CIARD, the Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development movement is aimed at ensuring that public domain agricultural research outputs are truly accessible to all. Founded in 2008, CIARD is guided by an informal group of international and regional partners from around the world, who are committed to supporting the movement. The partners have developed a “Manifesto” and a set of “Values” that lay out a universally applicable agenda of policy and practice in access to public goods.

GFRAS has a major stake in facilitating knowledge flows in innovation systems, between researchers and practitioners, and is also committed to making the outputs of agricultural research truly accessible to all. The global constituency of GFRAS can make a significant contribution to achievement of the CIARD vision through applying its experience to enhancing the main elements of the framework such as the CIARD Checklist of good practices and the Pathways to research uptake, and in providing case study evidence of the benefits of access. The CIARD partners are currently focusing their efforts on intensifying advocacy at all levels in the lead up to the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD), at which CIARD will feature in a technical session for access to research outputs, and on enhancing the various elements of the CIARD framework.