Innovations in Extension and Advisory Services

15-18 November 2011, Nairobi, Kenya. Over 400 academics, researchers, extension agents, farmers´ representatives, media experts, policy makers and representatives from international organizations and donors met in Nairobi to discuss innovations in extension and advisory services for food and livelihoods.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency), the International Centre for development oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in collaboration with several national, regional and international partners including the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE), Biovision, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the Ministry of Agriculture – Kenya, the European Initiative on Agricultural Research for Development (EIARD), the University of Nairobi, the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of the South Pacific (USP) organised this an international conference to take stock of current policies, thinking and practice, successes and failures of ongoing and past reforms in extension and advisory services and build a coalition moving forward to specifically address meeting the future needs of small-holder farmers, marginalized communities, women and youth in a sustainable and cost effective manner. This conference integrated the GFRAS 2nd annual conference.

“With the global population approaching nine billion by 2050, we need widespread adoption of farming practices that can sustainably increase yields in a changing climate to feed more people, while also creating new job and market opportunities to address high unemployment and poverty,” Michael Hailu, executive director of the Netherlands-based Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, was quoted as saying in a statement by the organisation, which organised the conference.

“Smallholder farmers - particularly women - produce the bulk of food in developing countries, often under difficult circumstances,” he added. “National governments and international donors must redouble their efforts to boost smallholder agricultural production if we are to reverse persistent food insecurity and rural poverty.”

• Day 1 - Presentations
• Day 2 - Field trip overview (pdf)
• Day 3 - Presentations
• Day 4 - Presentations
• Full program (pdf)

Some relevant presentations on multi-stakeholder consortia on ARD:

Farmer-managed innovation funds drive multi-stakeholder learning processes.
Ann Waters-Bayer is an agricultural sociologist with ETC AgriCulture in Leusden, Netherlands. She specialises in social and institutional aspects of research and development, especially innovation processes that enhance local capacities to adapt to change.

She is also team member in two European Community-funded projects: JOLISAA (Joint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture), which operates in Benin, Kenya and South Africa; and INSARD (Including Smallholders in Agricultural Research for Development), which involves NGOs and farmer organisations in Africa and Europe. She has (co-)authored several books and articles on pastoralist development and on innovation processes involving smallholders in Africa.

Empowering smallholder farmers in markets: experiences in collaborative research with national farmer organisations to improve pro-active advocacy for smallholder market access.

by Giel Ton, LEI Wageningen UR, Agrinatura

Extension, advisory services and capability building along the value chain: Do partnerships between farmers and exporters lead to learning and innovation?

Maurice Bolo, African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS)

 

Challenges and innovative processes for Capacity Strengthening in Agriculture for Development

FARA-EFARD-AGRINATURA

SIDE EVENT

@ the Gchera - 7 7th Conference of the Global Consortium of  Higher Education and Research for Agriculture

Using the opportunity of the 7th Conference of the Global Consortium of Higher Education and Research for Agriculture (GCHERA - 7), which is held between June 27 to 29, 2011 in Beauvais, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), AGRINATURA and the European Forum for Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD) organised a pre-conference workshop on 26th and 27th June 2011 to review the progress to-date and the challenges still pending.

One of the most important initiatives that will be presented is the Tertiary Education for Agriculture Mechanism (TEAM-Africa), but other specific contributions, either thematically oriented (like UNIBRAIN) or focused on specific areas or sub-regions, such as the Engagement of West and Central African Tertiary Agricultural Africa Agriculture Development Programme in the CAADP Processes will also be reviewed.

By bringing together all those who are actively involved in agricultural development to share their views, the CIPCAD2 aims to inspire development and rebuilding of the capacity pyramid (see below) in agriculture, especially in the African context, driven by tangible results for poor farmers.

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

1.      From CIPCAD 1 to CIPCAD 2: An Update – Prof. Didier Pillot, AGRINATURA

2.      Overview of PCAADP Processes & Capacity Needs – Dr. Martin Bwalya, AUC-NEPAD / Dr. Komla Bissi

3.      Rebuilding the African Human Capacity Pyramid and Estimating Capacity Demands – Mr. Ralph Von Kaufmann, FARA

4.      Restructuring Agricultural Education and Training in Sub-Saharan Africa – Prof. A. Stroebel/Prof. F. Swanepoel, University of The Free State

5.      Plenary Response to Background Presentations - Facilitator

1.      The Pan African University

2.      Technical and Vocational Training Barefoot Universities Farmer Field Schools, FAR network in francophone Africa

3.      Rural Learning Platforms

4.      Linking Universities, Business & Research

5.      Collaborative Research Support Programs (CRSPs)

6.      PAEPARD Multi-stakeholder Partnerships: training to broker

1.      Status of Agricultural Education and Training in the CAADP Investment Plans – Dr. Irene Annor-Frempong /Dr. Nelson Ojijo, FARA

2.      TEAM-Africa Presentation (ANAFE/RUFORUM): ·         How to determine the demand in scope, quality and quantity for trainees and graduates, and how to prioritise actions, ·         The factors that must be taken into account in planning to respond to the diverse demand, ·         The successes, best practices and novel approaches that can be used in reconstructing and expanding the capacity pyramid ·         The costs and benefits and where the financial resources will come from. ·         Who is demanding what from the TEAM Africa, ·         How the mechanism will respond to that demand, and what outcomes are sought and how its success will be defined

3.      Overall Discussion - Chair

1.      The LMD Reforms in French Speaking African Universities: Challenges, Perspectives and Opportunities – Prof. Félicien Avlessi

2.      Engagement of the CRUFAOCI Network in University Reforms in French Speaking African Universities – Prof. Jacques Nanema

3.      Preparing the Conference of Rectors of French Speaking African Universities in November 2011 – Dr. Aissetou Yaye

4.      Summary Discussions - Chair

1.      New Enterprise Skills, Food Value Addition & Access to Markets

2.      New Value & Reward Systems in Universities (going beyond publications)

3.      Integrating Research, Education & Extension

4.      Improving teaching and conditions of service

5.      Investment in Changing Curricular and Introducing Advanced Training Approaches, Aids and Contextualized Courses

6.      Introducing Teaching in Experiential Learning, Soft and Personal Mastery Skills

7.      Overall Discussion - Facilitator

Tackling hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa

Professor Sir Gordon Conway talks about his work and global efforts to tackle chronic hunger across the world in Imperial College’s podcast. You can access the podcast and the transcript of the interview at: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/media/podcasts

The Dutch, are very good on water control and irrigation systems. We've got some very good plant breeding in Britain at various institutions. In France they've got a lot of experience of working on farmer organisations. (...) And the British and some other countries working in Anglophone Africa have got also their own experiences and successes. But they don't talk to each other very much yet. August 2009 podcast transcript Sir Gordon Conway on efforts to tackle chronic hunger across the world

Gordon Conway at the Centre for Environmental Policy in Imperial College London, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is leading a small team to explore the potential for new European partnerships to support agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The team will assess and make recommendations as to how governments, think tanks, NGOs, the research community and the private sector and donors might work in partnership to use their combined expertise and influence to create a more coherent and focused approach to agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The job is to establish who's doing what across Europe in terms of agriculture in development and to find out from Africa what it wants from Europe. It's all about attacking food poverty in Africa and improving agriculture in the region in the face of challenges like climate change, disease and conflict.

Launch of AGRINATURA

19 June 2009. Wageningen. During the Science Forum 2009 which took place in Wageningen on 16-17 June 2009, the launch was announced of AGRINATURA, the European Alliance on Agricultural Knowledge for Development.

AGRINATURA is formed by NATURA, the former association of European universities dealing with agricultural research and education for development, and ECART, the consortium of European institutions working in agricultural research for development, in order to capitalize on their respective strengths and expertise. Wageningen UR, comprising Wageningen University and the DLO Research Centres is an active member of both ECART and Natura.

AGRINATURA’s goal is to make substantial European contributions to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Paris Declaration by:

• Playing a proactive policy advocacy role for agricultural research and education for development in Europe and worldwide
• Developing and strengthening strategic alliances and partnerships with and between the different stakeholders in development, both in the North and in the South
• Encouraging networking and partnerships between institutions, organisations and individuals
• Organising, facilitating and implementing joint participation in European and international research and education programmes and projects, including EU FP7, Erasmus Mundus, EU Food Security and Thematic Programme, EU Edulink

Reference:

• Wageningen UR 19/07 ECART and Natura join hands in AGRINATURA
• CIRAD 15/07 L e Cirad au cœur de la nouvelle alliance européenne pour la recherche et l’enseignement agricole pour le développement