A FARA Delegation to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) of the Government of Ghana was led by the Executive Director of FARA, Dr Yemi Akinbamijo on a courtesy visit to the Minister of MESTI Hon. Dr Kwaku Afriyie in his Accra office, on Tuesday 30th August 2022.
The purpose of the visit was to brief the Honourable Minister on the upcoming Science and Partnerships Conference slated for 14-16 September in Accra, Ghana. It is anticipated that the Honourable Minister will officiate the launch of the International Research Consortium (IRC). The Africa-Europe International Research Consortium (IRC) is a long-term platform for connecting Research and Innovation Institutions, private sector, funders, policy makers and other actors for Food nutrition security and sustainability. The IRC is being set up under the aegis of the AU-EU High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) and Ghana is a member of the HLPD Bureau. In response to the request, the Minister affirmed his full support and enthusiasm to participate in the event; he was handed the first set of document for the launch. To read more details of the IRC, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtce6sqjgvGNYvl12Un2p4MXTnNcXMYqK7;
Africa’s growth requires increased investments in skills and capacity for sustainable development in agriculture. In this report, DANIEL ESSIET examines how innovative research and capacity building could help Africa respond to the challenges of food security and climate change.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has forecast that global food production will need to be increased by 70 per cent to meet the growing population expected to hit 9.1 billion by 2050.
Executive Director, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, based in Ghana, is one of those pushing for greater deployment of bio-scientists to address food security to ensure that Nigeria and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa grew enough to feed future generations. He has been pushing this with bio-scientists working in crop and livestock industries.
The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), in partnership with West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), has canvassed the need for crop improvement and seed sector development in Africa to increase productivity.
To provide enough food for Africa, with very limited natural resources, AGRA wants research institutions to breed crops that can help farmers get the highest yield of production. This has led also to the development of crops that are pest and disease resistant as well as drought-tolerant.
When agro and food firms want to produce top-grade cereals, an Imo State University-based crop expert, Prof Martins Onuh, urged that they should join hands with researchers.
Such partnerships, according to him, would deliver new varieties with higher yields.
Top agro firms seeking higher yields from cassava turn to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for support and collaboration.
This year, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, NABG, and IITA resolved to partner on research solutions and technology to boost agribusiness.
NABG President Emmanuel Ijewere, who confirmed this, said: “The essence of the partnership is whatever is good should not be kept in the drawer or in secret. It must be brought out to people to improve their lives, and IITA has been in Nigeria for many years and has done many research that have improved the agricultural space and have so many potential, but, unfortunately, those who are supposed to benefit from it, don’t know so much about it because the more you the more you ask.
“NABG, being a private sector organisation, we ran to our brothers in IITA, saying, ‘those things you have discovered over the years, ‘tell us about them let us see how we can make money from it’. Working with them closely, we intend to translate what the research has produced.”
Institutions such as IITA provide professionals with diverse backgrounds and expertise in food production, such as bio-scientists, who work with farmers, academics and experts to find more opportunities in the food production system.
Bio-sciences describe several biology-related disciplines such as agriculture, biochemistry, biotechnology, medicine and genomics engaged in real scientific advancement.
More farmers have benefited from IITA‘s works, thanks to its significant investment in bio-sciences research. Its experts have earned international recognition for their roles in developing new technologies, used around the world.
The institute has continued to support cutting-edge research and innovation, future researchers, and demonstrate the relevance and value of bio-sciences in delivering significant economic benefits for the agricultural sector.
The IITA–CGIAR Bio-science Centre held training on basic molecular biology techniques for Master’s and doctorate students from various African universities at the IITA, Ibadan campus. This year’s workshop accommodated 16 students. They were trained by nine IITA Bio-science staff, including Director of IITA West Africa Hub and Head of Bioscience Centre, Michael Abberton, and Bio-science Laboratory Manager Yemi Fajire.
