International agricultural research association meets in Costa Rica

The Association of International Research and Development Centers for Agriculture (AIRCA) organized its fifth annual steering committee meeting in February 2016 at Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Turrialba, Costa Rica. Attended by its members, the meeting reviewed last year’s efforts by the Association in research and communications.    During the annual meeting, the Association worked out a plan of actions for the year ahead. The key items discussed are as follows:     1. AIRCA will formulate two working groups: the first group will design a research portfolio linking Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets and AIRCA research objectives; the second group will capitalize on curating a successful concept note on methodologies for measuring the healthy landscapes;   2. The Association listed participation at various research platforms such as the CGARD 3 Global Event, COP13 on Biodiversity, Global Action Plan for Agricultural Diversification (GAPAD), etc.   AIRCA announced the appointment of two deputy chairs Sayed Azam Ali, CEO, Crops for the Future, and David Molden, Director General, ICIMOD, who will form the AIRCA executive committee together with icipe’s Director General Segenet Kelemu, who succeeded AVRDC’s Dyno Keatinge as AIRCA chair in January 2016.   The members will now meet again in February 2017 at the Crops for the Future head office in Malaysia.    Established in March 2012, AIRCA is a nine-strong alliance focused on increasing global food security by supporting smallholder agriculture within healthy, sustainable and climate-smart landscapes. In addition to ICBA, the following international organizations are members of AIRCA: CABI, CATIE, AVRDC, ICIMOD, ICIPE, IFDC, INBAR, CFF