PRESS RELEASE 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week Africa Agriculture Science Week closes with renewed focus on ‘Africa Feeding Africa through Agricultural Science & Innovation’ 20th July, 2013: The 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW), hosted by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), in collaboration with the Government of Ghana, closed today (20th July) amid fanfare and celebrations. This was the most well attended AASW ever, with 1,334 participants attending including Ministers, Parliamentarians, Scientific Researchers, Farmers, extensionists, civil society and development partners. Through side-events, exhibitions and plenary sessions the Week focused on the theme of “Africa Feeding Africa through Agricultural Science and Innovation” and examined the sub-themes of education and human resource development, innovations to improve productivity and resilience, moving from competition to collaboration and innovative financing and investment in agriculture. With the target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) drawing nearer, the discussions on innovations to improve productivity, resilience, collaborations, capacity building and investments in African agriculture were particularly pertinent. The implementation of the recommendations that emanated from these discussions will prove critical in the coming years. Speaking at the closing of AASW, Dr. Tiemoko Yo, Chairperson of FARA said: “To enable a food secure Africa, it is imperative to increase productivity and intensification through science and innovations”. Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), who delivered the keynote address on Thursday 18th July, said: “To address the world’s challenges, we must continue to push the frontiers of science, knowledge and experimentation, while ensuring our natural resources are not depleted. But most importantly, we must be looking at new and creative ways to make these technologies and developments affordable and accessible to respond to the reality of the small farmer, fisher and pastoralist, who are feeding more than 2 billion people.” The 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week closed with a Business Meeting. It featured a handing over ceremony that heralded a new Chairperson of the FARA Board, Dr. Charity Kruger and a new Executive Director, Dr. Oseyemi Akinbamijo who comes from the Africa Union. Speaking at the handing over ceremony Prof. Monty Jones who is stepping down after eleven years of dedicated service stated that “FARA has made significant achievements in a short period of eleven years through the contribution of all staff and stakeholders and I would encourage everyone to remain dedicated to building a better FARA and a stronger agricultural sector in Africa”. The Business Meeting also featured the presentation of the Science Competition Award for Young Professional Women in Science; Awards for Young Social Media Reporters; a Film festival prize; a Media Prize and the presentation of Gender Mainstreaming Certificates. ENDS ABOUT FARA The Forum for Agricultural research in Africa (FARA) is an apex organization bringing together and forming coalitions of major stakeholders in agricultural research and development in Africa. It is a strategic platform that fosters continental and global networking to reinforce the capacities of Africa’s agricultural science and innovation community from research, education/training, extension and civil society engaged in agriculture. Established in 2001, the Forum encompasses all stakeholders, African and non-African, who are committed to enabling African agricultural development and the achievement of the MDGs, especially MDG1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger) and MDG7 (ensure environmental stability). FARA’s Vision: To reduce poverty in Africa as a result of sustainable broad-based agricultural growth and improved livelihoods, particularly of smallholder and pastoral enterprises. FARA’s Mission: To create broad-based improvements in agricultural productivity, competitiveness and markets by supporting Africa’s sub-regional organizations in strengthening capacity for agricultural innovation. FARA’s Value Proposition: To provide a strategic platform that fosters continental and global networking that reinforces the capacities of Africa’s national agricultural research systems and sub-regional organizations. For more information about the Week, including a full agenda, please visit fara-africa.org/scienceweek/
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 11:11:07 +0000
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