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New global coordinating CCAFS office launched in Wageningen

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April 3, 2017

On Friday 31st March 2017 CCAFS (CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security) opened its new global coordinating office at Wageningen Campus. This was celebrated with a seminar marking the official opening of the CCAFS-office and at the same time the implementation of the Dutch-CGIAR partnership. The CCAFS-office agreement was signed by Mr. Ruben Echeverria, Director of CIAT, and Louise O. Fresco, president at Wageningen University & Research.

CCAFS is led by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and is a collaboration among all 15 CGIAR (A global research partnership for a food-secure future) research centres and coordinates with the other CGIAR research programs.

Louise Fresco at the opening of the CCAFS office in Wageningen: "It is our task to put food and agriculture on the map again."
Louise Fresco at the opening of the CCAFS office in Wageningen: "It is our task to put food and agriculture on the map again."

From donor to partner

In 2015, The Netherlands decided to change their relation with CGIAR from donor into partner. It is the intention to implement this partnership with financial support for the CGIAR and a set of instruments aimed at the involvement of Dutch parties. This new strategy has already led to an intensified collaboration between CGIAR and WUR, specifically in integrated programs like CCAFS and A4NH (Agriculture for Nutrition and Health). It also led to the transfer of the CCAFS office from Copenhagen to Wageningen.

CCAFS Phase II

The overall goal of CCAFS is to catalyze positive change towards climate-smart agriculture, food systems and landscapes, and thereby contribute to impact in three dimensions:
1. Reducing poverty;
2. Improving food and nutrition security for health;
3. Improving natural resource systems and ecosystem services.

Phase II sees an increase in collaboration with WUR, and other Dutch agencies. This was highlighted in the one-day seminar on Friday 31st March 2017 to officially launch the new CCAFS office and present the program to WUR staff and researchers, Dutch ministries, other Dutch universities and organizations based in the Netherlands.

Wageningen will lead several CCAFS activities, but other Universities such as University of Utrecht also lead activities. A recent Call by NWO (the Dutch Science Council) links Dutch knowledge institutes with CCAFS projects – this will greatly deepen the collaboration.

The targets in Phase II are ambitious. The strong cooperation which already exists between CCAFS and WUR, WUR’s status as a center of excellence for agricultural research, as well as the Netherlands’ large international agricultural sector, will help achieve these ambitious goals.

For more information about CCAFS, see the website