CHAPTER 8. PARTICIPATION IN THE CONFERENCES

As mentioned in the Introduction, the quality and value of the conferences depends on the participants. In this chapter, some figures and an analysis of participation in the Forum’s conferences are therefore presented. Most analyses are based on the information provided by people that sent messages (rather than those that simply joined the conferences without participating actively) as more information was readily available on them. People submitting messages were requested to introduce themselves briefly (when sending their first message) and, as a minimum, to give their country of residence. Usually they provided a full work address.

8.1 Overview of participation in the six conferences

An overview of the number of people, messages and countries involved in the six conferences is given in Table 8.1. It shows that the numbers of people that registered and submitted messages to the different conferences varied considerably. Of the four food and agricultural sectors considered - crops, fisheries, forestry and livestock - the crop sector seemed to be of greatest interest to Forum members while fewer people registered for the fishery and forestry sector conferences. The conferences on specific themes - IPR and hunger/food security - were well supported. The degree of participation also varied between conferences, with nine to 18 percent of people that joined sending e-mail messages.

The six conferences covered different subjects, although the topics discussed often overlapped. An analysis was carried out to investigate whether the same people registered for and posted messages to the different conferences. From figures in Table 8.1 it can be seen that a total of 1 380 individuals registered for the six conferences. By looking at their e-mail addresses, however, it was possible to identify those who joined more than one conference. The analysis revealed that a total of 795 different people were involved. Of these, there were seven (i.e. one percent) that joined all six conferences; 17 (two percent) that joined five conferences; 49 (six percent) that joined four conferences; 81 (10 percent) that joined three conferences; 173 (22 percent) that joined two conferences and, finally, 468 (59 percent) that joined just one. When Conference 6 ended there were 1 282 Forum members. This means that 795 (i.e. 62 percent) of them had participated in at least one conference whereas 487 (38 percent) had not, simply receiving instead the Background and Summary Documents from the Forum Administrator without joining up for any of the conferences.

The majority of people thus registered for a single conference. The conferences dealt with themes that were often very divergent (e.g. biotechnology in the fisheries sector; biotechnology and IPR) and the analysis suggests that most people have specific ranges of interests and will only invest their time in them. For example, when the sixth conference (on IPR) began, 104 Forum members joined that had not previously registered for any of the five previous conferences.

What about the people that sent messages? Table 8.1 shows that, summing over the six conferences, 184 people sent messages. However, analysis showed that these were 151 different people. Of these, one (i.e. one percent) sent messages to five conferences; five (three percent) sent messages to three conferences; 19 (13 percent) sent messages to two conferences while 126 (83 percent) sent messages to just one conference. Nobody sent messages to all six conferences or to four conferences.

These two analyses show that the six conferences, although with some overlap, tended to have different audiences and different groups of active participants.

8.2 Participation from the developing versus developed world

The numbers and proportions of messages from the developing and developed world are given in Table 8.2. Obviously, the results presented here are only an approximation of the relative contribution of the developing versus developed world to the conferences. People from developing countries may currently live in developed countries and thus have their e-mail address in developed countries (and vice versa). Furthermore, some people with addresses in developed countries (e.g. in FAO Headquarters, Italy) may be actively working for projects in developing countries.

A total of 406 messages was posted during the six conferences. Despite the fact that the vast majority of internet users are in OECD countries (see Introduction), participation of individuals from developing countries was substantial, representing 42 percent of all messages. The proportions varied somewhat between the conferences, ranging from 12 percent in the forestry conference to 52 percent in the livestock conference.

Note that the large gap between e-mail and web access for participants in developing countries is highlighted very clearly by comparing the figures in Table 8.2 with those from an analysis of web traffic carried out for the Forum website for the month of October 2000. On an average day during the month, there were 116 visitors and 553 hits on the website. The vast majority of visitors came from developed countries, especially the United States. Of the 3 624 visitors throughout the month, the geographic location of 2 248 could be identified. A total of 1 376 (i.e. 61 percent) of these were from North America and when combined with Western Europe and Australia they accounted for 1 946 (87 percent) visitors. There were far fewer from Asia, South America and Sub-Saharan Africa - representing only six, two and 0.5 percent respectively of visitors. Looking at individual countries, the top 10 were all from the developed world, with 55 percent of visitors of known country coming from the United States.

