agricultural university

11-15 March 2019 . Nairobi. Fourth biennial United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) . The assembly focused on innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production .  Increasing numbers of consumers are aware of the importance of their consumption choices and care about environmental issues. For some, sustainable consumption means to purchase less, to select environmentally friendly products that are the result of fair trade or to share purchased goods. However, many do not translate their concerns into action as, for example, the purchase-decision making process is far more complicated and relies on social, political, economic and psychological factors, as well as on the price of the product. For people who want to pursue more sustainable living, in many cases, better options are not available, affordable, or effective. Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Consumption The multi-stakeholder dialogue provided an opportunity to discuss how publi

31 March - 4 April 2019.  Cairo.  Land and Water Days in the NENA Region 2019 It is five years since the first Near East and North Africa Land and Water Days took place in Amman, Jordan, 15-18 December 2013. At this event, FAO and its partners established the Water Scarcity Initiative along with its Regional Collaborative Strategy and Partnership. The Near East and North Africa Land and Water Days will review the progress made in addressing water scarcity in the region, foster exchange of knowledge and experience among countries and partners and chart the way forward taking into account the lessons learned. Thematic areas: Pathways to sustainable scarce-water-resources management Halting land degradation Land and Water Governance to achieve the SDGs in fragile systems Impacts of climate change on regional development and prospects for increased resilience Outlook and prospects: scaling-up investments in water for agriculture Extract of the programme 31 March.  Plenary Session 1:  Water

25-29 March 2019. Bilbao, Spain. The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the  Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028 on 20 December 2017 in order to improve the position of family farmers in all five (5) continents. The VI Global Conference on Family Farming is a preparatory event of the launching of the Decade, to be held in Rome weeks later . Both occasions are part of a process to build a solid, multi-stakeholder and participatory Agenda for the Decade of Family Farming. #FamilyFarmingDecade #VIConferenceWFR The objectives of the VI Global Conference are as follows: Contribute to design the official Decade Agenda for the national, regional and global levels by developing quality inputs for the Action Plan of the Decade of Family Farming. Facilitate dialogue, new partnerships and the involvement of new actors in the Decade (governments, farmers organizations, international organizations, rural associations, cooperatives, research centers, other CSOs, etc), to promote the

Executives of the  Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) , the apex organ of the African Union Commission, responsible for coordinating agricultural research for development in Africa, led by its Executive Director, Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, paid a courtesy call on the Egyptian Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Emad Magdy Hanna in Accra. The delegation which was also made up of Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Director of Stakeholder Engagements and Communication and Mr. Christoph Essikpe, Communications Specialist for FARA, briefed His Excellency the Ambassador on the activities of FARA since the signing of its Headquarters Agreement with the Ghanaian government in 2002. The Executive Director of FARA also used the opportunity to announce the impending 8th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW8), scheduled for October 28 to 30, 2019 in Cairo, Egypt and to seek the embassy’s assistance to facilitate movement of FARA staff and participants from Ghana to the event. Commenting on the role of FARA as a ch

Geneva: 21st March 2019 With the launch of the Africa Continental Free Area (AfCFTA) negotiations, the African Union (AU) has demonstrated commitment to the creation of a levelled playing field for food businesses and promoting consumer protection, animal health and welfare. These can be achieved through the implementation of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) programs in Africa in line with the World Trade Organization (WTO) SPS Agreement. The WTO SPS Agreement enjoins governments to base their SPS measures on international standards, guidelines, and recommendations developed by international standard setting organizations (FAO, WHO and Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex). As the apex body for Agricultural Research in Africa and the technical arm of the African Union Commission on matters concerning Agricultural Research and Development, the  Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)  called for stronger alignment to the Science Agenda for Agriculture (S3A) in implementing SPS

18-22 March 2019.  Accra, Ghana.  Africa Climate Week . the Africa Climate Week (ACW) 2019 was convene in the lead-up to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in September 2019, bringing together diverse actors from the public and private sectors. Participants will focused on how engagement between Parties and non-Party stakeholders can be further strengthened in key sectors for Africa, including energy, agriculture and human settlements. The event showcased the role of future carbon markets to enhance climate action towards the goal of sustainable development, and seek to facilitate implementation of countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement on climate change and SDG 13 (climate action), among other Goals. Extract of the programme: 18/03 Stepping Up Action to Build Climate Resilient Agriculture and Food Systems in Africa  The purpose of the event is to identify the opportunities for increased ambition in building climate resilient agriculture

Operational Manual, Farmer Marketing Schools. A facilitator’s guide (ADRA 2019)  (ADRA 2017, revised version 2019, 52 pages ) It is a comprehensive training manual that sets out the FMS objectives, provides a detailed description of the content of FMS facilitators training, and an operationalized step-by-step practical guide for setting up FMS .  Facilitator training comprises four stages: (i) preparatory activities; (ii) theoretical understanding of a market value chain (covering six technical themes); (iii) a practical interactive module where participants, through discovery learning, learn about the market; and (iv) monitoring learning loops. To be engaged with the market requires much more than just removing the middleman, actually not necessarily a good idea, because the middleman has a function in the value chain by bringing goods from A to B, without which the chain would not function. The farmer needs market skills, must be market ready, before s/he can maneuver and benefit fr

