Wednesday 15 July 2009

First day of the IAALD Africa Chapter Conference

From left to right: Kevin Painting (CTA), Hon. Sherry Ayiteh (Minister for Environment, Science and Technology), Dr. A.B Salifu (DG Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Ghana), Dr. Monty Jones (E.D FARA), the representative of FAO


13 - 17 July 2009, Accra, Ghana. Second IAALD Africa Chapter Conference. The theme of the conference is Towards Opening Access to Information & Knowledge in the Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Africa:

initiatives aimed at opening access to AS & T information and knowledge including open access/archives initiatives,

the challenges faced by institutions in the agricultural sciences and technology field in Africa, and the way forward.

Presentation of eRAILS by Myra Wopereis of FARA

The discussions of the first day focused on following sub-themes:

Access and dissemination of knowledge in agricultural sciences and technology in Africa – mapping the landscape, major challenges,

Opening access to publicly funded research – views from research scientists, policy makers, development partners/funders of research and information professionals, and experiences and lessons from the North

Opening of the IAALD confence by Hon. Sherry Ayiteh (Minister for Environment, Science and Technology), Dr. A.B Salifu (DG Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Ghana).

In the keynote address to the IAALD Africa conference, Monty Jones – Executive Director of FARA and World Food prize laureate - argued that open access, to transform African agriculture, must:

  • catalyse innovations
  • improve African knowledge management
  • strengthen Africa’s capacities to build its own capactities
  • promote enabling policies
  • facilitate access to markets

Arguing that “all of us should be doing advocacy in one way or the other,” He also posed some key questions to attain opening access:

  • Are we advocating to the right people and the right institutions?
  • Do we have the right systems for the intended users?
  • Do the users have the skills and infrastructure to access the Knowledge?
  • Do we have the appropriate institutional policies?
  • Do we have the platforms that practitioners need to share and learn?
  • How do we build and how do we manage knowledge - among all the different actors?

Speaking in the opening plenary of the IAALD Africa conference, Krishan Bheenick of the SADC Secretariat traced the development of AIMS – the Agricultural Information Management System of SADC.


References:

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