Delegates huddle to discuss matters informally during CGRFA 16

The seventeenth session of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA 17) will take place at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy from 18 to 22 February 2019.

In 2017, the Commission decided to extend the deadline for contributions to the report on the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture until 2019. This report is expected to be the Commission’s flagship publication synthesizing its previous work and promoting the its solid base of scientific expertise. The Commission also discussed its contribution to the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how to provide guidance on the implementation of the objectives of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

CGRFA 17 is expected to, among other decisions:

• Launch reports on the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture and the State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture;
• Finalize and endorse explanatory notes for the Commission’s Elements to Facilitate Domestic Implementation of Access and Benefit-sharing for Different Sub-sectors of GRFA; and
• Discuss how to address the implications of the use of digital sequencing information for the conservation of GRFA.

The meeting will also address an extensive list of items covering work in all subsectors of GRFA and cross-sectoral issues including the role of GRFA for agriculture, food security and nutrition and their role in mitigation of and adaptation to climate change.

See our summary and analysis of CGRFA 16 for more information about this process.