Renewed focus closes Africa Agriculture Science Week

The implementation of recommendations emanating from discussions at the 6^th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW) will prove critical in the coming years.  

With the target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) drawing nearer, the discussions on innovations to improve productivity, resilience, collaborations, capacity building and investments in African agriculture were particularly pertinent.

The event, hosted by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), in collaboration with the Government of Ghana, brought together over 1, 300 participants including Ministers, Parliamentarians, Scientific Researchers, Farmers, extensionists, civil society and development partners.

“To enable a food secure Africa, it is imperative to increase productivity and intensification through science and innovations”, said Dr. Tiemoko Yo, Chairperson of FARA.

Through side-events, exhibitions and plenary sessions the Week focused on the theme of “Africa Feeding Africa through Agricultural Science and Innovation” and examined the sub-themes of education and human resource development, innovations to improve productivity and resilience, moving from competition to collaboration and innovative financing and investment in agriculture.

Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), who delivered the keynote address said “to address the world’s challenges, we must continue to push the frontiers of science, knowledge and experimentation, while ensuring our natural resources are not depleted.  But most importantly, we must be looking at new and creative ways to make these technologies and developments affordable and accessible to respond to the reality of the small farmer, fisher and pastoralist, who are feeding more than 2 billion people.”

 

A Business Meeting which closed the Week featured a handing over ceremony that heralded a new Chairperson of the FARA Board, Dr. Charity Kruger and a new Executive Director, Dr. Oseyemi Akinbamijo who comes from the Africa Union.

Prof. Monty Jones who is stepping down after eleven years of dedicated service stated that “FARA has made significant achievements in a short period of eleven years through the contribution of all staff and stakeholders and I would encourage everyone to remain dedicated to building a better FARA and a stronger agricultural sector in Africa”.