FARA weekly update

Dear All,

Please find below a summary of announcements received through the week. Thank you.

1.       News and Events

a.      Invitation to WCCA2011 Workshop at Namibia Conference in July 2011

b.      Call for Concept Notes -Staple Crops. Download application format

c.       Newsletter from the NEPAD Agency

d.      International Conference and Exhibition on AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY IN AFRICA:FOSTERING INNOVATION. May 12-15, 2011, Addis Ababa

e.      Message from Alain Destexhe, MP, new Chair of the Parliamentary Network of the World Bank.

f.        How ICTs are empowering people across Africa –The eLearning Africa Photo Competition 2011

g.      4th COMESA Investment Forum, March 23-24 2011, Dubai

h.      Call for Papers- 3rd Annual Energy and Climate Change Conference invitation

i.        Registration Form – AFAAS Symposium, 12-14 April 2011 Alisa Hotel, Accra

j.        Call for Papers: IJSTER will cover all areas of science and technology education. The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence in this subject area, and will publish.

2.       Opportunities

a.      International training program on" DSSAT 2011", USA, May 9-19, 2011

b.      DHS 2011 Short-term Junior Faculty Fellowship program in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda , Malawi and Tanzania

c.       The United Nations University- Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) is initiating a Visiting Scholars Program.

HUNGER - Dokumentarfilm

Am 25. Oktober 2010 sendet die ARD den Film Hunger. 
Die vielen Gesichter des Hungers

Der 90-minütige Dokumentarfilm "Hunger" erzählt, wie Menschen, Gruppen und Organisationen darum ringen, eines der schlimmsten sozialen, politischen und ökonomischen Probleme unserer Tage zu lösen: den Hunger in der
Welt. In fünf Ländern stellen Marcus Vetter und Karin Steinberger die Frage, wie Menschen mit dem Hunger leben, und warum so viele Konzepte der Entwicklungspolitik versagt haben. Von Haiti, wo die mittellosen Bauern mit den Zauberworten Freihandelspolitik und Strukturanpassung gelockt wurden, bis nach Kenia, wo ganze Landstriche seit Jahren von Lebensmittelhilfe abhängig sind.

Man kennt das Bild mittlerweile. Ein Boot voller Menschen am Touristenstrand auf Gran Canaria. Sie schleppen sich durch den Sand, halb verhungert, bleiben einfach liegen und schauen auf die unter Sonnenschirmen liegenden Touristen. Sie sind Boten eines explosionsartigen Bevölkerungswachstums, das zu 95 Prozent in den Entwicklungsländern stattfindet. Sie zahlen ein Vermögen, um auf überfüllten Fischerbooten in eine Welt überzusetzen, die sie nicht kennen, aber von der sie wunderbare Dinge gehört haben. Unvorstellbaren Reichtum glauben sie dort zu finden, und Glück. Was aber treibt Menschen dazu, ihre Familien und ihre Heimat zurückzulassen und ihr Leben für eine ungewisse Zukunft zu riskieren?

Fünf Länder – Fünf Hintergründe

Warum ist die Bekämpfung von Hunger so schwierig? Fakt ist: Es werden zehn Prozent mehr Lebensmittel produziert als man benötigt, um alle Menschen satt zu bekommen. Marcus Vetter und Karin Steinberger sind in fünf Ländern auf Spurensuche gewesen: Was sind die Gründe für Hunger?

• Mauretanien
• Kenia
• Indien
• Brasilien
• Haiti

Schon vor dem verheerenden Erdbeben im Januar 2010 war Haiti eines der ärmsten Länder der Welt. Auf Druck des Auslands hatte sich Haiti dem weltweiten Handel geöffnet. Die Folge: Billiger US-amerikanischer Reis kam ins Land, mit dem die einheimischen Reisbauern nicht konkurrieren konnten. Unzählige Kleinbauern und Landarbeiter haben ihre Dörfer verlassen und wohnen ohne jede Existenzgrundlage in den Slums der Hauptstadt Port-au-Prince. Doch es gibt auch positive Signale: Die einheimische Nichtregierungsorganisation "Buy local Haiti" ermutigt die Menschen, wieder selbst Nahrungsmittel zu produzieren und auch einheimische Produkte zu kaufen.

Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health: IFPRI 2020 conference in India

February 10 - 12, 2011 Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health: IFPRI 2020 conference at a glance

Download 2020 Conference at a Glance: PDF format 860K) or PPT format (1.5M)

Presentations on Africa:
2A. Cutting Health Risks Along the Value Chain
Incentives to Develop Consumer Demand for Quality Food: Supply Perspectives

Apollo O. Owuor, Agronomy Manager, Kenya Horticultural Exporters Ltd, Kenya

Summary Note

2B. Learning from Country Case Studies

Ghana: Anna Lartey, Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana and President-Elect, International Union of Nutritional Sciences (2009-2013), Ghana

Summary Note | Presentation

Panel Discussion: Innovative Approaches and Initiatives for Better Linking Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health

View all video from this panel

Ajay Vashee, President, Zambia National Farmers Union, Zambia

Summary Note

Ministerial Panel

Agnes M. Kalibata, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Rwanda

Parallel Session 4A: Africa:

Chair: Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union, Ethiopia

Summary Note

Perspectives from

Rosanna Agble, Former Chief Nutrition Officer, Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Health, Ghana

Summary Note

Tola Atinmo, Professor, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan and President, Federation of African Nutrition Societies (FANUS), Nigeria

Summary Note

Joyce Kinabo, Associate Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania

Summary Note

Ismael Thiam, Program Officer, Non-Communicable Diseases and Nutrition and Food Security, West African Health Organization (WAHO)of The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Burkina Faso

Summary Note

Milla McLachlan, Professor, Division of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Summary Note

Rapporteur: Catherine Riungu, Journalist, Nation Media Group, Kenya

Video remarks from Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate in Literature from Nigeria, at the IFPRI 2020 Conference on "Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health," February 11, 2011, New Delhi, India.

Announcement: Third AFAAS symposium

Theme: Going beyond production agriculture for smallholder farmers

12-14 April 2011, Alisa Hotel, Accra, Ghana 

The symposium’s purpose is to share information, knowledge and good practice, stimulate Country Fora, and operationalise AFAAS as a continental institution for linking AAS actors. It will build on previous symposia organized by AFAAS in 2004 and 2006 that brought together over 400 participants from different countries on the continent. After the symposium, AFAAS will hold its General Assembly on 14^th April 2011 to strengthen its governance and institutional structures.

Theme and subthemes of the Symposium

1.      Market-oriented agricultural advisory services (MOAAS)

2.      Value chain approach to agricultural development and implications for AAS

3.      Mainstreaming gender issues in advisory services

4.      Climate change as an emerging issue  and its implications for AAS

5.      Use of information and communications technology (ICT) in advisory services

Specific objectives

1. Share country experiences and innovations in AAS delivery
2. Analyze emerging issues and innovative approaches in the identified thematic areas and their implications for AAS
3. Streamline AFAAS institutional structures and governance to become more responsive to the continental demands and emerging issues.

Expected Outputs

• Lessons and experienced shared and concrete evidence presented to  a wide array of AAS actors and policy makers.
• Emerging issues and innovation approaches in identified thematic areas and their implications to AAS analysed.
• Strategies on how to respond to continental demands and emerging issues in AAS identified and defined.

Participants

Participants are expected from within and outside Africa. The symposium will target primarily extension practitioners from public, private and civil society organizations, farmers and representatives of farmers’ organizations and commodity associations, policy makers, the research and development community, academia, the media and development partners.

For further information contact: AFAAS Secretariat:  Kampala, Uganda, Tel: +256-31 2 313400 Email: mailto:afaas@afaas-africa.org, copied to: molupot@afaas-africa.org Website:  / www.fara-africa.org/www.afaas-africa.org

Announcement: The 7 th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform Meeting

7th CAADP Partnership Platform Meeting

Yaoundé, 23 - 25 March 2011

7th CAADP Partnership Platform Meeting

The 7th CAADP Partnership Platform (CAADP PP) Meeting, 23-25 March 2011; Yaoundé, Cameroon

The African Union Commission (AUC) and NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) will hold The 7^th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform (PP) Meeting from the 23rd to 25th March 2011 at Hilton Hotel in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The Cameroon Government in liaison with ECCAS will host the Meeting

The 7th CAADP PP will be structured as follows:

23^rd – 24^th March: The CAADP PP (attendance Open to all)

25^th March:          CAADP PP Business Meeting (Attendance by invitation)

The theme of the meeting is: “Mutual Accountability in the formulation and implementation of country CAADP investment plans”

Click here for the Tentative agenda