Initiatives and Organisations

International Organisations

• Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
  The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is a permanent forum where governments discuss and negotiate matters relevant to genetic resources for food and agriculture.
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• European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Network
  ECP/GR is a collaborative programme among most European countries aimed at ensuring the long-term conservation and facilitating the increased utilization of plant genetic resources in Europe.
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• Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species
  The Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species (GFU) was created to ease and increase information and knowledge exchange in the field of underutilized and neglected species.
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• Plant Production and Protection Divison - AGP
  AGP addresses the development of sustainable agricultural systems to improve crop and grassland productivity, to create conditions for enhanced food security and general eonomic development and to conserve the environment through the development of agriculture's biological resources.
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• Sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
  The SARD Initiative is a multi-stakeholder umbrella framework designed to support the transition to people-centred sustainable agriculture and rural development and to strengthen participation in programme and policy development.
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• World Information and Early Warning System (WIEWS ) on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA)
  The WIEWS has been established by the FAO, as a world-wide dynamic mechanism to foster information exchange among Member Countries, by gathering and disseminating information on PGRFA, and as an instrument for the periodic assessment of the state of the world's PGRFA.
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Initiatives

• European Agriculture Network
  The European Agriculture Network is a Service of the European SAVE Foundation and has many links to european, national and regional networks.
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• Fruit-Net: Network for Neglected and forgotten Fruit and Berries
  Fruit-Net is an online directory for rare varieties of fruits, berries and wild fruits. The main goal of this project is to facilitate contacts between the upholders.
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• GRAIN
  GRAIN is an international non-governmental organisation which promotes the sustainable management and use of agricultural biodiversity based on people's control over genetic resources and local knowledge.
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• Irish Seedsavers
  The ISSA is a voluntary organisation dedicated to the location and preservation of traditional varieties of fruit and vegetables. The Association maintains a seed bank which distributes seed of these non-commercially available vegetables, as well as a network of heritage potatoes.
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• Mesoamerican Network of Plant Genetic Resources
  The purpose of REMERFI is to improve the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources by strengthening national plant genetic systems and coordinating implementation of actions at the national and Mesoamerican levels.
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• SAVE - Safeguard for Agricultural Varieties in Europe
  The SAVE Foundation is a European umbrella organization under Dutch law for the safeguarding of agricultural variety. Its mission is the conservation and promotion of genetic and historically important cultural variety in agricultural flora and fauna.
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• UK Agricultural Biodiversity Coalition
  The UKabc is concerned about Sustainable Use, Conservation, Trade and Intellectual Property (Farmers' Rights, Plant Breeders Rights, Patents, Seed Laws etc.), Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering and other issues related to the equitable use of Agricultural Biodiversity.
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