The sixteenth session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA 16) was held from 30 January to 3 February 2017, at FAO headquarters, in Rome, Italy. The session was preceded by a special event on Saturday, 28 January, on “The Contribution of Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture to Resilience,” as well as regional consultations on Sunday, 29 January.
The Commission approved two draft resolutions to be forwarded to the FAO Conference on: reaffirming the world’s commitment to the Global Plan of Action on Animal Genetic Resources (GPA-ANGR); and the Commission’s contribution towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
CGRFA members also considered a series of cross-sectorial matters, including: the preparation of the Report on the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture (SOW-BFA); the role of genetic resources for food security; access and benefit-sharing (ABS) for genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRFA); review of the Programme of Work on Climate Change and GRFA; and review of the implementation of targets and indicators for GRFA. The Commission also considered: the draft SOW on aquatic genetic resources (AQGR); a review of GPA-ANGR; implementation of the Second GPA for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (GPA-PGR 2), and preparation of the third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture; implementation of the GPA for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Forest Genetic Resources (GPA-FGR); and micro-organisms and invertebrates. The Commission further reviewed the implementation of its Multi-year Programme of Work (MYPOW) and initiated discussions on the Strategic Plan for the next decade, and considered cooperation with other international instruments and organizations, and administrative matters. You can access the full report of CGRFA 16th session through IISD Reporting Services website.
