CTA

Blogs
ACP policy briefs
ACP young professionals and women
ASTI case study reports
CTA S&T programme
Developments
Events
Fellowships, grants & calls
Job opportunities
K4D e-Newsletters
Publications
S&T organisations

Africa
A selection of S&T organisations in Africa.

Google Maps

International
A selection of international S&T organizations.

The Caribbean
A selection of S&T organisations in the Caribbean.

The Pacific
A selection of S&T organisations in the Pacific.

ACP S&T dialogue

Demanding Innovation
Researchers in ACP countries are facing a growing range of challenges. They are required to respond effectively to the demands of policy makers, private sector investors and donor agencies, farmers and other stakeholders in the agri-food chain. They are being asked to deliver research outputs that will improve agricultural productivity, food quality and food safety, in order to increase their countries competitiveness in global markets, and contribute to food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable development. At the same time, researchers must be socially and ethically responsible and contribute to the advancement of science and technology. As the demands for accountability increase and the levels of funding diminish, researchers need to prioritize and strategize their responses.

Differentiated S&T strategies for improving productivity of ACP farming systems
ACP farming systems are very diverse and the scientific community must be able to provide adequate responses to meet the varied needs of small subsistence farmers who make up the majority of the ACP farming community while simultaneously addressing the needs of the medium to large-scale farming enterprises to compete on price, quality, responsiveness to changing consumer demands and reliability in supply in all markets. Therein lies the challenge as there is no one-size fits all approach that will enable researchers to respond to the needs of small scale farmers who are primarily concerned with sustainable livelihoods or medium to large-scale farms who wish to remain competitive and take advantage of any opportunities despite deteriorating environmental conditions and trade and economic restrictions. Within the last few years, the ACP region has seen a resurgence of emphasis on family farms which are being valued not only for their contribution to maintaining social order but to environmental sustainability. This dossier provides guidance and lessons learned on the need for the ACP region to apply a differentiated strategic approach for using science to enhance the performance of ACP agricultural sector.

Early dialogues on S&T policy
Some of the most relevant briefs, notes and documents related to the pre-2007 ACP Agricultural S&T policy discussions.
EU S&T dialogue
Ethics
Financing ARD
Foresighting
ICKM / MIS / ICT

ICT for transforming research for agricultural and rural development
...
Innovation systems
Intellectual property
Measuring the impact of agricultural research
Participatory R&D
Tertiary agricultural education

Biofuels
Cassava
Fisheries
Fruits
Herbs and medicinal plants
Livestock

Enhancing competitiveness in the ACP poultry value chain
The poultry value chain in Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) countries involves both large-scale integrated enterprises and small-scale production systems. The former have benefited from capital investments, access to information and scientific research, whereas the latter remain isolated despite their significance. Family poultry comprises approximately 80% of the world's total poultry stock and plays a key role in many households in ACP countries for food and nutrition security, livelihoods and conservation of indigenous breeds. An analysis of the family poultry value chain, including its poor productivity and low financial and technical inputs, shows that it contrasts markedly with conditions in large-scale commercial poultry enterprises. Governments and researchers would be well advised to thoroughly review the family poultry value chains to identify priorities for science and innovation that can contribute to improved efficiency for the provision of eggs, live birds, fresh-chilled, frozen and other value-added poultry products. This summary is provided by CABI and CTA, July 2012.
Other commodities

Bananas
The ACP Group of States need to adjust the approach to agricultural production, marketing and distribution to be able to compete in national, regional and international markets. Traditional commodities such as banana are no longer assured of guaranteed prices and ready access to international markets. How then should the ACP region respond? Commodities, traditionally considered as food security crops are now being looked at in a different light. Can scientists assist the countries in making informed decisions to improve efficiency, cost effectiveness, quality and competitiveness?

Coffee
The ACP Group of States need to adjust the approach to agricultural production, marketing and distribution to be able to compete in national, regional and international markets. Traditional commodities such as coffee are no longer assured of guaranteed prices and ready access to international markets. How then should the ACP region respond? Commodities, traditionally considered as food security crops are now being looked at in a different light. Can scientists assist the countries in making informed decisions to improve efficiency, cost effectiveness, quality and competitiveness?
Rice value chain
Sugarcane
Vegetables

Water

As the competition for fresh water for food, health and energy becomes increasingly intense, there is need to also address the issue of dwindling water resources and the implications for agricultural productivity.

