Annual Report 2006/07 - ETH - North-South Centre North-South ...

ERA-ARDThe European Research Area inAgricultural Research for Development (ERA-ARD)Promoting collaboration in European ARD to strengthen agricultural research for the world’s poor22Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) plays a criticalrole in fighting poverty and hunger and in supporting rapidand sustainable development of the poorest countries of theworld. For historical, socio-economic and cultural reasons,European States have developed a unique field-based scientificexpertise in ARD and support ARD directly or indirectlythrough their bilateral and multilateral programmes.However, on the national level, the responsibility for ARD programmeplanning and funding is often dispersed and sharedbetween different ministries, public institutions and otherfunding bodies. On the European level, there is a need forincreased coordination and cooperation between theresearch activities of the different member states and for thelaunching of joint ARD research programmes.The European Research Area in Agricultural Research forDevelopment (ERA-ARD) responds to the need to betterunderstand how European ARD programmes are identified,selected, designed, funded and managed at the national level.The project seeks to improve synergies between the nationalARD programmes in Europe, to increase the effectiveness andefficiency of European agricultural research planning, fundingand implementation and to launch new transnationalprogrammes. 13 EU member states plus Switzerland – representedby the SDC – are taking part in this project. ZIL hasbeen entrusted by the SDC to manage and coordinate theSwiss contribution to the project. ZIL leads the Swiss consortiumfor the ERA-ARD project, additionally comprising theSwiss College of Agriculture (SHL, Zollikofen) and the Centrefor Development and Environment (CDE, Berne). The ERA-ARDproject started in April 2005 and will end in March 2009.ERA-ARD is a project within the ERA-NET scheme of the 6 thFramework Programme of the European Commission. Theobjective of the ERA-NET scheme is to enhance the cooperationand coordination of research activities carried out onnational or regional levels in the Member States andAssociated States.ERA-ARD activities in 2006 and 2007In early 2006, ERA-ARD project partners conducted extensivesurveys to map national ARD programmes in each participatingcountry with the aim of identifying areas of complementarity,duplication and potential synergy between differentprogrammes. Based on the results of this mapping exerciseand by complementing consultation processes, a series ofstudies are being conducted:• ERA-ARD and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):This study surveys the extent to which the current ARD ofEU Member States and Associated States is designed tocontribute to the realisation of the MDGs and on how thiscontribution could be improved in the future.• Innovative capacity development approaches for the ERA-ARD project: This study explores best practices and innovativeapproaches to strengthen capacity development inARD. An action plan for joint capacity development activitiesis currently in preparation.• A strategic vision for European ARD in 2015 and beyond:In 2007, a consultation process was launched and ERA-ARDconsortium members provided inputs to this strategicvision during two workshops in March and May 2007. In thestrategic vision, a number of scenarios and their potentialimpact on the future ARD research agenda are summarised.It discusses how the future ARD landscape and context willlook like, what options exist for positioning and shapingEuropean ARD in the context of evolving global ARD, andhow the contribution of ERA-ARD to the MillenniumDevelopment Goals could be enhanced.