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GFU-ICUC side event at the CGIAR Annual General Meeting

On 5 December, the International Center for Underutilized Crops (ICUC) and the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species (GFU) organised a lunchtime event to discuss the “Future of Underutilized plants research and development”, proposing to formalise their increasingly close collaboration during 2006. This proposal was commented very positively by the 30 participants to the meeting who engaged in a lively discussion on future institutional models. ICUC and GFU will now work closely to develop a proposal for their future collaboration, in consultation with their respective stakeholders.
 
The Strategic Framework for Underutilized Plant Species Research and Development published
In October 2006 the GFU published the Strategic Framework for Underutilized Plant Species Research and Development with special reference to Asia and the Pacific, and to Sub-Saharan Africa. This framework is the product of a global electronic consultation and two regional workshops earlier in 2006 organised by ICUC, GFU and Bioversity International
The publication reviews current activities, provides examples of success and emphasizes the need to improve resource mobilization in support of underutilized plant species research and development, including urgent work to collect baseline information and formulate meaningful indicators to guide future action. You can download the document here

Workshop proceedings - Hunger and poverty: the role of biodiversity
In November 2006 the GFU released the Report of the International Consultation on The Role of Biodiversity in Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goal of Freedom from Hunger and Poverty that took place in Chennai, India, April 18-19, 2005 at the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and organized by GFU, MSSRF and Bioversity International.
You can download the document here and find all documents related to this event here 

Who is doing what - Institutional Mapping Database
The "Who is doing what" service on the website of the GFU has been in place for some time, but the survey is still open for contributions.
In order to facilitate improved networking and to develop synergies amongst stakeholders it is important to know who are those stakeholders involved, what are they doing and what strategies are they using. GFU has conducted and is still conducting a survey the results of which are compiled in a database and made available from the GFU website.
"Who is doing what" provides an opportunity to make your work and your expertise known to a large community and will give you information about other ongoing or past activities on underutilized species at a global level.
With this survey GFU targets organizations, institutions, networks and individuals in the public and private sector. This will give the widest possible overview and in the end enlarge the community.