Please download: A Summary Report of the 3rd Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD3)

The 3rd Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD3) convened at the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg, South Africa from 5-8 April 2016. More than 500 participants from 83 countries gathered to address the overall theme of ‘No One Left Behind: Agri-food Innovation and Research for a Sustainable World.’ The GCARD3 Global Event, a milestone in the GCARD3 process, was co-organized by CGIAR and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and hosted by the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa (ARC).

It was preceded by national and regional multi-stakeholder consultations in 2015 and early 2016 aimed at realigning research needs and priorities with countries’ own development needs and with the SDGs.

On the last day of the Conference, participants adopted the GCARD3 Outcomes Statement, based on key messages and commitments to collective action agreed during the thematic discussions. Containing 17 collective actions, the Outcomes Statement provides the basis for further action by all GCARD stakeholders in developing their agri-food research and innovations programs and activities to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda).

Specific commitments include: creating 1,000 additional PhD positions per year in “next-generation, future-relevant agricultural research”; promoting higher-education reform across 100 universities in five continents, combining multi-disciplinary training in agriculture-related sciences with skills in leadership, entrepreneurship, interpersonal relations and team building; developing “culture of impact”; creating a platform to harmonize agriculture-related indicators linked to the SDGs; clustering smallholder farmers to participate more effectively in research and development, and access finance and markets; and establishing foresight platforms to bring together farmers’ organizations in the five regions with research and innovation actors from around the world.

For more Information, please consult the following PDF Documents: