About the Science Forum
The Science Forum series was initiated by the Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) in 2009 under its remit of Mobilizing Science.
Purpose and scope
The forum serves as a means to reach out to scientists and scientific communities external to CGIAR, bringing their expertise into dialogue on system-level objectives.
For the 2013 forum, this work focused on nutrition and health outcomes and the targets for agricultural research. The event was held in Bonn, Germany, from September 23–25, 2013.
The Science Forum 2013 was convened as part of a wider series launched in 2009 under the mobilizing science remit of the Independent Science and Partnership Council. Its central purpose was to open dialogue between CGIAR research programs and the wider scientific community, drawing external expertise into conversations about system-level objectives for agricultural research. The 2013 edition, staged in Bonn, Germany, placed nutrition and health outcomes firmly at the center of that agenda, examining how research priorities could better address micronutrient deficiencies, stunting, and undernutrition among children and adults in developing countries.
The forum took place over three days in September 2013, and the pages collected here gather the program, the schedule, and supporting resources for participants and readers alike. Alongside the formal sessions, the site highlights career development activities, a participation and accessibility fair, organizational and logistical notes, and a photo gallery reflecting the gathering of scientists, organizers, and partners. These supporting materials illustrate how the meeting was structured not only as a scientific exchange but also as a working forum for people, partnerships, and research systems.
The wider context for the 2013 forum was the persistence of hunger and malnutrition across much of the developing world, where insecurity of food, widespread vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and the dual burden of undernutrition and overnutrition coexisted and together posed a formidable challenge. Despite remarkable advances in agriculture, food, and nutrition science, important questions remained about the evidence base for interventions, the measurable impact of research on outcomes, and how policies and strategies might be realigned to accelerate progress against poverty and poor health.