8.3 Participation by geographical area

The numbers and proportions of messages from individuals in the different main geographical areas are given in Table 8.3. All of the different geographical zones were represented. The highest proportion of messages (30 percent) came from participants in Europe, 22 percent were from North America and 20 percent from Africa. The remaining messages came from Asia (15 percent), LAC (nine percent) and Oceania (four percent). The contributions of different continents varied from conference to conference. For example, those from Africa accounted for 20-25 percent of messages, except for the forestry (three percent) and fishery (four percent) conferences, while those from Asia ranged from 18-31 percent per conference, apart from the forestry and hunger/food security conferences (three percent each).

8.4 Participation from different countries

The number of messages coming from different countries is given in Table 8.4. A total of 47 countries were represented, with the greatest number of messages, 83 (i.e. 20 percent), coming from the United States, followed by South Africa (10 percent) and Germany (seven percent). The five countries of France, Kenya, Mexico, Spain and United Kingdom contributed 101 messages (25 percent).

8.5 Workplace of the participants

Table 8.5 gives information on the kind of people participating in the conferences, by considering where they work. The analysis of participants’ workplace was dependent on the information they provided and was, in a few cases, insufficient to pinpoint accurately - in these cases, they were classified under the “general public”. Note, again, that these results are only an approximation - people may have several roles at any one time (e.g. a participant with a university work address could also be on a governmental advisory board and/or a member of a NGO) and they may change over time.

The people who submitted messages came from a wide range of walks of life. However, there were three work areas which dominated - 29, 28 and 19 percent of messages, respectively came from individuals in research organizations/institutes, universities and NGOs. The remaining 25 percent came from people working in development agencies, FAO, government agencies or ministries, IARCs, private industry or were independent consultants or patent lawyers. Given the large importance of the private sector in agricultural biotechnology, it was surprising that there were relatively few messages from people in private companies.

8.6 Participation in the individual conferences

Here, the six conferences are considered separately, referring to the figures provided in Tables 8.1-8.5.

a) Crop sector conference

As this was the first conference of the Forum, a more detailed analysis of participation was carried out than for the other conferences. Within a week of launching the conference, 200 people had registered and after a further three weeks the numbers had stabilized at around 300. Very few people unsubscribed themselves once it had started (the same was also true for the other conferences).

At the end of the conference, there were 306 people registered and a rough analysis of their e-mail addresses was carried out. There were 103 of unknown country - these were from MNCs, from companies (i.e. with “.com” addresses), from unidentified CGIAR centres or from personal e-mail accounts (yahoo, hotmail, etc.). Of the 203 people with addresses that could be attributed to a country, 43 percent were in Europe; 14 percent each were in North America, Africa and LAC; nine percent from Asia and six percent from Oceania. Fifty-eight percent were from developed countries while 42 percent were from developing countries

Regarding the 138 messages posted during the conference, roughly 25 percent each were from Africa, Europe and North America, while Asia, LAC and Oceania contributed 19, six and one percent respectively (Table 8.3). Thus, Africa and North America provided only 28 percent of participants, but they contributed roughly half of all messages. Asia had only nine percent of participants, but 19 percent of messages. Forty-two percent of participants were from developing countries and they were responsible for 46 percent of messages posted (Table 8.2).

Messages were posted from 29 different countries. Countries with the greatest number of messages posted were the United States (34), France (14) and Kenya (12). Fifty-one different people sent messages (17 percent of all registered) while the greatest number from any one participant was 12. Participants came from a wide range of occupations (Table 8.5). Over half the messages came from people working in research organizations/institutes or universities; nearly a quarter were from people in NGOs while the remaining messages came from individuals in diverse workplaces such as IARCs, government bodies, the ministry of agriculture or private industry.

b) Forestry sector conference

For this second conference, there were 167 participants who submitted a total of 32 messages. In contrast to all other conferences, the vast majority of messages (88 percent) were from participants living in developed countries. They came from 15 individuals (nine percent of all registered) in 10 different countries. Nearly 70 percent of messages came from individuals working in research organizations/institutes and universities, with the remainder from the private sector, NGOs, IARCs and FAO. The countries contributing most messages were New Zealand (nine), the United States (eight) and Germany (five). Participants in Europe, Oceania and North America accounted for nearly 90 percent of all messages, while those in Africa, Asia and LAC contributed just four of the 32 messages.

