April 2004
News from the Regional Fora
Sub-Saharan Africa
EuropeMapping the European ARD landscape
EARD-InfoSys+ launches its renewed website - new database open for entries now
EARD-InfoSys+ the web-based information system on European Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) launches its renewed website. At www.infosysplus.org new services and tools are provided to foster communication and facilitate research partnerships in the European ARD community.
The restructured database permits to explore the ARD landscape and offers an advanced search for organisations, projects, experts and funding opportunities in ARD. To increase ARD visibility the database also maps the relationship between organisations, their projects and activities and the involved experts. Important news and events in the field of ARD are displayed in the news & events section.
EARD-InfoSys+ is based on the contributions of its users. All stakeholders in ARD are welcome to present their expertise, promote their organisation and inform about their projects and activities.
Communicate within the European ARD community
To stay informed on latest news users can register for the EARD-InfoSys+ e-mail alert news service. They can define a profile of interest and will receive an e-mail with a direct link to new data sets as soon as information in their field of interest has been fed into the database.
By publishing information on EARD-InfoSys+ users can easily spread their news in the ARD community. Their information will be sent out via the e-mail alert news service to registered alert-users with a matching profile of interest.
For more information please go to www.infosysplus.org.
Marlene Horstmann
GARDEN-InfoSys+
Asia-PacificThe First Steering Committee Meeting of Asia-Pacific Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology (APCoAB)
Background
In the Seventh APAARI Executive Committee meeting held on 4th December 2003 at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, the members expressed their satisfaction relating to the efforts made by APAARI Executive Secretary to accelerate the process of establishing APCoAB. In view of general endorsement in the special session on APCoAB organized on 3rd December afternoon, it was decided to move ahead and establish APCoAB with effect from 1st January 2004. In this regard, the following specific decisions were taken:
- To start APCoAB through APAARI office in Bangkok and explore the possibilities of having a Secretariat located either with some member NARS or with some CG Centers
- APAARI to contribute a matching support of US$ 30,000 for the year 2004
- Establish a regular member-driven Steering Committee of APCoAB which includes APAARI chairperson and two other regular members and have its meeting convened during 1st half of 2004
- Initiate some selected activities based on a well-planned Road Map and Work Plan to be finalized in consultation with APAARI members themselves.
As a follow up of above decisions, the APAARI Executive Secretary, in close consultation with the APCoAB steering committee members, developed a draft road map and work plan for 2004. The steering committee members also decided to have the first meeting to modify the composition of steering committee; finalize the APCoAB secretariat establishment, workplan and budget for 2004; develop ToR for APCoAB Coordinator; and appoint a consultant for the first six months of APCoAB operation.
Accordingly, the steering committee members held a one-day meeting on 8th April 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand under the chairmanship of Dr. Mutsuo Iwamoto. The meeting participants included the present APCoAB steering committee members, NARS representatives from Thailand, and the APAARI secretariat staff.
Dr. Mutsuo Iwamoto delivered the Chairman's address and welcomed the participants to the meeting. Dr. R. S. Paroda presented a brief account of the earlier APCoAB related expert consultation and meetings. The meeting deliberated on following items.
Composition of Steering Committee
As per the decisions of the Seventh APAARI Executive Committee meeting, the composition of the steering committee was modified to increase NARS representation. Dr. William Dar, ICRISAT DG, proposed ICAR, India and DOA, Thailand to be included in the steering committee. Dr. Ola Smith, GFAR Executive Secretary, suggested that NGOs and farmers organizations should be represented separately as is done by GFAR. Dr. Malee Suwana-Adth of SVITA Foundation, representing NGOs, suggested that ANGOC, being a regional coalition of NGOs, is better suited as an APCoAB steering committee member. These three proposals were adopted unanimously. Hence the steering committee strength has increased to 11 and the current composition is as follows:
- Chairperson (APAARI Chair)
- Southeast NARS (DOA, Thailand)
- South Asia NARS (ICAR, India)
- FAO
- CG Centers (ICRISAT, IRRI or ISNAR)
- GFAR
- ISAAA
- Private Sector (Monsanto)
- NGOs (ANGOC)
- Farmers' Organizations
- Member Secretary, APCoAB Coordinator
Finalization of Workplan and Budget for 2004
Based on the draft work plan, APCoAB activities were grouped into two categories: immediate and regular activities. The immediate activities were those that need to be taken up before the end of the year 2004 so that APCoAB starts functioning and becomes visible to a wider group of potential stakeholders. These activities include:
- Establishment of Secretariat
- Organizing National Workshops on Initiatives in Selected NARS
- Building of NARS activity database
- Establishment of APCoAB Website
- Preparation of a marketable project proposal
- Popularizing APCoAB among all Stakeholders
It was felt that some of these activities could not be completed before the end of 2004, however, preparatory work on these should be started immediately.
