agricultural university

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. Commentin...

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 resilie...

13 March 2019.  Cairo. The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation launched the official site of the 8th African Agriculture Science Week (AASW8) and the FARA General Assembly (GA).  The event was coordinated by the Local Organizing Committee of AASW8 domiciled in the Egyptian Agricultural Research Council (ARC). While launching the site and registering as the first official participant to the Science Week, Professor Ezz El-Din Abusteiet, the Egyptian Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, conveyed the commitment of the Egyptian Government, under the leadership of His Excellency President Abdelfattah El-Sisi, to extend a helping hand to the rest of Africa in supporting Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) towards making the continent food and nutrition secure. Recognizing that the AASW8 is coming at a time when the Arab Republic of Egypt is at the presidency of the African Union, Prof. Abusteiet...

9-10 April 2019 . Cotonou, Benin. Experts at a Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) meeting have called for its integration into national agricultural development projects in order to reach millions of farmers across Africa. The meeting brought together ministerial level government representatives and experts from AfDB, IITA and the other implementing agencies of the TAAT programme. The main objective of the programme is to improve the business of agriculture across Africa by raising agricultural productivity, mitigating risks and promoting diversification and processing in 18 agricultural value chains within eight Priority Intervention Areas (PIA). An innovative combination of technical expertise, finance and political will to transform  African agriculture. The transformation of agriculture will not be possible without the help of adapted technologies. To achieve our objectives, we must be able to wisely combine political will, favorable economi...

"Since I started at WRENmedia, International Women’s Day has taken on a whole new meaning. It is now a key event in the calendar to celebrate women leaders across the globe that we have featured in Spore magazine, as well as an opportunity for us to explore what more needs to be done to promote gender equality in the agricultural sector. With this in mind, I thought it would be a good occasion to look back at some of the inspiring women that I have been fortunate enough to work with over the last two years." Vesta Nunoo, Grants Manager, FARA Photo by Benjamin Abugri, FARA Vesta Nunoo, Grant Manager, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) "Sophie and I had the delight of meeting Vesta when we traveled to Benin in October 2017 to report on the capitalisation workshop of the Platform for African-European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD). In a room full of mostly male researchers, Vesta radiated con...

11 February 2019.  Accra, Ghana. In recognition of the gap in access and participation in science for women and girls, the United Nation (UN) adopted a resolution in December 22nd of 2015, to make every 11th of February the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. While the current decade has witnessed significant progress in mainstreaming gender through engagement of women and girls in science, much is left to be desired. For example, only around 30% of females study Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) related courses in higher institutions. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where women represent about 50% of the workforce in agriculture, only one in four agricultural researchers is female , with very few in leadership positions. In sustaining the momentum of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP), as underpinned by the African Union Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the FARA recognizes the role of ma...

13 January 2019 . Hyderabad, India. The largest agriculture associations in Africa and Asia signed an agreement for diversifying major food staples. Associations including the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), Food Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) got together to form the Smart Food Executive Council. The Smart Food Executive Council has been formed under the aegis of the Smart Food Initiative that was launched in 2013 and stemmed from the strategic thinking around the need for food that fulfils the criteria of being good for the consumer, good for the planet and good for the farmer. A major objective under the initiative is to diversify staples which can have the strongest impact on nutritio...

22-23 November 2018 . Salvador, Bahia/Brazil.  6th Brazil Africa Forum . Youth Empowerment: Transformation to Achieve Sustainable Transformation Extract of the programme  22 November. BRAZIL-AFRICA AGRIBUSINESS AND INNOVATION NETWORK (BRAIN) & 8TH AFRICA AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE WEEK (AASW8) BRAZIL COUNTDOWN Side Event organized by FARA 23 November. YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE: SUSTAINABILITY AND FOOD SECURITY IMPROVEMENT Special Address by Gilbert Houngbo | President of The International Fund for Agricultural Development – IFAD (Video message) Moderator:  Bronwyn Nielsen | Editor at Large of CNBC Africa Yemi Akinbamijo | Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Livio Vanghetti | Vice President Global Partnership and Cooperation of Philip Morris International Daniel Balaban | Director of WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger Claus Reiner | Country Director of IFAD Higino Francisco de Marrule |Minister of Agriculture and Food S...

21-23 November 2018. Rome, Italy. The International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers : Unlocking the potential of agricultural innovation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”. See the Concept Note . #agInnovation @_MarcoGualtieri  said: Investments in #foodtech and #AgTech are growing, but we are just at the beginning of the beginning. And this is the good news! @FAO @FAOKnowledge @FAOnews Innovation is the central driving force which will transform food systems, lift family farmers out of poverty and help the world to achieve food security, sustainable agriculture and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Symposium provide inspiration for innovation actors and decision-makers and, among other things, will celebrate inspiring success stories of innovators, acting as catalyst for boosting partnerships as well as public and private investments to foster and scale up agricultural innovation. Objectives of the Symposium Serve as a global kn...