The stakeholders of the Initiative have outlined priority areas for which a concerted effort is needed to advance SARD. These include:

Building access to SARD resources and information through a Resource Facility

The Resource Facility, a decentralized and
interactive information network, will be used to harness existing experiences and lessons learned and systematize available technical information and success cases related to SARD, particularly at the community level. This will facilitate access by governments, rural service providers, NGOs, and disadvantaged rural communities. The facility will provide the building blocks of a wide-ranging relationship among diverse actors. An initial version of the Resource Facility is now available on this site and it provides a review of online good practice databases, SARD training resources, examples of the spread of SARD, and an archive of SARD-related interviews.

Up-scaling and replicating good practices

One of the key components of the SARD Initiative is capacity building of rural communities and farmers’ groups through information sharing, participatory communications, national and regional training events and community exchange visits.

Should greater resources become available the programme will initiate consultative fora to capitalize on the agriculture-related WSSD partnerships to share information among the community of stakeholders promoting SARD with a focus on the MDGs. Additionally, to promote the application, testing and adaptation of demonstrated SARD good practices in the field by disadvantaged communities, a small grant mechanism will be put in place in selected countries.

In 2005 Kenya was identified as the first pilot country for the implementation of the SARD Initiative at the national level. Consultation between FAO, Major Groups, the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA, the CSD Focal Point in the Kenyan Government), and various other civil society actors and other agencies led to the identification of the Kenyan Freedom from Hunger Council (KFFHC) to be the overall facilitator for the SARD Initiative in Kenya. During implementation of the SARD Initiative in Kenya, a body of locally-tested and valued information about SARD good practices will be developed. Those that have the potential for replication and/or upscaling will be selected, and community exchanges and learning networks will be fostered so that SARD good practices can be adopted and can contribute to increased food security.

In 2006 the national implementation process in Kenya will progress. It is also hoped that national implementation processes will be initiated in other African countries, as well as in other regions of the world. India and Bolivia are two candidate countries for 2006.

CSD Focus on Agriculture and Rural Development – 2008/2009

In 2003 it was decided to organise the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) until at least 2017 into two-year themed cycles. In the 2008/2009 cycle, the cluster of themes to be addressed includes agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa. It is expected that the SARD Initiative will significantly contribute to national and global reporting at the review session of this thematic cycle, and that this in turn will have a positive impact on the policy session in 2009.