As part of its commitment to supporting agricultural innovations in the country, the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) entered into a partnership with Iowa State University (ISU) to train 10 Nigerian scientists and regulators. This is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties between the United States and Nigeria and assisting policymakers, researchers, and technical experts to understand the role of modern biotechnology in agricultural innovation.
Also, the Kenya-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is training bio-scientists. Its Director-General, Jimmy Smith, pointed out that the continent had enormous opportunities to transform itself by mobilizing bio-sciences. ILRI’s Bio-sciences eastern and central Africa Hub (BecA-ILRI) in Kenya aims at strengthening African research capacity building in agriculture, knowledge and innovation systems to achieve food and nutrition security, and increase research in crop improvement, and livestock productivity, food safety, climate change mitigation and sustainable environmental management.
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morroco through training is developing bio-sciences researchers to develop sustainable solutions to promote agriculture. The collaboration with leading universities in agro-bio-sciences provides access and transfer of solutions for farmers and ranchers.
Swiss agribusiness Syngenta has been addressing Nigeria’s food insecurity by fuelling innovation among experts and applying advanced analytics in biochemistry and agriculture.
The Centre for Agriculture and Bio-sciences International (CABI)-led a research prioritised 120 potential Invasive Alien Species (IAS) that could pose a threat to agriculture and biodiversity in Kenya.
Since the research was conducted in 2018, four pest species have been found to be in Kenya. These are two arthropods (red gum lerp psyllid and the spotted wing drosophila) and two pathogenic organisms (the bacterial species, P. parmentieri and the viroid, potato spindle tuber viroid).
Pests being managed include the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) – where an AgBiTech/CABI partnership under the Action on Invasives programme in Kenya and South Sudan has seen the baculovirus product Fawligen prove effective against the pests.
The centre has brought global attention to the use of eco-friendly and cost-effective bio-control options.
Agricorp Chief Executive Kenneth Obiajulu supports the growth of a strong and competitive sciences sector, with cutting-edge bio-manufacturing capabilities.
His desire is for the government and the private sector to drive innovation and scale up training activities in the agric sector that would help translate commercially-promising research into new products to drive the growth of agriculture.
He called for innovation centres in agriculture where entrepreneurs, academic researchers, innovators and agro enterprises can access a full spectrum of services, including scientific expertise and research infrastructure.
He believes Nigeria has a diverse talent pipeline which needs to be supported to transform innovative ideas into the agricultural discoveries of tomorrow.
The European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria, Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) and the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, are working on maize value chain to reduce risk for farmers.EU mandated the Alliance of European Universities and Research Centres specialising in agricultural research for development (Agrinatura) to undertake a detailed overview of the maize value chain from the economic, social and environmental point of view.
The study was conducted by a team of national and international experts from Agrinatura. The report acknowledged that Nigeria remains one of the world’s leading maize producers, especially of non-genetically modified white maize.
However, with demand on the rise, both as food and from the processing industry, the country is still exposed to risks of supply shortfall.According to Agrinatura, the study generated evidence-based knowledge to help policymakers underpin and fine-tune policy actions and interventions in the value chain to enhance its sustainable and inclusive development.
“The VCA4D analysis provides a baseline, useful to appreciate the evolution of the sector over time, also in contexts of investment (like the one promoted by EDFI AgriFi).
The maize value chain plays a vital role in the local cereal market, in terms of food supply for the population, livelihoods for the rural population, food security of the country, and regular source of additional income to subsistence farmers.
Arcadia Bio-sciences, Inc. and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) have been driving rice varieties for smallholder farmers in Africa. Using its bio-science expertise, the company provides improved rice lines to African research collaborators for field-testing.
The partnership has led to increased rice productivity, improved profitability for farmers, and benefits the environment. Both organisations are determined to solve the challenges of availability of new agricultural technologies to African farmers.
The organisations believe salt-tolerant African rice provides substantial economic benefits to smallholder African farmers by reducing total input costs and increasing yields.
America’s largest organization of journalists and media professionals of color has named the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) a “Salute to Excellence” award winner for the Bank’s communication around its Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation program.
