Genetic
Resources
(PGRFA)

Presentation of The State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources

Consideration of the updated Global Plan of Action for adoption, and review of cooperation with the International
Treaty

 

 

Update of The State of the World’s Plant Genetic
Resources

Animal Genetic
Resources
(AnGR)

Follow-up to the Interlaken
Conference

 

Review of implementation of Interlaken outcomes

 

Update of The State of the World’s Animal Genetic
Resources

Aquatic Genetic
Resources
(AqGR)

 

Review of information base for aquatic genetic resources, and key issues for The State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic
Resources

Presentation of The State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic
Resources

Development of elements related to the Code of Conduct of
Responsible Fisheries
aimed to
maintain a broad genetic basis and to ensure sustainable use and
conservation of aquatic genetic
resources

 

Forest Genetic
Resources
(FoGR)

Analysis of key issues in forest genetic resources, for The State of
the World’s Forest Genetic
Resources

 

Presentation of The State of the World’s Forest Genetic
Resources

 

Microorganisms
and
invertebrates

Review of scoping study on Micro-organisms and
invertebrates

 

Review of key issues on microorganisms
and invertebrates

Review of work on microorganisms
and invertebrates

 

Cross-sectorial
matters

Consideration of policies and arrangements for access and
benefit-sharing for genetic
resources for food and agriculture

Review ways and means [of
promoting][considering] [for] the
application and integration of
biotechnologies in the
conservation and utilization of genetic resources [as a basis for future work such as, the
development of guidelines,
consideration of Codes of
Conduct or other work]

Review of all relevant
international targets and
indicators for biodiversity for
food and food and agriculture

Consideration of the
internalization of the ecosystem
approach to biodiversity
management in agriculture,
forestry and fisheries
Review of contribution of
biodiversity for food and
agriculture to the achievement of
the Millennium Development
Goals

Presentation of The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture

Management of
the Multi-year
Programme of
Work

 

Progress Report/Periodic
assessment/ Review of the Multiyear
Programme of Work

 

Progress Report/Periodic
assessment/ Review of the Multiyear
Programme of Work