The preparation of a Report on the State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) was recommended by the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on AnGR for Food and Agriculture (ITWG-AnGR) in 1998. This recommendation was subsequently endorsed by the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, the FAO Committee on Agriculture, and the FAO Council and Conference. Creation of the Report is to be achieved through a country-driven process involving the preparation of individual Country Reports, followed by synthesis of information from those reports to produce the first Report on the State of the World's AnGR (SoWAnGR).