The National Association of Black Journalists cited the Bank’s excellence in online media relations and marketing about the landmark initiative, also known as TAAT. The online campaign featured the impact of TAAT delivering climate-smart agricultural technologies to millions of African farmers, helping African nations grow more food. The awards were announced on Saturday at a gala event during the joint convention of the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“This recognition from the National Association of Black Journalists comes at a time when African and global food security are at risk due to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Our Bank communications help tell the world, through the stories of African farmers participating in the TAAT program, that Africa has solutions to boost its food production and reduce dependence on grain imports from the Black Sea region,” said Dr. Beth Dunford, the Bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development.
“The Salute to Excellence award also honors Bank staff, consultants and partners working within these communities to improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. Their expertise helped shape our communications campaign,” Dunford added.
In July, the Bank’s Board of Directors approved $30 million in new financing for the TAAT program, which overall aims to increase Africa’s food output by 100 million tons and lift 40 million people out of poverty by 2025.
The Bank’s digital campaign showcases some of the millions of African farmers benefitting from TAAT-funded, climate-adapted wheat, maize and other certified seed varieties, fertilizers and technical support since the program started in 2018.
The campaign’s lead video looks at TAAT operations in Sudan and Ethiopia, where government-led collaboration with the Bank and partners is scaling up wheat production to record-breaking levels. In Ethiopia, TAAT helped seed companies to produce and distribute enough heat-tolerant, certified wheat varieties and helped farmers to expand production across more areas last season, allowing Ethiopia to grow enough of the grain to eliminate wheat imports for the first time in modern history. The country’s embrace of TAAT should see Ethiopia export wheat in 2023.
The National Association of Black Journalists’ Salute to Excellence award is the third international communications recognition for the Bank’s TAAT initiative. TAAT earned a “Gold Stevie” – first place – for “Best Documentary” from the International Business Awards, as well as a “Communicator Award of Distinction” for online video from the New York-based Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts.
“We intend for TAAT to produce more success stories, as we scale it up to have a central role in the Bank’s $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility (). The Facility is the Bank’s bold response to help African nations produce more food to mitigate the impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine on global food systems, rising prices across the continent, and climate change,” said Dr. Martin Fregene, the Bank’s Director for Agriculture and Agro-Industry.
“We believe communications is key to informing African governments, our stakeholders and investors about the impact of the Bank’s programs in the communities we serve,” Fregene added.
Watch the TAAT video here:
The Bank was also nominated for a Salute to Excellence Award in the competition’s “online commentary” category for a selection of published op-eds authored by Bank President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, Vice President Dunford and former Acting Vice President Wambui Guchiri.
The Salute to Excellence Awards recognize journalism and communications that best cover the Black experience or address issues affecting the Black community worldwide.
The National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Convention & Career Fair is the premier conference for journalism education, career development, networking, and industry innovation, attracting leaders and influencers in journalism, marketing and communications, media, technology, business, health, arts, and entertainment.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
Mediacontact:
Alphonso Van Marsh
Principal Digital Content and Events Officer
African Development Bank
Email: [email protected]
About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 37 African countries with an external office in Japan, the AfDB contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states.
Professor Theresia Nkuo-Akenji, RUFORUM Board Chair and Vice Chancellor University of Bamenda in Cameroon today announced the appointment of Dr. Patrick Okori as the next RUFORUM Executive Secretary effective 01 January 2023. He will replace Prof. Adipala Ekwamu who has been serving as the Executive Secretary since the founding of RUFORUM in 2004 by 10 Universities Vice Chancellors in five countries of Eastern and Southern Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zimbabwe). RUFORUM has since expanded to 150 Member Universities in 38 African Countries spanning the African Continent. RUFORUM core function is to support strengthening human and research capacity in the areas of agriculture, science, technology and innovation.
Dr. Patrick Okori is a Ugandan national who received his doctoral degree from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala in 2004. He received his BSc Agriculture and MSc Crop Science degrees from Makerere University in Uganda in 1994 and 1997, respectively. Patrick is an international academic expert in curriculum and program design, educator, trainer, research innovator and scientific leader. During his formative years, Patrick worked at Makerere University, where he played a key role in institutional reform, both in research and training. Patrick led the review and development of graduate training programmes in genetics and plant breeding, leading to the recognition by East African Community in 2007 of Makerere University’s Plant Breeding Centre, as one its Centres of Excellence. Subsequently, the World Bank recognized and supports it as one of its African Higher Education Centres of Excellence. As a science leader, Patrick established one of the largest multi-disciplinary research programme at Makerere University to underpin training and research. In 2012, Patrick was recognized by Makerere University for his contribution to rebuilding the image of Makerere University.
Patrick is a Principal Scientist with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT). ICRISAT is one of the main international agricultural research centres in dryland research. He is the Deputy Director of ICRISAT’s Global Research Programme on Accelerated Crop Improvement and currently manages it as the Interim Program Director. He is an expert in plant breeding whose team has commercialized over 30 varieties of legumes, especially groundnut, that are widely grown in eastern and southern Africa. Patrick is also an expert in technology scaling-out, whose team reaches out annually to over 50,000 households with different products and services (seed systems, agribusiness development, and market led development management). As a science leader he has also led the revamping of groundnut breeding and research for development programmes in Malawi, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Kenya, DR Congo, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Patrick is also a thought leader who has been involved in high level planning, strategy and visioning for national, regional, continental and global agencies. He has contributed to new thrusts and visioning of futures at Makerere University, RUFORUM, ASARECA, FARA, COMESA, AU (AU-NEPAD- CAADP country investment plans), the CGIAR and ICRISAT. Early in his career, Patrick was part of the team that developed the Eastern Africa’s premier agriculture bio-policy and bio-innovation research programme, called BIOINNOVATE. In 2016, Patrick was recognized by RUFORUM for significantly contributing to the vision and implementation of capacity-building programmes for Africa. He led the conceptualisation and design of the RUFORUM Regional Training Programmes, many of which have since transitioned to become Africa’s Higher Education Centres of Excellence.
Patrick is also familiar with the engagement of Africa’s development partners both in agriculture and human resource development. RUFORUM takes this opportunity to welcome Dr Okori as its next Executive Secretary.
Le Directeur exécutif du Forum pour la recherche agricole en Afrique (FARA) a été reçu aujourd’hui au Haut-Commissariat d’Afrique du Sud à Accra (Ghana) par Son Excellence Mme Grace Jeanet Mason, Haut-Commissaire de la République d’Afrique du Sud au Ghana.
L’objectif de cette visite était de fournir des informations actualisées sur les préparatifs de la Semaine africaine de l’agrobusiness et des sciences prévue en juin 2023 à Durban (Afrique du Sud).
L’événement verra également la participation d’organisations internationales telles que le Forum mondial de la recherche agricole, la Plateforme de jeunes professionnels pour la recherche agricole pour le développement, etc.
Il convient de rappeler que l’Afrique du Sud a par le passé accueilli avec succès une série d’événements à l’échelle continentale organisés par le FARA. Les prochains salon de l’agrobusiness et semaine des sciences permettront de lancer une nouvelle forme de théorie de changement, l’innovation à impact, comme activité annuelle qui s’étendra sur une période de cinq ans et se tiendra en Afrique du Sud.
De gauche à droite : M. Thando Dalamba (Haut-Commissaire adjoint), S.E Mme Grace Jeanet Mason (Haut-Commissaire), Dr Yemi Akinbamijo (Directeur exécutif du FARA) et Mme Vesta Nunoo (Responsable des subventions et de la conformité, FARA) lors de la réunion d’information tenue au Haut-Commissariat
Nous sommes très reconnaissants de l’appui du Bureau des congrès d’Afrique du Sud et du Haut-Commissariat d’Afrique du Sud.