c) Livestock sector conference

A total of 235 Forum members registered for the conference and 42 messages were posted. These were submitted by 26 people (11 percent of all registered) living in 14 different countries. Almost 40 percent of messages came from people working in universities while nearly 30 percent were from research organizations or institutes. The remaining 33 percent were from individuals in a wide range of different occupations. The countries from which the greatest number of messages were posted were the United States (11 messages), South Africa (five), Indonesia (four) and Thailand (four). Looking at the wider geographical picture, the greatest number of messages came from Asia (29 percent), North America (26 percent) and Africa (24 percent), with the remaining 22 percent coming roughly equally from Europe and Oceania. Fifty-two percent of messages were posted by participants living in developing countries.

d) Fishery sector conference

For this conference, there were 149 participants who submitted a total of 26 messages. These numbers were the lowest of all six conferences. Messages came from 16 individuals (11 percent of all registered) living in 12 different countries. Fourteen of the messages came from people working in universities, four from research centres and two each from development agencies, a government ministry, NGOs and the private industry. The countries contributing most messages were the United States (eight) and Norway (three). Participants in North America, Asia and Europe accounted for roughly 40, 30 and 20 percent respectively of all messages posted. Forty-two percent of messages were posted by participants living in developing countries.

e) IPR conference

A total of 265 people registered and 30 of them (11 percent) submitted at least one of the 50 messages posted. The greatest proportion of messages was from Europe (36 percent), with 20 percent each from Africa and North America, and 18 and six percent from Asia and LAC, respectively. Roughly two thirds were from participants in developed countries and one third from the developing world. Messages were posted from 18 different countries. Countries with the greatest number of messages posted were the United States (eight messages), United Kingdom (six) and France, Japan and South Africa (five each).

Messages came from a very heterogeneous group of participants. The most highly represented were individuals from research organizations/institutes, universities, independent consultants and NGOs - providing 24, 22, 16 and 16 percent respectively of messages. The remainder was from IARCs, patent lawyers, a reporter, FAO, private industry and a government ministry.

f) Hunger and Food Security Conference

A total of 258 Forum members registered, of whom 46 (i.e. 18 percent - the highest proportion of the six conferences) submitted a total of 118 messages. Contributions came from 22 different countries, with 43 percent of messages from developing and 57 percent from developed countries. Participants in Germany (18 messages), Mexico (17), South Africa (17) and the United States (14) were the most active.

Participants in Europe provided the highest proportion (42 percent) of messages, followed by Africa (21 percent), LAC (19 percent), North America (14 percent), Asia (three percent) and Oceania (one percent). The proportion of messages from individuals in NGOs (28 percent) was higher here than in other conferences. Significant proportions also came from people in research organizations and centres (35 percent) and universities (22 percent). The remaining 15 percent were from a wide range of occupations.

Table 8.1 Number of people that registered for each conference, number of messages posted, number of countries and people providing the messages and percent of people registered for each conference that posted messages

Conference theme	No. members registered	No. messages	No. countries	No. people	% members registered that sent messages
Crops	306	138	29	51	17
Forestry	167	32	10	15	9
Livestock	235	42	14	26	11
Fishery	149	26	12	16	11
IPR	265	50	18	30	11
Hunger/Food Security	258	118	22	46	18
Total	1 380	406	105	184

Table 8.2 Number (and percentage) of messages posted from individuals in developing or developed countries¹

Conference	No. (%) of messages from developing countries	No. (%) of messages from developed countries
Crops	64 (46)	74 (54)
Forestry	4 (12)	28 (88)
Livestock	22 (52)	20 (48)
Fishery	11 (42)	15 (58)
IPR	17 (34)	33 (66)
Hunger/Food Security	51 (43)	67 (57)
Total	169 (42)	237 (58)

¹Classification of countries into developed or developing follows the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD (see www.oecd.org/dac/htm/daclst2000.htm).

Conference theme	Africa	Asia	Europe	LAC	North America	Oceania	Total
Crops	34 (25)	26 (19)	35 (25)	8 (6)	34 (25)	1 (1)	138
Forestry	1 (3)	1 (3)	10 (31)	2 (6)	8 (25)	10 (31)	32
Livestock	10 (24)	12 (29)	4 (10)	-	11 (26)	5 (12)	42
Fishery	1 (4)	8 (31)	5 (19)	2 (8)	10 (38)	-	26
IPR	10 (20)	9 (18)	18 (36)	3 (6)	10 (20)	-	50
Hunger/Food Security	25 (21)	3 (3)	50 (42)	23 (19)	16 (14)	1 (1)	118
Total	81 (20)	59 (15)	122 (30)	38 (9)	89 (22)	17 (4)	406

Table 8.4 Number of messages coming from individuals in different countries

COUNTRY CONFERENCE THEME
	Crops	Forestry	Livestock	Fishery	IPR	Hunger	Total
United States	34	8	11	8	8	14	83
South Africa	11	1	5	1	5	17	40
Germany	7	5	-	-	-	18	30
Mexico	1	2	-	2	-	17	22
France	14	-	-	1	5	-	20
Spain	1	-	-	-	3	16	20
United Kingdom	7	-	-	-	6	7	20
Kenya	12	-	2	-	3	2	19
Philippines	9	-	1	2	-	-	12
Netherlands	2	-	3	-	2	3	10
Thailand	1	-	4	1	1	3	10
Brazil	5	-	-	-	-	4	9
Japan	4	-	-	-	5	-	9
New Zealand	-	9	-	-	-	-	9
India	6	-	-	-	2	-	8
Sri Lanka	3	-	2	2	-	-	7
Austria	1	1	2	-	-	2	6
Canada	-	-	-	2	2	2	6
Italy	2	2	-	-	1	1	6
Australia	1	1	2	-	-	1	5
Norway	-	-	2	3	-	-	5
Indonesia	-	-	4	-	-	-	4
Mali	-	-	2	-	-	2	4
Nigeria	1	-	-	-	1	2	4
Uganda	4	-	-	-	-	-	4
Colombia	2	-	-	-	1	-	3
Ireland	-	-	-	1	-	2	3
Israel	1	-	-	2	-	-	3
Tunisia	3	-	-	-	-	-	3
Chile	-	-	-	-	2	-	2
Pakistan	1	-	-	-	1	-	2
Sweden	-	2	-	-	-	-	2
Zambia	1	-	-	-	-	1	2
Barbados	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
Belgium	-	-	-	-	1	-	1
Botswana	-	-	-	-	1	-	1
China	-	-	1	-	-	-	1
Denmark	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
Ethiopia	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
Malaysia	-	1	-	-	-	-	1
Morocco	-	-	1	-	-	-	1
Nicaragua	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
Russia	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
Senegal	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
Turkey	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
Viet Nam	-	-	-	1	-	-	1
Zimbabwe	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
Total	138	32	42	26	50	118	406

Table 8.5 Number (and percentage) of messages coming from participants in different occupations

Workplace	Conference Theme
	Crops	Forestry	Livestock	Fishery	IPR	Hunger/ Food Security	Total
Development agency	4 (3)	-	-	2 (8)	-	2 (2)	8 (2)
FAO1	2 (1)	1 (3)	2 (5)	-	2 (4)	2 (2)	9 (2)
General public	-	-	1 (2)	-	1 (2)	3 (3)	5 (1)
Government//Ministry of agriculture2	9 (7)	-	3 (7)	2 (8)	1 (2)	-	15 (4)
IARC3	10 (7)	2 (6)	2 (5)	-	4 (8)	6 (5)	24 (6)
Independent consultant	-	-	3 (7)	-	8 (16)	3 (3)	14 (3)
NGO	30 (22)	2 (6)	1 (2)	2 (8)	8 (16)	33 (28)	76 (19)
Patent lawyer	4 (3)	-	-	-	2 (4)	1 (1)	7 (2)
Private company	7 (5)	5 (16)	2 (5)	2 (8)	1 (2)	1 (1)	18 (4)
Research organization or institute2	36 (26)	11 (34)	12 (29)	4 (15)	12 (24)	41 (35)	116 (29)
University	36 (26)	11 (34)	16 (38)	14 (54)	11 (22)	26 (22)	114 (28)
Total	138	32	42	26	50	118	406

¹ Includes the joint FAO/IAEA Division in Austria
² “Research organization or institute” includes governmental research institutes
³ International Agricultural Research Centre: Mainly includes individuals from CGIAR centres