April 2003
News from the Regional Fora
Europe
Asia-Pacific
EuropeEARD-InfoSys+ News
The webbased European information system EARD-InfoSys+ is connecting European researchers, policy makers and institutions in the field of ARD. The objective is to build European networks and to foster communication and the exchange of knowledge. InfoSys+ is working on behalf of EIARD, the European Initiative on ARD. EARD-InfoSys+ is carried by a network of European Partners. All EU-countries as well as Switzerland and Norway have appointed National Nodes who are collecting relevant information for EARD-Infosys+ and building up partnerships with their national ARD institutions.
The tools and services of EARD-InfoSys+ are:
- Relational database
Mapping the European ARD-landscape is the essential background for decision makers in ARD. InfoSys+ developed a highly relational database allowing detailed retrieval of information on institutions, projects, researchers and access to news and events. - Phprojekt
PhProjekt is a communication platform/extranet which is presently used by various working groups. Functions of Phprojekt are: e-mail facilities, document exchange, project planner, calendar, address-database, help-desk, discussion-fora. - Phprojekt
PhProjekt is a communication platform/extranet which is presently used by various working groups. Functions of Phprojekt are: e-mail facilities, document exchange, project planner, calendar, address-database, help-desk, discussion-fora. - E-Mail Alert service
To be updated automatically on news in ARD, users can subscribe to an E-Mail-alert service. Registered users can also insert own news and in this way spread them to interested Stakeholders in European ARD. - NodeXML
nodeXML is an Open Source Software for cross database search. Due to the fact that decentralised approach of dataholding has shown to allow a more efficient maintenance of data quality, nodeXML was designed to link partners and at the same time assures that information remains in the hands of the dataholder. - Strengthening Networks via Public relations
Specifically designed promotion packages assure the sustainability of networks and frequent information to users.
For more information go to:
www.isicad.org
www. InfoSysplus.org
www.eiard.org
www.zadi.de
Marlene Horstmann
EARDInfosys+ PR Coordinator
EuropeThe Netherlands: The International Agricultural Centre activities
The International Agricultural Centre (IAC http://www.iac.wur.nl/) is an independent, non-profit foundation in Wageningen, The Netherlands. IAC builds capacity for sustainable development in the agriculture, food, rural development and natural resources management sectors.
Training, advisory services, seminars, action learning projects, network development and knowledge management are combined to optimise organisational and individual learning. These services are directed towards developing countries and countries in transition.
Special attention is given to participatory planning, monitoring & evaluation approaches, problem analysis, gender and interaction between the various stakeholders in rural development.
Subscribe to IAC newsletter
The IAC is part of Wageningen University and Research Centre .
Wageningen UR covers a broad range of agricultural education and research organisations in the fields of plant and animal production, agro-technology and food processing, rural development and environmental management.
A brand new course that IAC offers this autumn is Facilitating multi-stakeholder processes and social learning. Rural development and natural resources management (NRM) have entered a new era - one of facilitating dialogue, joint learning and collaborative action. A new breed of professional is in high demand. The course is meant for those that would like to develop their skills as a 'new' professional.
The course covers the state-of-the-art thinking about participation from the local to the global level and introduces the most up-to-date methodologies and approaches for facilitation and participation. How Multi-Stakeholder Processes (MSPs) and social learning relate to concepts such as dialogue, interactive policy making, and adaptive management is fully explored.
Richard Bawden, Professor Emeritus in Systemic Development at the University of Western Sydney Australia, will be guest facilitator for this course.
Date: 15 Sept – 3 Oct 2003
More information and application forms
Picture of interactive exercise
Femke Griffioen
Wageningen University and Research Centre
Asia-PacificFuture Development of Asia-Pacific Agricultural Research Information System (APARIS)
Recognizing the important role that ICT can play in ARD, APAARI has organized two expert consultations (2000 & 2002) for development of an Asia-Pacific Agricultural Research Information System (APARIS). These expert consultations enabled APARIS to develop from a simple RAIS concept to a basic framework of ARD information resources made available through APAARI web site. However, with limited financial and human resources available to APAARI, future developments in APARIS require a collaborative approach involving ICT groups of APAARI and other organizations such as GFAR, FAO, ISNAR, CABI, AIT, and ACIAR. The representatives of APAARI and its ICT support group held a day-long meeting on April 3, 2003 in Bangkok to identify specific areas of collaboration.