The second group of activities defines the regular work program of APCoAB as proposed in the draft work plan prepared by APAARI Executive Secretary in close consultation with the steering committee members. These activities are further categorized under three main thrust areas of APCoAB as follows:
- Policy Advocacy
- Minister Level Dialogue by mid 2005
- Public Awareness and Capacity Building
- Success story dissemination
- Translation of Public Awareness Documents
- Scientific awareness and capacity building programs
- Curriculum development for biosafety
- Organizing Public Fora Meetings for Better Awareness
- Research Partnership and Information Dissemination
- Public - Private Partnership Consultations
- Research Partnerships among Institutions
It was suggested that APCoAB should embark upon its regular work program as early as possible. A general budget of USD128,000 for the year 2004 was approved with specific allocations for various activities.
Establishment of APCoAB Secretariat
The formal offers from ICRISAT and ABRII, Iran to host the APCoAB secretariat were discussed and it was decided that ICRISAT, working in close cooperation with several of APAARI member NARS, be given this opportunity.
ToR for APCoAB Coordinator
The ToR of the APCoAB Coordinator was discussed and the following terms emerged as essential to achieve the objectives of APCoAB:
- Assist in identifying the priority action program elements in line with the objectives of APCoAB in cooperation with all stakeholders and partners
- Coordinate and implement various activities of APCoAB, as per approved Workplan and establish close liaison with national, regional, international, FAO, Private Sector, NGO and other stakeholders
- Initiate development support activities through meeting with collaborating Biotech Centers and organizations in the participating countries
- Represent APCoAB in related Fora: Workshops, Seminars, Expert Consultations, or Conferences as considered necessary to pursue APCoAB objectives
- Assist in organizing APCoAB Expert Consultations, Training Program related to HRD, and organize regularly the Steering Committee Meetings and serve as its Member Secretary
- Bring out status reports, reviews, meeting reports, training guidelines, and synthesis reports in line with APCoAB objectives and work program
- Identify and develop research partnerships, information dissemination channels such as APCoAB Website, and also generate required resources
- Emphasize on the documentation of the APCoAB program of work accomplishments and Progress Report and disseminate the achievements widely
- Perform other duties as assigned by the APCoAB Executive Committee and APAARI Executive Secretary.
It was suggested that since ICRISAT will be hosting APCoAB, the recruitment procedure for hiring the APCoAB coordinator should be in accordance with those of the ICRISAT. In this regard, the ICRISAT DG was requested to guide the recruitment. The APAARI Executive Secretary suggested that a Vacancy Announcement advertisement could be circulated through APAARI contacts and the prospective candidates could be asked send their applications directly to ICRISAT DG.
Appointment of a Consultant
To accelerate the process of APCoAB functioning, it was considered necessary to hire a short-term consultant who could get the preparatory activities started before a regular APCoAB Coordinator is appointed. The participants were invited to propose suitable candidates for this consultancy assignment. Dr. William Dar and Dr. R. S. Paroda were requested to identify and appoint a suitable consultant.
Date and Venue for the next meeting
It was decided that the next APCoAB steering committee be held on the sidelines of the Eighth General Assembly of APAARI, which is planned to be organized from 1-4 December 2004 along with an expert consultation on post-harvest technologies in the Asia-Pacific region.
Raj Paroda
APAARI Executive Secretary
Central Asia & the CaucasusRegional Agricultural Information System For Central Asia and Caucasus Region Workshop
The Regional Agricultural Information System For Central Asia and Caucasus Region Workshop was sponsored by GFAR in the framework of the GLOBAL.RAIS project, and managed by CACAARI, with backstopping and effective support of CGIAR PFU in Tashkent. The meeting was held in Uzbekistan on 27-28 January 2004. The workshop report is available.
