Agricultural Technology for Development

Urges Member States, relevant United Nations organizations and other stakeholders to strengthen efforts to improve the development of sustainable agricultural technologies and their transfer and dissemination, under mutually agreed terms, to developing countries, especially the least developed countries, in particular at the bilateral and regional levels, and to support national efforts to foster utilization of local know-how and agricultural technologies, to promote agricultural technology research and access to knowledge and information through suitable communication for development strategies and to enable rural women, as well as men and youth, to increase sustainable agricultural productivity, reduce post-harvest losses and enhance food and nutritional security;

Encourages international, regional and national efforts to strengthen the capacity of developing countries, especially smallholder and family farmers, in particular rural women and youth, in order to enhance the productivity and nutritional quality of food crops and animal products, to promote sustainable practices in pre-harvest and post-harvest agricultural activities and to enhance food security and nutrition-related programmes and policies that take into consideration the specific needs of women, young children and youth;

Calls upon Member States and relevant United Nations organizations and other stakeholders to mainstream gender into agricultural policies and projects and to focus on closing the gender gap to achieve equal access for women to labour-saving technologies and agricultural technology information and know-how, equipment, decision-making forums and associated agricultural resources to ensure that agriculture, food security and nutrition-related programmes and policies take into consideration the specific needs of women and the barriers that women face in accessing agricultural inputs and resources;

Encourages Governments to develop and implement youth-focused agricultural development projects and programmes, including through training, education and capacity-building, in order to stimulate the interest and the involvement of youth in agriculture;

Invites Governments and international organizations, in collaboration with cooperatives and cooperative organizations, to promote, as appropriate, and consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization, the growth of agricultural cooperatives through easy access to affordable finance, the adoption of sustainable production techniques, investment in rural infrastructure and irrigation, strengthened marketing mechanisms, access to appropriate risk management instruments and support for the participation of women in economic activities;

Encourages Member States, civil society and public and private institutions to develop partnerships to support financial and market services, including training, capacity-building, infrastructure and extension services, and calls for further efforts by all stakeholders to include smallholder farmers, in particular rural women, in planning and in taking decisions about making appropriate sustainable agricultural technologies and practices available and affordable to them;

Calls upon Member States to include sustainable agricultural development as an integral part of their national policies and strategies, notes the positive impact that North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation can have in this regard, and urges the relevant bodies of the United Nations system to include elements of agricultural technology, research and development in efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, with a focus on the research and development of technology that is affordable, durable and sustainable and that can be easily used by and disseminated to smallholder farmers, in particular rural women;

Requests relevant United Nations organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, to promote, support and facilitate the exchange of experience among Member States on ways to augment sustainable agriculture and management practices, such as conservation agriculture, and to increase the adaptive capacity of agriculture and the use of agricultural technologies that positively impact the entire value chain, including technology for post-harvest crop storage and transportation, including in pressing environmental circumstances;

Invites Member States and other stakeholders to give appropriate consideration to the issue of agricultural technology for development in the discussions on the post-2015 development agenda;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventieth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution.