Meeting Food Safety Standards: Implications for ACP agricultural exports

11th May 2009. The 11th Brussels Development Briefing took place on on “Meeting Food Safety Standards: Implications for ACP agricultural exports”.

This Briefing reviewed the product standards and technical regulations of importance to promoting economic growth and protecting the health and safety of consumers and the challenges posed by rising private and public SPS standards for ACP suppliers. Exchanges has also be held on the lessons which can drawn from capacity-building programmes as to better adjust to the needs of the ACP private and public sectors and the need to involve ACP countries in international standard-setting and negotiations over standards and regulations.

The video recordings of the 11th Briefing session (“Meeting food safety standards: implications for ACP agricultural exports”) are available on Briefing ‘SPS standards’: video material

First African Organic Conference 2009

May 19th-22nd, 2009 Kampala, Uganda. African Organic Conference 2009 Fast tracking sustainable development in Africa through harnessing Organic Agriculture and Bio-technology

The Conference presented Organic Agriculture as a science relevant to sustainable development, poverty eradication and assured food security in Africa. The conference exhibited up to date scientific innovations and other development initiatives achieved over years. Participants shared and exchanged knowledge, which is very much needed for national development of the Organic Agriculture sector and Bio-safety Programmes.

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Dr. Laurence Gordon of FITOTEC interviewed during the First African Organic Conference 2009 (Kampala May 19th-22nd, 2009) explains how the future of plant, soil and water health will become more dependent on the use of beneficial bacteria, and fungi.

Bioremediation, bio transmutation, beyond organic, coupled with quantum physics are the concepts and domain organic farming is now venturing to cure. Water quality and quantity (be it nitrates, toxins, salt water intrusions or dwindling water supplies) is fast becoming the forefront of its concerns.

The goal is: a. to maintain production levels, improving soil, crop and water health with the minimum use of inorganic chemicals, b. to use natural organisms to achieve the same or superior results, at the same time suppressing biotic or abiotic factors, c. to reduce the contamination of the environment d. to improve health.

References:

• UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF : Documents and Presentations
• Uganda Martyrs University- Conference Rationale
• ICROFS - International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems
• NOGAMU - The National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda
• Agro Eco-Louis Bolk Institute - the natural source of knowledge
• EPOPA - Development through organic trade

SIST Meeting

3-10 March 2009. The Système d’Information Scientifique et Recherche (SIST) network of scientists and persons in communication held a week long meeting in Dakar, Senegal. The meeting was organized to draw up the final workplan for the various SIST networks and train network representatives in web content management, effective web-browsing and web-design.

FARA belongs to the SIST-BVB, the Plant Biotechnology and Biosafety network of SIST, and participated in its workshop. The SIST-BVB workplan covered a review of the communication plan to improve sensitization of the scientific community on SIST-BVB issues, an update on biotech information on Africa and the hosting of the SIST server to be transferred from France to the UCAD (University of Cheik Anta Diop in Dakar).

Background: SIST
SIST is the Scientific and Technical Information System set up by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and supported by CIRAD to collate and disseminate web-based information to members of specific networks in science and technology in universities and research institutes in Africa. Support has been provided for the 2006-2009 period.

The 5 SIST networks are: integrated management of water resources; epizootic diseases, emerging and re-emerging diseases in animals; plant biotechnology and biosafety (biotechnologies vegetales et biosecurité- bvb); information and communication technologies in education and research; and promotion of cultural heritage in digital formats.

Promoting Organic Farming in Africa for Niche Markets

FARA MEETING WITH AGRO ECO 18 NOVEMBER, 2008 Bo van Elzakker (BO) Director, Agro Eco Netherlands answers following questions:What is the experience with organic export crops?What are the major constraints?How can Africa be competitive?Which crops from Africa have a particular niche?Which African crops have been most successful on European markets?Will organic markets continue to grow?

African Biosafety Network Meeting

The African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) Regional Stakeholders' Meeting was held August 28-29, 2008 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. This is a follow-up on the activities under Phase I of ABNE and following the countries consultation on regulatory needs and gaps. Among the expected outcomes of this meeting were: validate the inputs on needs and gaps obtained during the countries consultative processes; discuss and agree on the operationalization of ABNE; and share information on biosafety from countries that have functional biosafety frameworks.

The Africa Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) is a project of NEPAD Biosciences Initiative, which comprises a cluster of life sciences flagship programmes of the Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action, an African-led plan endorsed by the African Union Heads of State and Government. The objective of ABNE is to provide science-based information and technical support to the regulatory agencies of various countries in Africa.