West Asia & North AfricaAARINENA 9th General Assembly
The AARINENA 9th General Conference was held at Sultanate of Oman between 11 and 13 April 2004 and was inaugurated by H.E. the Special Advisor to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Sayed who welcomed the participants. About 25 persons from 18 members participated in this biannual meeting.
Representatives from regional and International Organizations, other Regional Fora and Regional Networks participated in this conference and shared information on policies and future activities and programmes which they will implement to strengthen AARINENA. The RAIS and GLOBAL.RAIS initiative was extensively discussed during the meeting. The new version of AARINENA website developed with strong support from the GFAR Secretariat, was presented to the Conference. With regards to on-going activities on databases development, the Conference was informed that the AARINENA -RAIS Steering Committee will lead and drive the development of NARIs database.
Finally, the Conference was informed that the following activities will be carried out by AARINENA during the period 2004-2005:
1) AARINENA-RAIS will be strengthened
2) Current and on-going regional networks will be strengthened, these are: i) Global Date palm Network, and ii) INCANA
3) New regional networks will be established, including: i) Biotechnology Network in close relationship with AGERI (Egypt), and ii) Medicinal and Herbal Plants Network.
All of these activities are consistent with GFAR business plan for 2004-2006, which identified inter-regional collaboration as one of its main pillars. A new Executive Committee was elected at the end of the Conference and comprises the following members:
- Dr. Abdel Nabi Fardous (Mashreq, President)
- Dr. A. Al Bakri (Arabian Peninsula, Vice President)
- Dr. Hamid Narjisse (Maghreb, Member)
- Dr. Ismael Muharam (Nile Valley and Red Sea, Member)
- Dr. Mohammed Roozitalab (Western Asian, Member)
The 10th General Conference of AARINENA will be held in Yemen in April 2006.
Fore more information related to the Conference and documents and representations please refer to the AARINENA web site.
Taraneh Ebrahimi
AARINENA-RAIS Secretariat
Sub-Saharan AfricaFARA ICT workshop
One of the major functions of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) is sharing and dissemination of agricultural information and knowledge within and amongst all the agricultural research for development (AR4D) stakeholder groups. FARA believes that AR4D in Africa could only advance if its major players have access to new technologies and information.
Several institutions/organizations have been working in Africa to implement Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Knowledge Management (KM) the sub regional organizations have also initiated their own information and communication programs such as ASARECA's Regional Agricultural Information and Communication Network (RAIN). The other SROs (CORAF and SADC/FANR) are in the process of setting up similar networks. Other international organizations have their own initiatives such as the FAO's WAICENT and its iMARK initiative, USAID's Africa Link, CGIAR, IDRC, CTA, GFAR, etc.
But there is still a need to assess and further develop the capacities of African NARS to access these information and knowledge servers, as well as effectively contribute to the building up of pools of knowledge in AR4D. Some NARS are advanced enough to have their own website and their scientists can access these servers but others are way behind that there is only one computer in the institution with access to internet. FARA is therefore proposing to work with institutions such as GFAR, SROs and FAO who have their own programs on ICT and KM to work towards facilitating and/or strengthening NARS access to information system.
As part of collaboration between GFAR and FARA, a regional workshop will be held on 27-28 April 2004 at the FARA Secretariat conference room in Accra, Ghana. This is part of the GLOBAL.RAIS project of GFAR in the Africa region. The objective is to develop a regional strategy on agricultural information system for FARA, and specifically for identifying its entry point, gaps that it could fill in and added value to what exist in the region. Activities will be prioritized according to the needs identified by its stakeholders. Implementation plans will be made by stakeholders and would include roles and responsibilities, operation plans and budget requirements. Expected participants are FARA's major stakeholders such as the SROs, NARS, NGOs, International Agricultural Research Centers and Advanced Research Institutes.