21 March 2019 . The UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests in 2012. The Day celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. On each International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns. The theme for each International Day of Forests is chosen by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), whose members agreed in 2017 that the Day’s theme would provide an opportunity to highlight specific forest contributions to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by considering topics of the annual sessions of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). Related: In a press article release of 11/02 the NASA claimed that the Earth is greener today than 20 years ago thanks to China and India. The world is literally a greener place than it was 20 years ago, and data from

19 - 22 March 2019 . Praia, Cabo Verde.  International Forum on Water Scarcity in Agriculture . The objective of the forum was to identify concrete - practical, innovative and collaborative - solutions to address  water scarcity in agriculture in a changing climate . With a focus on Cabo Verde, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and West African countries, the forum is expected to illustrate how water scarcity in agriculture can be addressed and turned into an opportunity for sustainable development, food and nutrition security. #WASAG As the availability of freshwater decreases due to population growth, urbanization and changing living standards-we see an increase in agricultural, industrial and energy requirements. This struggle for balance is our greatest challenge. Dry areas tend to become drier; droughts tend to become more frequent and severe; and coastal areas more affected by, among other things, seawater intrusion due to rising sea level. Agriculture is by far the most aff

Bishaw, Z., Yigezu, Y. A., Niane, A., Telleria, R. J., Najjar, D. (eds). 2019. Political Economy of the Wheat Sector in Morocco: Seed Systems, Varietal Adoption, and Impacts International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Beirut, Lebanon. 300 pp. This book, documents the studies conducted on the wheat sector in general. It also documents the wheat seed system, its adoption and impacts in Morocco, through support provided by the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Wheat and the European Union-International Fund for Agricultural Development (EU-IFAD) Project. The experiences documented in this book are expected to inform stakeholders – including policy makers, researchers, farmers, private and public commercial farms, and development partners – about the status, challenges, and opportunities in the wheat sector in Morocco.

WWAP (UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme). 2019. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2019: Leaving No One Behind. Paris, UNESCO . 202 pages 19 March 2019 . Geneva. Launch of the  United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR) - the flagship publication of UN-Water on the state of global freshwater resources. Listen to live audio: 16h00 - 17:45 local time # WorldWaterDay UN World Water Development Report 2019: Leaving No One Behind You can download the report when you click on the  download icon ( right upper on your screen  of the online versions: English | Français | Español (pdf) Executive Summary English | Français | Español | Русский | ا لعربية | 中文 (pdf) Italiano | Português | ภาษาไทย | Deutsch | Korean (pdf) Main messages English (pdf) Facts and Figures English | Français | Español (pdf) Italiano | Português (pdf) Media corner | Global launch | Regional launches Improved water resources management and access to safe water and sanitat

18 March 2019 . Abidjan.  The Malabo Montpellier Panel: High Level Policy Innovation through evidence and dialogue in agriculture This event co-organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Malabo Montpellier Panel in Abidjan, Côte d'ivoire, covered the thematic areas covered under the Panel’s first three reports and bring together members of the Panel to present the key findings and recommendations, and to exchange with the experts at the AfDB. They also discussed the way forward regarding the appropriation of the outcome of the reports by policy makers and planners in order to  inform policy reforms and investments to be supported by the Bank and other Development Partners.  Particularly, the discussion focused on the communication approach followed by the Panel so far and identifies possible improvement if necessary. Finally, during the event some insights on  priority topics for future reports  by the Panel were discussed. Since January 2017, the Malabo Montpellier P

14 March 2019 . Casablanca Morocco. 6th edition of the International Africa Development Forum under the theme « When East meets West » , organized by the Attijariwafa bank group and under the impetus of its reference shareholder, the Pan-African Private Investment Fund Al Mada, was opened today Launched in 2010, and taking place annually since 2015, the Africa Development Forum has established itself as the reference platform for dialogue, investment promotion and intra-African trade. From one edition to the next, the Forum has provided many opportunities for exchanges and investments between economic operators on the continent and its partners. Since its creation, the Forum has brought together more than 7,500 operators from 36 countries and generated more than 17,000 business meetings. This edition is also marked by the presence of many ministers from several countries of the Continent. « While the global economy experienced a period of expansion in 2018, the world seems to have once

16-17 March 2019.  Cairo, Egypt.   5th General Assembly of the Arab Water Council  . During this triennial event, more than 400 members and experts representing 25 countries and several regional and international organizations gathered to get acquainted with the Council achievements since the last meeting of the GA in February 2016, and discussed the way forward by approving the Council’s future Work Plan for the next term 2019-2021, and to elect its Board of Governors for the forthcoming mandate until 2021. The water problems are numerous, especially in the Arab region, given the growing population growth, the Arab region is an arid region and there is an increasing impact of climate change on food safety. Arab countries import more than 50% of their food from abroad. The water situation in the region is critical and requires measures, partnerships and non-traditional solutions to address these challenges. It is time for the Arabs to accept these challenges.   Ahmed Aboul Gheit  Secre