04/08/2016

SNV and CIFOR sign Memorandum of Understanding

SNV and CIFOR sign Memorandum of Understanding

3 August 2016 – SNV and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) announced a new partnership to collaborate on knowledge sharing, technical expertise and engagement on key areas such as sustainable supply of agricultural commodities, business models and services provision to smallholders, innovations in financing mechanisms to provide affordable credit to smallholders, investment models that help build alternative livelihoods for smallholders, and forest management and restoration that account for the needs of smallholders.

The partnership was announced at the 2016 Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit (APRS) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. It was formalised in June 2016 under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by SNV’s Chief Executive Officer, Allert van den Ham, and CIFOR’s Director General, Peter Holmgren.

With a common outlook of landscape-based strategies associated with sustainable agricultural supply and improved smallholders livelihoods, which deliver benefits for climate change adaptation and mitigation and economic development, CIFOR and SNV have agreed to build on each other’s strengths to further their respective missions.

The partnership and coordination are being led by Richard McNally, SNV Global Coordinator for Climate Change, and Pablo Pacheco, CIFOR Principal Scientist and Team Leader for Value Chains, Finance and Investments.

"SNV is very excited to become a strategic partner with CIFOR. This will bring more research and scientific rigor into our more complex programmes exploring the relationships between smallholder agriculture, forest protection and landscape management”, McNally said.

“CIFOR sees significant value in this partnership as part of our efforts to link our research to actions in the ground that work for forests, economic development and rural livelihoods. SNV has developed an important capacity that will contribute to link our research to practice in ways that are meaningful to different local realities”, Pacheco said.

SNV is a not-for-profit development organization with a focus on poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Founded in the Netherlands nearly 50 years ago, we have built a long-term, local presence in 38 of the poorest countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Our global team of local and international advisors work with local partners to equip communities, businesses and organisations with the tools, knowledge and connections they need to increase their incomes and gain access to basic services – empowering them to break the cycle of poverty and guide their own development.

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is a non-profit, scientific facility that conducts research on the most pressing challenges of forest and landscape management. CIFOR is dedicated to advancing human well-being, environmental conservation and equity. The organisation's research and expert analysis help shape effective policy, improve the management of tropical forests and address the needs and perspectives of people who depend on forests for their livelihoods. CIFOR is a member of the CGIAR Consortium and leads the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry. Its work contributes to all four of CGIAR’s goals: reducing rural poverty, increasing food security, improving human health and nutrition, and ensuring more sustainable management of natural resources. CIFOR’s headquarters are in Bogor, Indonesia, with offices in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

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Contacts

Richard McNally
SNV Global Coordinator for Climate Change
mcnally@snv.org

Pablo Pacheco
CIFOR Principal Scientist
p.pacheco@cgiar.org