The International Society of Organic Argicultural Research organised in Modena, Italy, June 17 and 18, 2008.

The congres allowed researchers and other organic stakeholders to update their knowledge on specific areas of expertise and to identify bottlenecks and research needs.
Discussion on the importance of collective marketing actions in organic farmingIdentification of differences among

The ongoing food crisis presents an opportune moment for Southern Africa to review its policies and put in place long term strategies that will make the region food secure.
The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) is convening a Board and Partners meeting to update its current and potential partners on its programmes. The one-day stakeholder meeting will be

Click to Play This video is an advertisement for the use of mobile payments. It was presented during the "Partnership Forum for Making Finance Work for Africa" in Accra on June 17 2008.

18-20 June. Rome, Italy. AgriBusiness 2008 aims at contributing to the growth & wealth of Africa by a further development of its agro-food industry, with the expertise, experience and involvement of knowledgeable individuals and institutions. FARA will be part of a group discussing research and innovation for a sustainable growth in agriculture: best practices and experiences learnt.

Forum's

AERC will convene an International Conference on Climate Change and Economic Development as part of its 20th Anniversary activities. For presentation at the conference, papers are invited in the following areas:

1. Climate Change , Poverty, Income Distribution and Labour Market Issues
2. Climate Change, Macroeconomic Policies, Investment and Growth
3. Climate Change, Finance and Resource

La Faculté de foresterie (FdeF) of the Universite de Moncton, Campus d'Edmundston, Nouveau-Brunswick in Canada offers a distance learningprogramme on agroforestry. Le programme de baccalauréat en sciences forestières de cinq ans permet aux étudiants et étudiantes d'acquérir des connaissances sur les aspects environnementaux, biologiques, socio-économiques et technologiques reliés à la foresterie.

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

16-18 June. Maputo, Mozambique. A conference was organised under an IFAD funded project, implemented by the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), under the framework of the Global NonTimber Forest Products (NTFP) Partnership.

The Global Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) Partnership aims to link global, regional, and national organizations currently engaged in research and

More than 250 senior level financial sector champions, from over 30 countries, have met at the "Partnership Forum for Making Finance Work for Africa" in Accra from June 17 to 18.

At the partnership forum, leaders of African and international financial institutions, government officials, central bankers, prominent researchers and international experts discussed the priorities for developing

Lifelines was launched in October 2006 through a partnership between Cisco, British Telecom, and OneWorld. The goal of Lifelines is to help rural farmers in India improve their efficiency and earning potential by providing critical and timely answers to agricultural and veterinary questions. Roughly 65 percent of workers in India are farmers, so crop failures or cattle illnesses can be

Regional Consultative Workshops for Southern Africa: Tanzania 17/06/08 to 20/06/08

The EU-funded (€ 45M) “All ACP Agricultural Commodities Programme” (AAACP) became operational in September 2007 following a long gestation period.The overall objective of this EU-funded programme is to improve incomes and livelihoods for ACP producers of traditional and other agricultural commodities, and to

A US$50m fund for innovative business ideas has been launched in Accra on 12/06. The fund, Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), is a private sector fund, backed by some of the biggest names in development finance and hosted by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The African Development Bank (ADB), the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the UK Department for

Commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Danemark, the Institute of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, has elaborated “A note on the causes and consequences of the rapidly increasing international food prices”.

The report will contribute to the Ministry’s general assessment of the global food situation – and to the debate on the key issues to be addressed in a

A paper Knowledge-based food democracy, the way out of the African food crisis: realising the potential of the NARS, SROs and FARA was drafted by FARA as a lot is being spent on yet another World Food Summit: this time, to consider what should be done about the global food crisis. [hereunder some extracts]

It is possible that delegates now have a better sense of urgency because the

Interview with Stephen Muchiri, Chief Executive Officer, Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF).

The Eastern African Farmers Federation was formed in 2001 and its chapter registered in member counties. EAFF is a non-political, non-profit and a democratic apex organization of all Framers of Eastern Africa. Its role is to voice legitimate concerns and interests of farmers of the region with the

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 definitively rejecting all patent claims for a yellow-seeded variety of common bean named ‘Enola’.

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which has a world mandate for common bean

06 Jun 2008 At the recent World Food Summit in Rome, Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, announced that DFID will provide £150 million to support international agricultural research over the next five years. £130 million of this is allocated to the Consultative Group for International Agricultural research (CGIAR) and the balance to other international

Delegations from 130 member countries of the Group of 77 plus China are taking part in Yamoussoukro in the four-day meeting of the Group of 77 + China meeting, 11-14/06 which for the first time is being held in a sub-Saharan African country.

The meeting is being held at the Fondation Félix Houphouet-Boigny pour la recherche de la paix
The meeting is notably expected to review the implementation

9-12 June 2008, Cotonou - FAO and the Benin-based Africa Rice Center (WARDA) host a workshop to explore ways of significantly boosting the West Africa region’s rice production, to help local farmers benefit from high prices and wean those countries off of international rice imports.

The workshop in Benin is also organized in partnership with the International Center for Soil Fertility and

Meeting of FARA – AFAAS - Neuchâtel Initiative, Accra, 9 – 11/06/2008.

The general objectives of the meeting were: to identify and prioritize issues, ideas and activities for collaboration to determine thematic scope of the consultation to develop a list of selected AAS stakeholders, key informants, networks and processes (meetings, events) for later consultation activities in different African