SARD - June 2005

Civil Society and SARD at the center of a side event during FAO’s COAG

The Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Initiative (SARD Initiative) met with civil society representatives during a side event held in parallel to the 19 th Session of the Committee of Agriculture in April 2005.

The presentation made by several panellists introduced the lively discussion that enabled participants to voice commitments, advocate priority areas of action for SARD. It also helped the SARD Initiative to identify strategic partners while underscoring the importance of collaborative efforts to implement SARD, achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and promote people-centred approaches to scale up local level successes.

The panel included representatives from various backgrounds such as Hon. Corazon “Dinky” Juliano Soliman, Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Republic of the Philippines, Dr. Roland Bunch, Director, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods, World Neighbors, and member UN Millennium Project Task Force on Hunger, Dr. Hasan Bolkan, Director Campbell Vegetable R & D, Campbell Soup Co, and Dr. Makanjuola Olaseinde Arigbede, National Coordinator Union of Small and Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria, Nigeria Poverty Eradication Forum.

The event was organized by FAO’s Sustainable Development and Technical Cooperation Departments, with support from the SARD Initiative, FAO Livelihood Support Programme, Governments of Italy, Norway , the United Kingdom , and FAO’s Rural Institutions and Participation Service (SDAR), and in cooperation with Major Groups.