Participants at the NEPAD Tertiary Institutions Dialogue with Dr. Monty Jones (ED FARA) in the middle and Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki (CEO NEPAD) at the extreme right. 28 - 30 July 2009, Accra, Ghana. NEPAD Tertiary Institutions Dialogue. NEPAD, in collaboration with the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE), the Regional Forum for Agricultural Capacity building (RUFORUM), the African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the University of Ghana, the Maseno University of Kenya, the University of Malawi and CTA, is organizing a workshop at FARA.
This workshop is a follow-up to the NEPAD-SADC Regional Stakeholder workshop held in Johannesburg (4-5- December 2008), which recommended the need for a “Road Map” to outline the interaction and collaboration between NEPAD and African Centres of Knowledge. While the agriculture core group has taken shape, interaction of this group with other disciplines at the forthcoming platform will assist in bringing them into motion for important objective of harnessing Africa’s human resource.
Objectives: This workshop aim
s to:
This workshop is a follow-up to the NEPAD-SADC Regional Stakeholder workshop held in Johannesburg (4-5- December 2008), which recommended the need for a “Road Map” to outline the interaction and collaboration between NEPAD and African Centres of Knowledge. While the agriculture core group has taken shape, interaction of this group with other disciplines at the forthcoming platform will assist in bringing them into motion for important objective of harnessing Africa’s human resource.Objectives: This workshop aim
s to: - Identify concrete ways to assist NEPAD to engage with universities and research institutions in Africa; and sensitize them on NEPAD and its programmes, with particular reference to the NEPAD/AU Capacity Development Strategic Framework (CDSF);
- Brainstorm on NEPAD and how regional Centres of Knowledge can effectively contribute to this vision “…to determine our own destiny and call on the rest of the world to complement our efforts”;
Kenynote speaker Dr Monty Jones (ED FARA) on "Championing the NEPAD vision for Africa's future through Science, Technology and Innovations"
- Develop strategies to create a collaborative platform to encourage a change of mindset toward training in capacity development, in a way that pays attention to both “tangible” (evident/hard) and “intangible” (Less evident/soft” skills) in order to consolidate and improve on the relevance of networks and institutions allowing them to work together in multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary ways, and to share knowledge at the local, national and global level;
- Support national governments, regional and continental organization to determine the capacity requirements and identify existing gaps necessary to provide technical expertise to implement CAADP more efficiently at all levels; and
Identify the market (production) and non-market (policy; institutional) challenges necessary to create an enabling environment for countries in Africa to attain the critical mass required to deliver the desired output in enhancing sustainable development.
References:
- 12 August 2009 ScienceAlert Research must reach farmers
- 3 August 2009 SciDev.net Get agricultural research to farmers, universities told