Myra Wopereis-Pura
FARA Secretariat
Sub-Saharan AfricaMonty Jones won the 2004 World Food Prize
The announcement of the co-winners of the $250,000 World Food Prize took place during a U.S. State Department ceremony with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jacques Diouf on Monday, March 29, hosted by Under Secretary of State Alan Larson. The 2004 World Food Prize Laureates are:
Professor Yuan Longping of China, Director-General of the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center in Changsha, Hunan, China.
Dr. Monty Jones of Sierra Leone, former senior rice breeder at the West Africa Rice Development Center (WARDA), presently Executive Secretary, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), in Accra, Ghana.
In announcing these recipients, World Food Prize President, Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, lauded both scientists for their “breakthrough scientific achievements which have significantly increased food security for millions of people from Asia to Africa.” The Ambassador added that it was particularly fitting that these two pioneering rice breeders be honored during the United Nations International Year of Rice, the crop identified as the staple diet of more than three billion people around the world.
Professor Yuan has been selected a co-recipient of The World Food Prize for his breakthrough achievement in the early 1970s in developing the genetic tools necessary for hybrid rice breeding, known as a three-line system. His achievement led to the world’s first successful and widely grown high-yielding hybrid rice varieties with yields 20 percent above conventional varieties. His altering of the self-pollinating characteristic of rice made large-scale farming of hybrid rice possible. These achievements dramatically increased rice yields and grain output in China, providing food to feed an additional 60 million people each year. His approach is now being adapted to many other countries in Asia and around the world.
Dr. Jones has been selected a co-recipient of The World Food Prize for developing in the 1990s the “New Rice for Africa” (NERICA), uniquely adapted to the growing conditions of West Africa, by successfully crossing the Asian O. sativa with the African O. glaberrima strains to produce drought and pest resistant, high yielding new rice varieties, a feat which had not been achieved before in the history of rice breeding. His accomplishment is already producing enhanced harvests for thousands and thousands of poor farmers, most of them women, with potential benefit for 20 million farmers in West Africa alone.
Source: Press Release World Food Prize
Latin America & CaribbeanIV International meeting of FORAGRO - Panama 2004: Agribusiness, Technological Innovation and Small Agriculture: Institutional Transformations
The Forum for the Americas on Agricultural Research and Technology Development, as a mechanism that promotes the hemispheric dialogue and the development of a regional research agenda through articulation and partnerships between various public and private institutional actors, will hold its IV International Meeting in Panama, from August 11 to 13 2004.
The meeting is sponsored by IICA, as responsible for the Technical Secretariat of the Forum, and by the Government of Panama, through MIDA and IDIAP. The Regional Cooperative Research Programs - PROCIs-, FONTAGRO, and GFAR - Global Forum for Agricultural Research- will also contribute to the development of the meeting. GFAR will participate through its Executive Secretary and will also facilitate the presence of Executive Secretaries of the Continental Forums brothers of FORAGRO, such as FARA from Sub-Saharan Africa, APAARI from the Asia Pacific Region, AARINENA from West Asia and North Africa, and EFARD, from Europe.
The IV Meeting will promote the discussion, among Forum stakeholders - NARS/NARIs, private sector, NGOs, universities sector, producer organizations and the sector of international cooperation - on the subjects of Agribusiness, Technological Innovation and Small Agriculture: Institutional Transformations. Furthermore, the advances in four of the 11 priority topics established by the Forum stakeholders will be discussed, namely: Agribusiness and Innovation, Genetic Resources, New Biotechnologies, and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources. It is also expected to devote a module of the meeting to analyze how to strengthen and improve the impact of multinational efforts on technological research and development.
Panama is a country that presents multiple advances in various fields of social and economic development. An initiative of Panama, very important and related to the subjects of FORAGRO, which will be of great interest to the participants of the IV Meeting, is the development of the Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge) and their programs and projects. Furthermore, the country presents a great wealth of tourist attractions. The Meeting will be a valuable opportunity for the participants to visit that wonder of the world that is the Panama Canal, among other sites of interest.
Soon we will be giving more details about the IV Meeting regarding the agenda and logistical aspects.
David Berroa
President of FORAGRO
Jorge Ardila and Enrique Alarcón
FORAGRO Technical Secretariat
GFAR Secretariat
c/o FAO, SDR, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla - 00100 Rome, Italy
Tel. +39.06.5705.3413 Fax +39.06.5705.3898
E-mail: