FAO-Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA)

CGRFA – Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture strives to conserve biodiversity for food and agriculture and to promote its use in support of global food security and sustainable development – for present and future generations.

The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, CGRFA, aims
to halt the loss of genetic resources for food and agriculture and to ensure
world food security and sustainable development by promoting the conservation,
exchange and sustainable use of these resources, including access to them and
fair and equitable sharing of the benefits derived from their use.

It provides the only permanent forum for governments to explore and discuss
matters relating to biological diversity for food and agriculture. Its aim is
to reach international consensus on policies for the conservation and
sustainable use of genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and
equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use.

Since its establishment, the Commission has overseen the assessment of
the state of the world’s forest, plant and animal genetic resources for food
and agriculture and negotiated major international instruments such as the International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

The 5 goals of the CGRFA are:

Co-ordinating and dealing with sectorial and
cross-sectorial as well as general policy matters related to the
conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources of relevance to food
and agriculture.
Monitoring the state of the world’s genetic resources for food and agriculture
Reaching international consensus on policies and action programmes to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources for food and agriculture, as well as access to these resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from
their use.
Strengthening national and regional policies on biodiversity for food and agriculture and promoting co-operation in capacity-building.
Developing and strengthening co-operation and partnerships on biodiversity for food and agriculture.