This dossier deals with the challenge to efficiently and sustainably manage water resources. In his lead article, Gerd Förch, Professor for Water Resources Management at Universität Siegen, Civil Engineering Department, Germany, and director of the Research Institute for Water and Environment, focuses on the concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) as a strategy for the efficient and sustainable management of water resources as the amount of freshwater available to mankind and nature is limited.

The lead article by Maimbo Malesu and Alex Oduor of ICRAF provide lessons from Rwanda and Zanzibar on upgrading water harvesting potential as small-scale solutions to major problems in managing water resources. They use vivid examples from these two countries to show how satellite imagery and digital mapping techniques can be used for supporting decision making on managing water resources in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background information to this dossier is provided in the form of links to websites of relevant organizations and downloadable articles.

Prepared by KIT in collaboration with CTA – July 2008. Edited by J.A. Francis, CTA & J. Sluijs, KIT

» More context... « Less context...

Good news on using recycled sewage treatment plant water for irrigating crops

A new study eases concerns that irrigating crops with water released from sewage treatment plants – an increasingly common practice in arid areas of the world – fosters emergence of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that cause thousands of serious infections each year. Arid and semi-arid areas of the world are plagued by severe water shortages, which are expected to increase as a result of growing population and global climate change. As a result, more areas are turning to treated wastewater (TWW) to irrigate croplands. In Israel, for instance, TWW provides more than half of the water used for irrigation. The researchers wanted to find out if long-term irrigation with treated wastewater enhances antibiotic resistance in soil microbial communities, which could potentially be transferred through agricultural produce to clinically relevant bacteria. The authors found that levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes for antibiotic resistance in fields and orchards irrigated with freshwater and TWW were essentially identical, suggesting that antibiotic-resistant bacteria that enter soil by irrigation are not able to survive or compete in that environment. The authors say there is ‘cause for cautious optimism’ that irrigating with TWW is not increasing the prevalence of bacteria resistant to the antibiotics they studied. (EurekAlert, 13/6/2012) 11/07/2012
Read more...

Mapping permeability over the surface of the Earth

University of British Columbia researchers have produced the first map of the world outlining the ease of fluid flow through the planet's porous surface rocks and sediments. The maps and data, published in Geophysical Research Letters (January 2011), could help improve water resource management and climate modelling, and eventually lead to new insights into a range of geological processes.Using recent world-wide lithology (rock type) results from researchers at the University of Hamburg (Germany) and Utrecht University (The Netherlands); the authors were able to map permeability across the globe to depths of approximately 100 metres. Typical permeability maps have only dealt with the top one to two metres of soil, and only across smaller areas. A better understanding of large scale permeability of rock and sediment is critical for water resource management. Groundwater represents approximately 99 % of the fresh, unfrozen water on earth. Groundwater also feeds surface water bodies and moistens the root zone of terrestrial plants.(Source: Science Daily, 25 Jan. 2011) 03/05/2011
Read more...

Mitigating economic water scarcity to boost agriculture

by Maimbo Malesu, Alex Oduor

The bias in planning towards blue water at the expense of green water, has led to the impression of Africa as a physically water scarce continent, with projections for 2025 painting a gloomy picture for most countries. However, scrutiny of the continent’s climatological base maps reveals that Africa actually has more water resources per capita than Europe. The main problem is lack of capital investments to adequately conserve and utilize rainwater – implying that economic water scarcity is the challenge rather than physical scarcity. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) could contribute to the attainment of wider aspirations, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as they relate to poverty alleviation, hunger elimination, environmental sustainability, and gender equality. 08/09/2008
Read more...

Water: the need for appropriate resources management

by Gerd Förch - Universität Siegen, Research Institute for Water and Environment

Photo: Gina Kane/CRS According to the World Water Council (2008), the priority areas for water professionals are: (1) water for health, water is an essential ingredient for life, hygiene, and public health; (2) water for food, water becomes increasingly a limiting resource for meeting the food requirements of a growing world population; and (3) water for energy, water is an important renewable energy resource (hydropower) especially with rising energy requirements and prices. At the same time energy is becoming a limiting factor for the provision of water for domestic purposes. World water equity or equitable access to potable water is a growing problem. 08/09/2008
Read more...