by admin | Jan 20, 2021 | News And Events, publications
By: Alice E. Dawson, Gideon N. Ashitei & Paulina S. Addy – Women in Agricultural Development (WIAD) Directorate –Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Ghana..
Mushroom cultivation requires a very well managed local climate which must be cool, adequately ventilated, with high humidity and optimal light. This becomes especially necessary at the cropping stage. Conventionally, small to medium scale growers achieve this by construction of thatch-roofed structures having bamboo, coconut frond or palm frond walls. Although these materials are relatively cheap and easy-to-find they tend to have a short life span and also require a lot of maintenance and repairs. The latter materials also lack the ability of protecting the mushrooms from pest attack. In addition, the floors of such mushroom cultivation structures are usually bare ground which further allows rodents/pests (which were common at the selected site) to have access into the structure to contaminate and destroy the mushrooms and bags.
Being fully aware of the challenges regarding creation of a conducive environment for mushroom cultivation and the prevailing pest situation at the current location, the project team applied a good degree of innovation and novelty in the “Using cassava peels for mushroom cultivation” Project. These constituted a prominent part of the achievements or successes of the project.
Having sustainability in mind from the very onset, corrugated roofing sheets were used for the entire mushroom house to increase its lifespan. The metallic roofing sheets however presented a challenge in respect of heat generation and this was resolved through the use of a layer of Envirotuff® immediately beneath the roof. The cropping room was further given a ceiling of plywood which had been padded with an upper layer of expandable Polystyrene to prevent heat in the room. In addition to the “brapaa” (woven palm fronds) that was used as wall material for the mushroom house in this project layers of mosquito net and wire mesh were used. The latter served the purposes of keeping out flying insects and rodents respectively in an effort to promote hygiene and strengthen the walls for durability. Again, in order to keep rodents out of the mushroom house concrete floors and three (3) courses of Sandcrete blocks were constructed to form the base of the structure.
There was an element of uncertainty in the initial stages but the project team was very pleased to have been successful in its improvisation efforts. Very good harvests were obtained from the use of these unconventional building materials for the mushroom house. Thus, the success of the novel structure will enable the project to have greater impact in the long-term as the local community will enjoy a longer use of the facility. The mushroom house will also serve as a training centre for a relatively longer period than the conventional version in aid of sustainability and tangible impact.
Currently, the Gyaman Senior High School in the immediate environs of the project site has expressed interest in taking advantage of its proximity to train students offering the Agricultural Science programme. The Director of the Gomoa-East District Agricultural Development Unit has also expressed similar interest in using the mushroom infrastructure to train farmers in other communities within the district in mushroom cultivation as an alternative livelihood skill.
The “Using Cassava Peels for Mushroom Cultivation” project is also supporting Food and Nutrition security in the local communities as their interest in mushroom consumption is on the rise. Members of the processing group have also been using some the harvest to support their nutritional needs. Some individuals in the community have requested for inoculated bags for production so that they can have regular supply from their homes. The local group has bought into the project by taking full ownership responsibility for its sustainability.
Edited and published by FARA
by admin | Nov 27, 2020 | News And Events
The President of the African Development Bank made a clarion call for the strengthening of research for development institutions on the continent. He affirmed with empirical data that the ‘Technology Delivery Platforms are working and that it is time to revamp FARA and to support the development of the agriculture value chains. These sentiments were passionately expressed in his keynote presentation to the 8th FARA General Assembly that was held on the 25th of November 2020.
According to the African Development Bank President, hunger is the greatest risk confronting Africa and in order to mitigate this risk, it is imperative to urgently combine our efforts on food security and recovery from the Covid pandemic. According to Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the days of pilot work are over in Africa and it is time to work at scale and faster, to reach tens of millions of farmers with agricultural technologies and accelerated market access and financing to stimulate wealth generation.
The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina delivered the keynote address on the theme, Institutions, Innovation, Impact. He commended FARA for braving the odds of the global pandemic to hold its General Assembly and highlighted the impact of COVID-19 on food and nutrition security on the continent and the efforts required to mitigate its effects.
“Africa today has some 250 million people who are malnourished…while collectively we must tackle the impact of COVID-19, hunger is the greatest risk facing Africa. Without good nutrition, medicines and vaccines just don’t work. Therefore, we must now urgently combine food security and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic”
Dr. Adesina recapped the impressive results from the deployment of technologies to show that science, technology delivery platforms, and institutional partnerships for delivery can be leveraged to push Africa’s agriculture forward and called on all stakeholders to do more to significantly strengthen the institutions for research and development on the continent.