The meeting was conducted in two sessions -- presentations by participants followed by a round-table discussion. The author presented the planned initiatives in APARIS to offer an information gateway and a regional agricultural expert locator (RAEL) service. GFAR’s presentation explained its GLOBAL-RAIS initiative and potential support to APAARI for an ICT workshop. Mr. Regino Gonzales (Jun), Senior Computer Specialist demonstrated through his presentation the AIT-Extension’s ICT training facilities and suggested AIT as the co-host and venue for the ICT workshop that APAARI plans to organize in December 2003 with support from GFAR and ISNAR. Dr. Ajit Maru, Information Officer, informed the participants that APARIS can benefit from ISNAR’s ICT need assessment and capacity building activities. Mr. Michael Riggs, Information Management Specialist at FAO-RAP, gave a brief overview of some of the FAO’s ICT tools such as Agris, the Resource Kit, and Teca and encouraged APAARI for collaboration with FAO by implementing Web-Agris for the Asia-Pacific region and integrating other FAO tools with APARIS.
The major recommendations of the meeting included: (1) APAARI, FAO and ISNAR should jointly develop a brochure on useful ARD information resources available on the Internet for distribution to APAARI members and ARD professionals. (2) NARS leaders be further catalyzed for greater participation of respective NARS in APARIS development. (3) APARIS gateway function should be developed using existing models of similar tools developed by FAO/CGIAR. (4) APAARI, ISNAR, FAO and AIT to prepare a benchmark report on the state of ICT in agricultural research in the Asia-Pacific region. (5) FAO to support APAARI in implementing Web-Agris and RAEL function through APARIS, and collaborate in ICT capacity building activities. (6) APAARI and its support group members should collaboratively develop a project proposal for long-term development of APARIS which could be submitted to ADB, World Bank, or a similar organization for funding.
APARIS
Establishment of Asia-Pacific Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology (APCoAB)
The APAARI and FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO-RAP) had jointly organized an expert consultation in March, 2002 to assess the potential of biotechnology to increase agricultural productivity and profitability in the Asia-Pacific region and to address concerns for adoption of this technology for the benefit of farmers and consumers. The expert consultation unanimously recommended for the establishment of an Asia-Pacific Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology (APCoAB) involving the key stakeholders in the region to pool their synergies, harness comparative advantages and ensure judicious use of limited resources to promote application of biotechnology for the sustainable agricultural development in the region. As a follow-up of the recommendations of the expert consultation, APAARI developed concept note on APCoAB and in collaboration with FAO-RAP organized a meeting on the establishment of APCoAB on April 4, 2003 in Bangkok. About 25 participants representing regional NARS, IARCs, CG Institutions, NGOs, foundations, and the private sector attended the meeting.
Dr. He Changchui, FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, delivered the welcome address. Based on the concept note, a framework for establishing the APCoAB as a neutral platform and a functional mechanism to promote further collaboration among various agricultural biotechnology stakeholders was presented by Dr. Paroda, Executive Secretary, APAARI. Dr. Takahiro Inoue, the APAARI Chairman, in his inaugural address highlighted the sustained efforts of APAARI to strengthen NARS and other stakeholders in dealing with the emerging ARD issues including biotechnology. Each participant presented his/her organization’s perspective on the proposed APCoAB. Round-table discussions evolved a functional structure of APCoAB and priority activities. The participants endorsed the general structure of the APCoAB and agreed to work on further details. The private sector overwhelmingly supported the APCoAB idea and indicated a possibility of their support for this initiative. Also Rockefeller Foundation welcomed the idea and is expected to provide needed support.
The major recommendations of the meeting included: (1) APCoAB should move ahead as a neutral platform for the stakeholders to exchange views, ideas and knowledge in the field of agricultural biotechnology; (2) Initial focus should be on some achievable objectives after further prioritization of APCoAB activities; (3) Beside APAARI, active support of FAO, CGIAR (ISNAR), GFAR, ADB, World Bank, the private sector, prominent foundations, and other key global donor agencies be sought for the establishment of APCoAB. Subsequently, NARS could also be approached for their support as well in the form of membership contributions; (4) Initially, a small secretariat with an annual core funding support of actively involved Private Sector biotechnology companies and foundations could be sought in the range of USD200,000 – 500,000 for a 3-5 year time lag commitment and FAO and APAARI be approached to provide their logistic support to house the Secretariat in their premises at FAO-RAP Bangkok; (5) An APCoAB Steering/Advisory Committee, consisting of one representative from each APAARI, FAO, NARS, GFAR, CGIAR, the Private Sector, NGOs, and the Foundations should be formed that can guide on pragmatic constitutional and legal structure of the Consortium; and (6) APAARI should in partnership with FAO move forward and make efforts to establish APCoAB and simultaneously take up the matter further with all concerned organizations.
APARIS
West Asia & North AfricaA spotlight on AARINENA-ICT Expert Consultation Meeting to Strengthen RAIS in the WANA Region
The consultation took place in Cairo, Egypt from 25 to 27 of February 2003 and was sponsored by GFAR, AARINENA, ARC, and FAO/RNE. Thirty participants have attended the consultation from 11 countries, and 10 Regional and International Organizations. The main objectives of the consultation were to recognize the implementation status of the Regional Agricultural Information in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) Region, get acquainted with Regional and International Organization working in the ICT in the Region, and review Requirements, Strategy, and Implementation plan for WANA/RAIS. The main achievements in the last three years are: the strategy developed for WANA/RAIS, the project proposal the for regional agricultural information system for WANA Region”, prepared by AARINENA, in April 2001 which was endorsed, in the consultation, as a relevant regional framework for actions, and enhancement made to AARINENA web site. The presentations of the Regional and International Organizations interested in ICT in the regions have addressed the following issues: the importance of developing specific databases related to research centers and institutes, Information System development should be backed by political commitment, big problems can be divided into smaller ones each of which can be handled by a specific institutes with specific funding and thus a more well defined basis for collaboration can be established, and the importance of addressing human resources training and communication. The main outcome of the consultation was a set of recommendations for the future of RAIS. The most important recommendation was the one that described a frame of collaborative programs that includes: enhancing management information systems at national level, launching an electronic forum of discussion enabling and fostering dialogues within and amongst all the stakeholders, launching of a question and answer service at the regional level, establishment of a gateway function at the regional level facilitating accesses to information managed by NARS. In order to follow up on these recommendations, a RAIS steering committee was formed. Nominations for the steering committee were made by present representatives of each of the five sub-regions with the following results: From the Arab Peninsula, Kuwait was elected, from the Mashreq, Jordan was elected, From the Maghreb, Morocco was elected, from the Nile Valley and the Red Sea, Egypt was elected, from Wes/Central Asia, Iran was elected. Elected representatives were asked to nominate and select a chair from amongst them and Egypt was elected. FAO, ICARDA, GFAR, and AOAD were proposed to join the steering committee as associate members.
Ahmed Rafea
AARINENA-RAIS Chairman
Sub-Saharan AfricaCORAF/WECARD 4th General Assembly
The Sub-Saharan Africa sub-regional forum, the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD), held its 4th statutory Annual General Assembly meeting at the Palais des Congrés in Bamako, Mali, from March 24th – 28th, 2003. Some 100 participants representing NGO partners, Farmer’s Organizations, the private sector, International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs), Advanced Research Institutes (ARIs), West & Central African NARS, and donors attended the meeting. The 4th General Assembly took place against the backdrop of transition as the CORAF/WECARD Secretariat undergoes a change of leadership with the recruitment of a new Executive Secretary, Scientific Coordinator and the Officer responsible for Information and Communication.
The Malian deputy Minister of Planning, representing the Malian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, officially opened the CORAF/WECARD General Assembly, preceded by welcome addresses from Dr. Adama Traoré, Executive Secretary of the Malian National Committee for Agricultural Research (CNRA), and Dr. Sie Koffi, the Chairman of CORAF/WECARD.
The four-day programme for the meeting included presentations by CORAF/WECARD Staff in plenary of an activity report, strategic plan, programme of work and budget for 2003. These presentations were complemented with presentations by resource persons touching on three themes: livestock, plant adaptation to drought and new African ARD initiatives. A field visit was organized to the Sotuba Research Station of the Malian Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER) and on the final day, three different stakeholder groups (directors, scientific partners & donors) meeting separately, made recommendations for CORAF/WECARD’s consideration.
Several major outcomes of the meeting are worth mentioning such as: i) the selection of Dr. Paco Sereme of INERA, Burkina Faso, as new Executive Secretary of CORAF/WECARD, replacing the outgoing Executive Secretary, Dr. Ndiaga Mbaye at the end of June 2003.; ii) the holders of positions of CORAF/WECARD Scientific Coordinator and Officer responsible for Information and Communication remain the same (Messrs. Nwalozie and Demby); iii) the NGO, Farmer’s Organization, and private sector positions in the Executive Committee of CORAF/WECARD have been filled by Mr. Sonni George of The Gambia, of Ms. Halima Tiousso Sanda of Niger and Ms. Gisele d’Almeida of Senegal, respectively; iv) the recommendation by the Committee of Directors to reactivate the Science and Technical Committee of CORAF/WECARD and make it more functional; v) the recommendations by the donor partners for CORAF/WECARD to make efforts to better diversify it sources of funding, to make the CORAF/WECARD networks more dynamic, and to see the CORAF/WECARD strategic plan made more operational and the role of the NARS better defined; vi) the recommendation by the scientific partners for CORAF/WECARD to allocate more resources to the networks to enable them to function better.
The 5th CORAF/WECARD General Assembly is to take place in Congo Brazzaville, March 23-26, 2004.
GFAR Secretariat
c/o FAO, SDR, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla - 00100 Rome, Italy
Tel. +39.06.5705.3413 Fax +39.06.5705.3898
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