Overview | International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The International Treaty’s grant-making process

The International Treaty is committed to a rigorous, objective and efficient grant-making process to ensure projects deliver practical and measurable results for people and communities in the developing world.

The Bureau of the International Treaty approves a “call for proposals,” the most recent one being the Fourth Call for Proposals, announced in 2017.
The International Treaty activates its global network to raise awareness and encourage the highest quality, most innovative and scalable proposals.
Proposals are appraised according to eligibility and selection criteria by a panel of experts who reviews, scores and ranks the proposals on their quality and technical merits.
The Bureau, based on the appraisal and recommendations made by the panel of experts, approves the projects to be funded. Information is be made available to grant-seekers on the International Treaty’s website.
The Secretariat then establishes a contractual relationship with the executing entities of the approved projects, including more defined elements for report and monitoring as well as other general conditions.
The agreement and corresponding grant payment schedule is then signed.
Working in close collaboration with the Secretariat, National Focal Points and other stakeholders, the primary grant recipient submits regular project updates along with disbursement requests.
Twice per year, the Treaty requires detailed program and financial statement, with future disbursements linked to the quality of the recipient’s stewardship of the funds and their progress against agreed targets.

The priorities, the eligibility criteria and the steps of the project cycle of the Benefit-sharing Fund are described in annexes 1 to 3 of the Funding Strategy. The secretariat has compiled them in a booklet for ease reference.

The Treaty’s investment values

The Benefit-sharing Fund was created to dramatically increase resources to invest in crop diversity leading to increased food security for all. The Treaty takes this work very seriously and is committed to the highest standards of practice regarding resource mobilisation. Its project investment values are simple:

Transparency – The Treaty has established rigorous systems to ensure the highest level of transparency in governance, mobilising resources for the Fund, and awarding grants.

Accountability – The Treaty is seeking the advice and input of acknowledged experts in selecting and monitoring grants. It is making extensive project information available on its website and investing in communications to raise awareness of the importance of PGRFA.

Food Security– The Treaty, through its Benefit-sharing Fund, seeks to support adaptation to climate change, food security and on-farm conservation of crop diversity. It directly contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals 1 and 7 of ending poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental sustainability.

Impact – The Treaty values projects that will deliver practical measurable results for people and communities, especially in the developing world.

Potential partners of the Benefit-sharing Fund

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture provides for a Funding Strategy, which aims to enhance the provision of financial resources for the implementation of the Treaty. The Funding Strategy includes a Benefit-sharing Fund which supports projects and programmes for the benefit of farmers and local communities in developing countries and countries with economies in transition who work towards maintaining and increasing the use of genetic resources for food and agriculture.

At its Third Session, the Governing Body recognized the importance of making concrete progress in the operationalization of the Funding Strategy. The Secretary assists the Governing Body to establish and maintain cooperation with other relevant international organizations on matters covered by the Treaty, including their participation in the Funding Strategy. At its Third Session, the Governing Body requested the Secretary to continue collaborating with international mechanisms, funds and bodies, including the Global Crop Diversity Trust, in further operationalizing the Benefit-sharing Fund of the International Treaty.

Following the requests by the Governing Body, the Secretary published a notification addressed to all potential partners of the Benefit-sharing Fund to express their interest in developing possible partnerships with the Treaty to implement the Fund. Further to these requests, the Secretary has invited relevant international organizations to submit information on their mandates; work; technical and financial capacity to implement projects.

The following are submissions received from international organizations to collaborate as partners in the operationalization of the Benefit-sharing Fund. A number of these submissions received have been considered by the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on the Funding Strategy that has advised the Secretary and the Bureau on the establishment of partnerships.