Re-emphasizing the AfDB’s commitment to supporting the agricultural research ecosystem on the continent, the AfDB President stated…
“It is time to revamp FARA and the ecosystems of research and development at the regional levels…African agricultural systems must become modern, integrated and well supported to achieve production and processing of food and agricultural products and farming inputs at scale… The African Development Bank will strongly support FARA, farmers’ organizations and the private sector to expand and sustain the success stories of Africa’s agriculture”.
Dr. Adesina concluded his keynote address by indicating that success at scale will depend on a stream of appropriate agricultural technologies, supported by institutional ecosystems that are innovative, as well as financing, that will drive greater competitiveness of Africa’s agricultural value chains.
“The mountain may be steep, the journey may be long, yet we will not be discouraged, for the distance we have covered, gives us hope. Let this hope drive enthusiasm and let the enthusiasm power us into the achievement of our vision. For only when Africa is fed, and we fully unlock the wealth of Africa’s agriculture; is our mission complete”, he said.
In her submission, The African Union Commission’s Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Her Excellency Ambassador Josefa Sacko, said “Africa cannot put agricultural research development aside and still aim to transform agriculture and report good performance. It is a paradox!”.
Emphasizing the need to prioritize investment into agriculture science research for development in Africa, Ambassador Sacko cited examples from other continents which are reaping the benefits of investing in agricultural science research, to provide the latest cost-effective technologies to their farming populations.
“We can no longer wait for bailouts that are not forthcoming, to run African Agricultural Science, Technology and Innovation”.
Her Excellency Ambassador Josefa Sacko affirmed the commitment of the AU Commission to work with FARA, within its continental mandate, to strengthen the deployment of Research, Science and Technology towards the achievement of the 2025 CAADP Malabo targets of doubling productivity, halving post-harvest losses and strengthening resilience to climate and associated risks, such as locusts and COVID-19. She also reiterated the call to mobilize emergency domestic funding to support agricultural science research on the continent.
“As I previously did, I would like to call again for the allocation of at least 10% of the emergency financial resources being mobilized for COVID-19, to support Africa’s research for science, technology, and innovation”.
The 8th General Assembly of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa is a statutory triennial event that ended on Thursday, November 25, 2020, with a renewed call by the Forum and its collaborators to the leadership of the continent to urgently refocus investment in the area of agricultural research, technology and innovation to ensure food and nutrition security on the continent.
About FARA
The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) is the continental apex organisation for agricultural research and innovation in Africa. It is also the body mandated by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA)-NEPAD to serve as their technical arm on agricultural research and innovation. FARA also facilitates the deployment of science, technology and innovation to accelerate the achievement of the continent’s agriculture and food security targets as set out in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the 2014 Malabo declaration on accelerated African agricultural growth and transformation. FARA works in close cooperation with the sub-regional agriculture research organisations (ASARECA, CCARDESA and CORAF) as well as the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS). Together, these organisations implement the CAADP XP4 programme which is co-funded by the European Commission and IFAD. This programme sets out to strengthen the collaborative capacities of these organisations in supporting countries to implement a science-led and climate-relevant transformation of their agricultural systems.
https://faraafrica.org/
by admin | Nov 21, 2020 | News And Events
FARA’s flagship project , the Agricultural Research and Innovation Fellowship for Africa (ARIFA), has been recognized as a good practice by the United Nations Office of South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC). Listed as one of the entries in a publication titled “Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the Context of Food Security”, ARIFA is part of the over 40 good practices on agriculture relevant to food security, identified by UNOSSC as illustrating the central tenets South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC), which addresses development challenges with tangible outcomes.
The publication was launched as part of the Brazil-Africa Forum event for 2020, hosted by the Brazil Africa Institute (IBRAF), drawing participants from across the globe.
The Executive Director of FARA, Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, conveyed FARA’s gratitude to UNOSSC and IBRAF, for recognizing its effort within the SSTC framework. Speaking on behalf of the Executive Director, Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim, the Coordinator of ARIFA in FARA, stated that the programme is a game changer in Africa’s AR4D landscape because it leverages the power of Science, Technology and Innovation within the Global South, to strengthen Africa’s capacity to innovate, using the multi-stakeholder approach of innovation systems. The ARIFA approach supports the beneficiaries to set-up Innovation Platforms in their home-countries upon completion of their training. Designed to foster pedagogic retooling that will deliver livelihoods through training received from countries such as Brazil, China, Cuba, India etc., ARIFA targets the raising of at least 5,000 fit-for-purpose AR4D practitioners, who will constitute the DNA of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture development Programme (CAADP), towards addressing food and nutrition challenges on the continent in the next 10 years.
With this recognition, ARIFA joins a list of SSTC good practices listed on UNOSSC South-South Galaxy, a Knowledge Management tool accessible globally.