Content management for African biological farming

The INFONET-BioVision Information Platform aims to strengthen sustainable development of farmers and rural communities in Africa by making information on key topics available through an internet platform and other creative solutions and dissemination strategies.

The information platform is used as a resource pool for disseminating information inside and outside the internet through active cooperation with partner organizations and local farmer- and women's groups and with information and communication technologies (ICTs).

The core concept of Infonet-BioVision is the database with its processed information and pre-defined structure which facilitates the rapid and easy incorporation of new data. As the needs of users with varying levels of knowledge and experience ought to be catered for, the platform around the database is conceived in such a way that the users can access its content through different entry points. These include databases on sustainable pest and crop management, animal, human and environment as well as training modules in these areas. Furthermore, it will be possible for the users to send feedback information to the project team-members regarding their experiences.

Hereafter follows an interview with a representative of AVALLAIN/Enhancing education who made a presentation during the e-Learning Africa 2008 conference on 30/05/2008



He explains how on the platform you can find local relevant and effective information with contributions of farmer groups, local experts and international scientists on:

• organic agriculture and crop husbandry for food security
• effective ecological prevention and control of plant-, human- and animal targeting pests and diseases
• simple and environmentally safe technologies and approaches to improve your life and generate income while at the same time protecting the environment and the natural resources

Patenting climate genes

Less than a dozen companies have filed 532 patents for plant genes designed to tolerate extreme weather and environmental conditions. While the biotech crops are designed to better survive conditions brought on by climate change, a report looking at the patents warns of how a gene patent monopoly could harm farmers.

"Patenting the 'Climate Genes' and Capturing the Climate Agenda" was complied by the ETC Group, a Canadian-based non-governmental organization focused on socially responsible development related to culture, ecological diversity and human rights.

ETC Group notes that in some cases the companies are working with organizations, research groups and philanthropists. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing a $47 million grant for Monsanto and BASF to develop drought-tolerant corn for use in the southern African countries of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa.

The ETC Group urges for governments meeting at the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn (May 19-30) and at the joint United Nations-FAO High-Level Conference on World Food Security and the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy (3-5 June 2008) to recommend that governments suspend the granting of all patents on climate change-related genes and traits.

Some experts say that both sides have oversimplified the pros and cons of biotech crop patents. "I don't mind Monsanto developing these tools. I mind that we don't have an economic ecology that lets other companies compete with them," said Richard Jefferson, founder and chief executive of Cambia, a nonprofit institute based in Australia that helps companies worldwide sort through patent holdings so they can build on one another's work instead of stymieing one another. Under the current system for patenting genes, he said, "the little guys shake out and the big guys end up in a place a lot like a cartel." Jefferson characterized the ETC report as extreme in its anti-corporate views but praised it for drawing attention to what he said is a real problem of corporate consolidation in the seed industry. Happily, he said, patent offices are "getting a lot better" about not allowing overly broad gene patents.

References:

Communique ETC group 13/05

GreenBiz 15/05 Patents for Crop Genes Tolerant of Climate Change Tops 530

Washington Post 13/05 Firms Seek Patents on 'Climate Ready' Altered Crops

Related:

29/05 Business Daily Africa Debate on GM crops rages on as Bill comes under scrutiny

01/06 CheckBiotech Patent policy and sustainable cellulosic biofuels development
National patents and international rules on patents will be instrumental in the development of biofuels markets—defining how fast that development takes place and who controls and benefits from the next wave of biofuels.

03/06 GGIAR story of the Month June 2008: Fighting for Fair Use of Plant Genetic Resources A nearly 8-year effort to redress a notorious act of biopiracy finally achieved its objective on April 29, 2008, when the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced it was definitely rejecting all patent claims for a yellow-seeded variety of common bean named "Enola".

BBC 30/05 Could GM crops help feed Africa?
In the final part of his series on whether genetically modified food can help solve the world food crisis, BBC News rural affairs correspondent Jeremy Cooke reports from Uganda.

Announcement:

The next FARA Bulletin issue (April-May) will have a thematic focus agriculture and Intellectual Property Rights

3rd Fair Trade International Symposium

• 
  14-16 May. After the first two Fair Trade symposium held in Montréal in 2002 and 2006, the 3rd International Symposium was held in Montpellier on the theme ‘New dimensions in fair trade: implications and challenges’.
  
  A Web Symposium was organised to make the Symposium more accessible to distant auditors and to reduce the ecological cost of international travels.
  
  Hereafter an overview of the (heavily under-represented) African contributions:
  
• Le commerce équitable : une étape vers l’amélioration des conditions de vie des petits producteurs du Sud ? Le cas de Fédolive au Maroc ; CHOHIN-KUPER A. & KEMMOUN H. ; CAP Rural, Meknès, Maroc
• South african fair trade Rooibos Tea : chalenges of the US Market; NGCWANGU S.U. ; Univ. Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa

"Planet Diversity" The World Congress in the Future of Food and Agriculture

550 participants from 90 countries met from May 12 -15 in Bonn; Germany for a world congress on the future of food and agriculture. It is an alternative summit to the UN Convention on Biodiversity and the Biosafety Protocol meeting. The fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 4) is held in Bonn, Germany, from 12 to 16 May 2008. The ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) will be held in Bonn, Germany, from 19 to 30 May 2008.

African member of the organisation committee:

• Juan Lopez Villar, Friends of the Earth International, Angola
• Meriem Louanchi, AREA-ED Association de Réflexion, d'Échanges et d'Actions pour l'Environnement et le Développement, Algeria
• Sue Edwards, Institute for Sustainable Development, Ethiopia
• Ibrahim Ouedraogo, COPAGEN, Ivory Coast
• Mamadou Goita, IRPAD, Forum Nyeleni, Mali
• Mamadou Lamine Coulibaly, représentant des Organisations productirces de bananes auprès de la Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes du Mali, Mali
• Mariam Mayet, African Centre for Biosafety, South Africa
• Leslie Lidell, BioWatch Southafrica, South Africa
• Marjorie Chola Chonya, Participatory Ecological Land Use Management, PELUM, Zambia
• Andrew Mushita, Community Technology Development Trust, Zimbabwe
• Cathy Rutivi, Consumers International Africa, Zimbabwe

Presentation from Africa:

• Africa needs smart technologies, not GMOs: Dr. Coulibali, Mali
• GMOs in Africa organised by IRPAD and Copagen, Mali
• Participatory breeding in Africa: Assétou Founé Samaké, Mali
• The small farmers' agenda: Mamadou Goita, Mali
• Education and Cultural Biodiversity: Million Belayin, Ethiopia
• Organic Agriculture, Abdoulaye Sarrin, Senegal
• Guinea Fowl Raising and Hunting: Romeo Mpoack, Cameroon

Related:

Press release Montreal 08/05 Secretariat Convention Biodiversity GERMANY HOSTS GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY - PROMOTING A GLOBAL RESPONSE FOR ADDRESSING THE UNPRECEDENTED LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY

La Présidence française du Conseil de l’Union européenne, en partenariat avec la Commission européenne et le Parlement européen organisera, au Parlement européen à Bruxelles le 3 juillet 2008, une conférence internationale intitulée « Qui va nourrir le monde ? Vers des agricultures diverses et durables, moteurs du développement ». Le programme de la conférence est maintenant disponible

Fellowship Positions Announcement: African Biosafety Network of Expertise

The Africa Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) is a project of NEPAD Biosciences Initiative, which comprises a cluster of life sciences flagship programmes of the Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action, an African-led plan endorsed by the African Union Heads of State and Government. The objective of ABNE is to provide science-based information and technical support to the regulatory agencies of various countries in Africa. This support will help regulators access the most up-to-date training, data, and resources needed to properly regulate biotechnologies, ensuring countries are able to take full advantage of advances while safeguarding consumers and the environment.

The grant is to support the first phase of a possible long-term project on biosafety. After completion of their training, the fellows may potentially serve as core network members.

Fellowship Positions: For this collaborative network we are seeking scientists or regulatory personnel with interest in developing a professional career in the areas of biosafety. Four fellowship positions are available in the following areas:
· Food Safety (1)
· Environmental Biosafety (1)
· Socioeconomic considerations (1)
· Legal aspects of biosafety (1)

Contact Details: Interested candidates should send a statement of interest (1-2 pages), Curriculum Vitae (CV) and contact details of three referees to the following addresses:
Network Director, West Africa Biosciences Network (WABNet), c/o CORAF/WECARD, BP 48-CP 18523 Dakar, Senegal; preferably via e-mail to: wabnet@nepadst.org

Closing date for submission of applications: 9th May 2008.

Related:
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and Michigan State University announced 25/02 a $1.5 million grant to MSU from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to bolster Africa’s biosafety expertise.