GLOSSARY OF UA RELATED RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY
Below is a list of organizations and terminology (by acronym and description) that have involvement in urban agriculture or are associated with Urban Harvest. The list is by no means exhaustive. The intention is to update when necessary. Suggestions gratefully received!
 BIOVERSITY INTERNATIONAL The world's largest international research organization dedicated solely to the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity. It is non-profit and independently operated. One of the CGIAR-supported research centers. An amalgamation of the organizations INIBAP (International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain) and IPGRI (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute) since 2006.
CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International)
A not for profit, intergovernmental organization that improves people's lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment.
CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research)
An association of public and private members, created in 1971, that supports a system of 16 international agricultural research centers known as the Future Harvest Centers. The CGIAR research agenda focuses on both strategic and applied research, covering the entire range of problems affecting agricultural productivity with the aim of reducing hunger and poverty and improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.
CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture)
A not for profit organization, one of the CGIAR-supported international research centers, it conducts socially and environmentally progressive research aimed at reducing hunger and poverty and preserving natural resources in developing countries. Future Harvest. Headquarters in Colombia.
CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency)
Canada’s lead agency for development assistance. It has a mandate to support sustainable development in developing countries in order to reduce poverty and to contribute to a more secure, equitable, and prosperous world.
CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research)
An international research and global knowledge institution, supported by CGIAR, committed to conserving forests and improving the livelihoods of people in the tropics. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters at Bogor, Indonesia.
CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo)
The International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat provides research and training for the improvement of maize and wheat to the benefit of food security, improved productivity and profitability of farming systems, and the sustainability of natural resources. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in Mexico.
CIP (Centro Internacional de la Papa)
The International Potato Center seeks to reduce poverty and achieve food security on a sustained basis in developing countries through scientific research and related activities on potato, sweet potato and other root and tuber crops, and on the improved management of natural resources in the Andes and other mountain areas. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in Peru.
CIRAD (Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherché Agronomique pour le Developpement)
A French agricultural research centre working for international development. Most of its research is conducted in partnership.
CORAF/WECARD (Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Developpement Agricoles)
The Conference of West and Central African leaders of agricultural research institutes. In July 1999 the name was changed to the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (thus adopting the acronym WECARD also).
CPRC (Chronic Poverty Research Center)
An international partnership of universities, research institutes and NGOs, established in 2000 with initial funding from the UK’s Department of International Development, providing research and analysis to result in policy relevant findings, useful to all those working to combat poverty.
DSE (Deutsche Stiftung fur internationale Entwicklung)
The German Foundation for International Development provides dialogue, education and training programs to promote sustainable resource development.
FARA (Forum for Agricultural Research)
An umbrella organization bringing together and forming coalitions of major stakeholders in agricultural research and development in Africa.
FFTC (Food and Fertilizer Technology Center) An international center facilitating the transfer of technology and information on agriculture-related topics within the Asian and Pacific region, to support the full spectrum of small farm needs.
FCND (Food Consumption and Nutrition Division)
A division of IFPRI, providing research to reduce household poverty and ensure food and nutrition among the world’s poor.
ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas)
Working to improve the welfare of poor people and alleviate poverty through research and training in dry areas of the developing world, by increasing the production, productivity and nutritional quality of food, while preserving and enhancing the natural resource base. This is achieved through a network of partnerships with national, regional and international institutions, universities, non-governmental organizations and ministries in the developing world and with advanced research institutes in industrialized countries. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in Syria.
ICRAF (International Center for Research in Agroforestry) Works towards mitigating tropical deforestation, land depletion and rural poverty through initiating and assisting in the generation and dissemination of appropriate and improved agroforestry systems and technologies for resource-poor farmers and other land users. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in Kenya.
ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics)
A nonprofit, non-political organization that does innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development with a wide array of partners across the globe. ICRISAT's mission is to help empower 600 million poor people to overcome hunger, poverty and a degraded environment in the dry tropics through better agriculture. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in India.
IDRC (International Development Research Center)
A Canadian Crown corporation that works in close collaboration with researchers from the developing world in their search for the means to build healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies.
IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute)
Its mission is to provide policy solutions that cut hunger and malnutrition through identification and analysis of alternative international, national and local policies and through facilitating capacity strengthening of people and institutions. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in Washington, USA.
IIED (International Institute for Environment and Development)
A international policy research institute and non-government body that acts as a catalyst, broker and facilitator, helping vulnerable groups find their voice and ensure their interests are heard in decision-making. Environmental sustainability is a core concern but not at the expense of people’s livelihoods.
IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture)
An international research center which supports more than 100 international scientists based in various IITA stations across Africa. This network of scientists is dedicated to the development of technologies that reduce producer and consumer risk, increase local production, and generate wealth. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers.
IIRR (International Institute of Rural Reconstruction)
A rural development organization with 80 years’ experience working in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It promotes people-centered development through capacity building for poor people and their communities, development organizations and agencies. Headquarters in the Philippines.
ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute)
An international research center that works to improve the well-being of people in developing countries by enhancing the contributions livestock breeding makes to smallholder farming. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in Kenya.
INIBAP (International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain) (See Bioversity International)
IPGRI (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute)
(See Bioversity International)
IRRI (International Rice Research Institute)
A non profit research and training center, its aim is to reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers and ensure environmental sustainability through collaborative research, partnerships and the strengthening of national agricultural research and extension systems. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in the Philippines.
IWMI (International Water Management Institute)
An international research center with offices in over ten countries across Asia and Africa. Its mission is to improve the management of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and nature. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in Sri Lanka.
PCARRD (Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development)
A sectoral council of the Department of Science and Technology, it plays a significant role in fostering science and technology-based economic development through natural resource utilization and management. It provides a unified and focused direction for national research and development efforts in agriculture, forestry and natural resources.
PRGA (Participatory Research and Gender Analysis for Technology Development)
A system-wide program created by CGIAR in 1997. Its objective is to assess and develop methodologies and organizational innovations for gender-sensitive participatory research, and to facilitate their use in plant breeding, and crop and natural resource management.
RUAF (International Network of Resource Centers on Urban Agriculture and Food Security)
An international network of regional resource centers that, since 2000, facilitates the integration of urban agriculture in the policies and programs of national and city governments and international organizations.
SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions)
A non-governmental organization set up to strengthen the creativity of grassroots inventors, innovators and “ecopreneurs” engaged in conserving biodiversity and developing eco-friendly solutions to local problems. Headquarters in India.
UH (Urban Harvest ) A system-wide initiative, launched by CGIAR in 1999, to direct and co-ordinate the collective knowledge and technologies of the CGIAR centers and thereby work toward strengthening urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA).
UNDP (United Nations Development Program)
The UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. Involved in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.
UPWARD (Users’ Perspectives With Agricultural Research and Development [of CIP])
An Asian network of scientists and development specialists working to increase participation by farmers and other users of agricultural technology in research and development. Its overall mission is to enhance the contribution of rootcrops to rural livelihood in Asia through participatory research and development (PR&D) with local user groups and change agents.
URBAN AGRICULTURE
Defined by the United Nations as:
An industry that produces, processes and markets food and fuel, largely in response to the daily demand of consumers within a town, city or metropolis, on land and water dispersed throughout the urban and periurban area, applying intensive production methods, using and reusing natural resources and urban wastes, to yield a diversity of crops and livestock.
WARDA (Africa Rice Center)
Known as the West African Rice Development Association until 2003, its mission is to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa, through research, development and partnership activities aimed at increasing the productivity and profitability of the rice sector in ways that ensure the sustainability of the farming environment. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in Benin, Africa.
WORLDFISH CENTER
A non-profit organization that focuses on alleviating poverty and hunger by improving fisheries and aquaculture in 20 countries in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. One of the CGIAR Future Harvest Centers. Headquarters in Malaysia.
WECARD (West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development) (also CORAF)
A regional association of the national agricultural research institutes of 21 countries in West and Central Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. It aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural research in the region by supporting and consolidating the capacities of the national agricultural research systems in the member countries.
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