Although the entry for the publication was submitted by FARA in 2019, when the programme was just starting, it has since evolved to record significant success, especially with the partnership involving the Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of Nigeria. The FARA-UFV-TETFund partnership, is currently supporting the training of at least 120 Nigerians.
According to the UNOSSC, the good practices listed in this year’s edition are also relevant to the unprecedented global health crisis triggered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case of ARIFA, the establishment of Virtual Training and Innovation Hubs (VTrain Hub), where candidates are trained virtually, represents an excellent solution that can be scaled up across the continent.
For more about ARIFA contact : Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim [email protected]
Or visit www.faraafrica.org
by admin | Nov 15, 2020 | News And Events
The 27th Board of Directors’ meeting of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)—the second ordinary meeting of the Board in 2020—was held virtually from 10th to 13 November 2020.
The Board provides oversight of FARA on behalf of the General Assembly. The second meeting of the Board is ordinarily devoted to a review of progress made in the implementation of the annual workplan and the review and approval of the Secretariat’s workplan and budget for the following year.
Thus at its 27th meeting the Board approved the Secretariat’s workplan and budget for 2021. Since this was the final meeting the current Board was holding before the next General Assembly, the Board made recommendations that will be tabled to the General Assembly for approval.
These include amendments to the Constitution, nomination of a new chairperson and the nomination of Directors that will constitute the Board of FARA for the period 2020-2023.
by admin | Nov 9, 2020 | News And Events
The first cohort of trainees under the Agricultural Research and Innovation Fellowship for Africa (ARIFA), coordinated by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa-FARA in partnership with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) in Brazil, commenced classes at designated Virtual Training and Innovation Hubs (VTrain Hubs) in Nigeria today 9th November, 2020.
These trainees comprise the first of 120 ARIFA fellows, who will be engaged across 6 learning centers located in TETFunds’ Centers of Excellence in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, University of Benin, University of Maiduguri, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, University of Jos and University of Lagos. The virtual lectures are delivered from various agriculture-related departments in UFV, Brazil.
Under the programme, ARIFA fellows, drawn from among the academic staff of TETFund’s beneficiary institutions, will be trained at MSc. level, to contribute to the vision of creating the next generation of Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) practitioners for the continent. The initiative forms part of the TETFund-FARA Pedagogic Retooling Strategy of supporting Nigeria’s tertiary institutions to conduct research within the context of innovation to impact pathway.
In August 2020, FARA and TETFund launched the strategy with the establishment of a Steering Committee for the implementation of ARIFA. Today’s commencement of lectures by the ARIFA fellows represents an important milestone in the operationalization of the programme.
The current cohort has to commence the program online due to the ongoing COVID-19-related travel restrictions. It is expected that this online classes which will go on until the end of the year, and will be followed by in-person lectures that will start in the first quarter of 2021 in Brazil, when all the ARIFA fellows will be mobilized to the city of Viçosa. It is also expected that more fellows will be selected to join the programme.
ARIFA is part of FARA’s wider strategy of the South-South & Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) known as the Holistic Empowerment for Livelihood Programme (HELP).
For more details contact: Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim [email protected]
by admin | Oct 13, 2020 | News And Events
The Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, has reiterated calls on African leaders to safeguard the continent’s food and nutrition systems by investing in the future of its youth and in technology.
Speaking in a quarterly lecture organized by the First Technical University, Ibadan, in Nigeria, the Executive Director lamented the seeming unpreparedness of Africa for its youth explosion.
He intimated that youth of Africa are blessed with fantastic ideas which must be tapped, guided and nurtured with the right calibre of leadership, into securing the continent’s food system.
“Not supporting, not guiding and not encouraging the youth will result in capitulating the future”.
Dr. Akinbamijo has also underscored the relevance of the integration of science into agriculture to ensure positive transformation.
“Science is needed to propel innovation and bring about positive transformation”.
The executive Director indicated, that if Africa must catch up with the rest of the world, it has to speed up the rate at which it generates technology.
“ We cannot be generating technologies in inches and expect to run in miles”. He touched on the investment of the likes of china in this space and encourages Africa leaders to pick a cue if the continent must catch up with the rest of the world.
In another development, FARA and TetFund are partnering through FARA’s flagship initiative Agricultural Research and Innovation Fellowship for Africa (ARIFA) to sponsor at least 20 young faculty members of the University of Lagos to undertake postgraduate studies in Agricultural Research for Development, under a South-South and Triangular Cooperation arrangement.
ARIFA aims to produce a new generation of fit-for-purpose workforce to re-engineer the African agri-food sector to provide the change factor for rapid agricultural transformation in the next 10 years. The candidates so selected, will pursue PhDs and Masters programmes at Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) in Brazil.
