Knowledge for development

Please note the deadline for the Africa-wide Science Competitions has been extended: Submission of extended abstracts: June 4th, 2012 Announcement of semi-finalists: July 20th, 2012 Submission of full draft papers: August 20th, 2012 Get the "Women in Science" competition announcement with the new deadlines here: http://knowledge.cta.int/en/content/view/full/15382 Get the "Young Professionnals in Science" competition announcement with the new deadlines here: http://knowledge.cta.int/en/content/view/full/15383 Find the original announcement with the concept note here. 15/05/2012
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The importance of addressing capacity gaps to enable Africa to achieve its 6% sustainable growth in agriculture has been widely articulated within Africa and explicitly addressed in the Communique from the Ministerial Conference on Higher Education in Agriculture in Africa (CHEA, Kampala, 18th November 2010). The need to invest in a radical transformation of the tertiary agricultural education (TAE) system to ensure that they can meet these needs has been highlighted in the Framework for African Agricultural Productivity (FAAP) and has resulted, through a series of workshops and discussions, in the development of TEAM-Africa – the Tertiary Education for Agriculture Mechanism in Africa. 09/05/2012
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Download below the March 2012 K4D newsletter. 08/05/2012
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This paper from the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review presents a methodological framework to design, assess and manage food traceability systems (TS). The services delivered for the multiple beneficiaries of the TS are listed and featured by a series of high-level performance criteria. Also proposed is a library of modular technical solutions to guide designers in choosing appropriate traceability solutions. Technical and practical performance criteria are provided for daily traceability control. The proposed performance system can be used in a design methodology as well as for auditing a traceability system. The model serves as a base for an Information System applied to a poultry processing company. 01/05/2012
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Malum Nalu has a short report on the aquaculture programme in Papua New Guinea. An officer of the Agriculture and Resource Development Centre (ARDC, within the Department of Agriculture and Livestock) highlights the interest of fishermen and identifies the challenges faced including lack of skilled manpower, funding constraints and facilities which need to be upgraded. (Malum Nalu, 02/2012) 01/05/2012
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Date: 16 May 2012 (10.00 - 15.30) Venue: Renaissance Hotel (Rue du Parnasse 19, Brussels) Link: http://www.paerip.org/node/70 The PAERIP (Promoting African–European Research Infrastructure Partnerships) project partners would like to invite you to participate in the seminar. This PAERIP seminar will present the first findings of the PAERIP studies and analyses as well as explore options for enhancing research infrastructure cooperation between Europe and Africa. It will bring together key policy-makers, research managers, funders, scientists and other stakeholders from both regions and create a platform for policy dialogue on research infrastructures. 24/04/2012
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Monitoring drought globally is challenging because of the lack of dense in-situ hydrologic data in many regions. This is particularly problematic for developing regions such as Africa where water information is arguably most needed, but virtually nonexistent on the ground in many regions. A potential way forward is to use a modelling framework that couples available satellite remote sensing and in-situ information. This results in physically consistent and spatially and temporally continuous estimates of the water cycle and drought. A drought monitor based on this framework and an accompanying web-based user interface have been developed by Princeton University, in collaboration with UNESCO, for operational and research use over Africa. Based on macro scale hydrologic modelling, the system ingests available data to provide a real-time assessment of the water cycle and drought conditions, and puts this in the context of the long-term record back to 1950. The data is made available online for drought research and operational use to augment on-the-ground assessments of drought. 01/05/2012
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A research team from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, US, has shown that plants subjected to a previous period of drought are able to better withstand new periods of water stress. The research confirms for the first time the scientific basis for what home gardeners and nursery professionals have often learned through hard experience: Transplants do better when water is withheld for a few days to drought harden them before the move. This phenomenon of drought hardening was documented when scientists compared the reaction of plants that had been previously stressed by withholding water to those not previously stressed. The pre-stressed plants bounced back more quickly the next time they were dehydrated. Specifically, the non-strained plants wilted faster than trained plants and their leaves lost water at a faster rate than trained plants. Plant nurseries adopting this drought hardening process could ensure smallholder farmers in drought-prone regions. (ScienceDaily, 15/03/2012) 01/05/2012
