Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous Peoples' input into the SARD dialogue process is facilitated by the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), one of approximately 40 Indigenous Peoples' organizations and networks in the Indigenous Peoples' Major Group Caucus of the UN CSD. The IITC facilitated the direct participation of Indigenous Peoples from the South, Central and North America, Asia and Africa in the multistakeholder dialogues at CSD-8. The IITC solicits direct input and participation, and sends information on SARD and related international processes in English, Spanish and French to contacts throughout the world in person, by fax, through two international Indigenous listservers and through an e-mail group of 87 Indigenous Peoples' organizations and networks, many of whom work on or have been sustainable agriculture practitioners for millennia.

Farmers

The farmers' group is jointly co-ordinated by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP). IFAP is a membership-based organization that brings together national organizations representing family farmers from throughout the world. It was established in 1946, and has general consultative status with the UN ECOSOC. Participation in the farmers' group is open to all farmers' organizations, whether or not they are members of IFAP.

Workers and Trade Unions

Trade union input into the SARD dialogue process is coordinated through the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Associations (IUF). The IUF is an international trade union organization, made up of 333 national trade unions in 120 countries, and representing workers in food, agriculture and tourism. The IUF organises workers in the global food chain and represents a 'plough to plate' approach to food production. The IUF's agricultural members are the women and men who labour in the crop fields, orchards, glasshouses, livestock units, primary processing facilities, and associated activities such as crop and animal product processing and packaging, livestock food preparation, irrigation, pest management, and grain storage, to produce the world's food and commodities. They are employed on everything from small to medium-sized farms to large industrialised farms, agricultural units and plantations. They are waged workers because they do not own the land on which they work nor the tools and equipment they use. In these respects, they are a group distinct from farmers.

Business and industry

Business and industry input into the SARD dialogue process is coordinated through the International Agri-Food Network (IAFN). IAFN was formed at the time of the 1996 FAO World Food Summit to coordinate the business delegation to that event and has become a point for ongoing liaison between the professional organizations representing the agri-food sector at global level. Participation in the network is open to any international-level association representing a sector in the agri-food chain.

Local Authorities

Local authorities do not currently have a global focal point for SARD, although they are involved in numerous SARD programmes at the local level.

Scientific and Technological Community

The Science and Technology Community is jointly represented by the International Farming Systems Association (IFSA) and the International Council for Science.

The International Farming Systems Association (IFSA) is an international organization made up of regional associations and working groups from Africa (East, Southern and West), Asia, Australia / Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East / North Africa and North America whose mission is to move beyond doing good research to making a difference in the lives of small farmers and the rural poor. FAO provides support to the web- based information dissemination activity of IFSA.

The International Council for Science (ICSU) is a non-governmental organization representing a global membership that includes both national and international scientific bodies and international scientists. The international network provides a forum for discussion of issues relevant to policy for international science and the importance of international science for policy issues.

Children and Youth

The Institute for Future Global Leaders (IFGL) acts as the SARD Youth Focal Point Organization. Based in Trinidad, this youth institute facilitates the sustainable development of youth in their communities by building their capacity to assume their role as global leaders in their communities. IFGL maintains close communication (on a daily basis) with the Children and Youth Major Group via various networks such as: the newly formed youth network called the Trinidad and Tobago Sustainable Development Network (TTSD-Net) and the Southern NGO Youth Forum.

The TTSD-Net provides a forum for young people to pool their expertise and resource to achieving sustainability in their communities. It also serves as a think tank. IFGL also helps coordinate for the Southern NGO Youth Forum. The Southern NGO Youth Forum has regional representation in Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

Women

The focal points for women in SARD are Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources Management (WOCAN) and Women in Europe as a Common Future (WECF).

WOCAN is a global group of women professionals (and men) working in fields of natural resource management that wish to institutionalize gender perspectives in natural resource management-related organizations by supporting professional women to act as facilitators of change. The network focuses activities on capacity building, advocacy for policy change and alliance building. Through its members, advisors and information linkages, this network links formally to international organizations including the UN Forum on Forests, IFAD, CGIAR, IDRC, FAO, and Gender and Water Alliance, and regional organizations in Asia such as the Eastern Himalayan Network, the Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC), and the Asian Institute of Technology Gender and Development Institute.

Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) is a network of organisations in 30 countries that works with women to actively take part in making their communities healthier and more sustainable. The WCEF working group on agriculture focuses on organic agriculture to achieve sustainable rural development, ensure healthy products for people and animals and maintain natural resources and the landscape.

These organizations liaise with the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), which convenes the Women's Caucus at the UNCSD and has a global list server that is used to share information about opportunities to participate in the SARD Initiative.

NGOs

NGOs as a major group are unique in the way they are organized, in that they do not have an official Focal Point, but are an informal collection of non-governmental groups that have expressed interest in sustainable agriculture generally and the SARD Initiative specifically. This includes participants from the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS) Caucus at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and a large number of newly interested organizations joining during the development phase and launch of the SARD Initiative in Johannesburg at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

The SAFS Caucus, organized informally by NGOs on a voluntary basis after UNCED in 1993, pushed for and helped win a mandate from governments to continue work with FAO in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. It has served as an ad hoc body for any NGO interested in food and agriculture, including NGOs in agricultural development and policy work as well as grassroots groups working at field level. The primary activity is promoting dialogue and building consensus among NGO participants and, in collaboration with other Major Group caucuses, government and international agencies, building support for a shared agenda to achieve sustainable agriculture and rural development. The SAFS Caucus participates in the Sustainable Development Issues Network (SDIN) at CSD.