The Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW), organized by the Forum on Agricultural Research for Africa (FARA) attracted over 1300 participants from Africa and beyond. 

 

The active and exciting ‘buzz’ of participation and intense networking in the event showed the tremendous strides that African agricultural research-for-development systems have taken over recent years and how much more integrated and coherent their underlying processes have now become.

 

Dr Kanayo Nwanze, President of IFAD, set the scene with an eloquent summary of the challenges faced by Africa in its development and the opportunities that agricultural research has to offer when set in the wider context of achieving development outcomes, as reflected in the GCARD Roadmap and now in the new FARA Medium Term Operational Plan, which was approved during the business session of the conference. Many Ministers and other high level speakers also addressed the Science Week, providing a strong linkage between policy and practice. 

 

One very positive development was the much closer integration of international actions into the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Plan (CAADP), now apparent in the work of the CGIAR and in new inter-regional programmes being formulated to link European and African institutions in work on sustainable intensification. This change has resulted from the Dublin process, a process of integration that itself had its roots in farmer’s organizations speaking out during the first GCARD regional consultation in 2009, where they called for a re-alignment of all research priorities to CAADP.

 

Alongside many specific research discussions, key cross-cutting themes that emerged consistently throughout the week were those of sustainable intensification, of creating more opportunities and recognition for youth and women and the need for new forms of income opportunity through private sector engagement in innovation platforms and enterprise. Full reports of the Conference and its outcomes are being published on http://www.fara-africa.org

 

The FARA Business meeting held during the Conference approved the FARA Medium Term Operational Plan, which aligns closely with areas addressed in the GFAR Medium Term Plan. The Meeting saw the formal handover from Dr Tiemoko Yo as FARA Chair and Prof. Monty Jones as Executive Director to the new Chair Dr Charity Kruger from Botswana and new Executive Director Dr Yemi Akinbamijo, who joins FARA from the African Union. Among the many tributes paid to Monty Jones for his invaluable leadership of FARA since its founding, it was also recognized that the AASW represented the opening of a new era for FARA, building on its great successes over the last 11 years since its founding. We wish the new leadership every continued success in their important work.

 

Photo credit: FARA