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German, L. et al. International Development Research Center (IDRC), Earthscan, 2012. This book documents a decade of research, methodological innovation, and lessons learned in an eco-regional research-for-development program operating in the eastern African highlands, the African Highlands Initiative (AHI). It summarizes the experiences of farmers, research and development workers, policy and decision-makers who have interacted within an innovation system with the common goal of implementing an integrated approach to natural resource management (NRM) in the humid highlands. This book demonstrates the crucial importance of 'approach' in shaping the outcomes of research and development, and distils lessons learned on what works, where and why. It is enriched with examples and case studies from five benchmark sites in Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, whose variability provides the reader with an in-depth knowledge of the complexities of integrated NRM in agro-ecosystems that play an important role in the rural economy of the region. 01/05/2012
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The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has developed and launched a project in Accra to monitor agricultural data and information in the sub-region. The project dubbed 'ECOWAS Agricultural Information System' (ECOAGRIS) aims to help decision makers to have and use reliable data and updated analyses to better formulate and monitor strategies for agricultural development. It would also help to effectively manage food security issues and promote the trade of food products in the sub-region. The initiative was designed with the inception of Agricultural Policy of ECOWAS and Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program. (Ghana Business News, 7/03/2012) 01/05/2012
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The UN Development Programme and the South Pacific Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) Division of the South Pacific Community (SPC) in partnership with the Solomon Islands Government, plan to use remote sensing technology and Geographic Information System (GIS) to map land and forest cover in the Solomon Islands. The exercise will map agriculture and forest cover, including pasture, mangroves, and forest plantations. It will contribute in monitoring climate change and land use on the islands. (SOPAC via IISD, 23/03/2012) 01/05/2012
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Contested agronomy: Agricultural research in a changing world addresses the interconnected policy and development issues within the field of agronomy and agricultural research by exploring key developments since the mid-1970s. The book focuses in particular on the emergence of the neoliberal project and the rise of the participation and environmental agendas, taking into consideration how these have had profound impacts on the practice of agronomic research in the developing world. Contested Agronomy explores, through a series of case studies, the basis for a much needed 'political agronomy' analysis that highlights the impacts of problem framing and narratives, historical disjunctures, epistemic communities and the increasing pressure to demonstrate 'success' on both agricultural research and the farmers, processors and consumers it is meant to serve. This book is not available online but is highly recommended for professionals, researchers and students engaged in agriculture, science and technology studies and other aspects of ARD. 01/05/2012
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The latest thematic dossier of the French science committee on desertification (CSFD) focuses on pastoral systems in sub-Saharan Africa, their relevance, their many roles, threats to them, as well as interactions between pastoralism and natural resources. It also questions the conditions for sustainable pastoralism. 01/05/2012
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The SENSE project (Harmonised Environmental Sustainability in the European food and drink chain) brings together researchers, producers, transformers and distributors in order to achieve a harmonised, integral methodology that can be used to evaluate the environmental impact of food products accurately and efficiently. The project SENSE (7th FP) aims to contribute towards getting the food and drink sector to engage in more environmentally sustainable production, transformation and distribution of its products. The current situation presses the need to have tools that will help to reduce the environmental impact of food and drink throughout their production chain, starting with their production and transformation and going right up to their commercial distribution. The SENSE members will be focusing specifically on creating a methodology applied to the juice, dairy, meat and aquaculture sectors, chosen for their importance in the European market. (EurekAlert, 22/02/2012) 01/05/2012
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Research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK, challenges previously held notions about poverty and adaptation by investigating why fishermen stick with their trade despite dwindling catches. The research team surveyed almost 600 fishers in five African countries and found that half of the fishermen would not be tempted to seek out a new livelihood - even if their catch declined by 50%. Fishermen in the more vibrant and developed economies were less likely to give up the trade than those from poorer communities. The researchers noted that fishermen in Madagascar, a country they rated as poor, would sooner leave the fisheries sector than those in the Seychelles, a wealthier country. Decisions are influenced by much more than simple profitability; the fishermen also consider job satisfaction, family tradition, sense of identity among a range of other factors. Fisheries are challenged by the combined effects of overfishing, climate change, deteriorating ecosystems and conservation policies. Understanding how fishermen respond to these changes is critical to managing fisheries, and identifying intervention points for conservation policies, the authors believe. (Alpha Galileo, 9/02/2012) 01/05/2012
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