Meeting report

This Expert Meeting, organized by the Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) Africa Program, in collaboration with partners, took place in Cape Town, 16-17 March 2016. The meeting aimed to present and discuss the findings so far of ISSD Theme 3: Matching global commitments with national realities. The meeting was divided in three sessions, each centered around one of three action learning questions. The outcomes of these discussions and consultations are briefly summarized in the report. »

This info note provides guidance for the design and development of climate-smart value chains. It provides lessons learned from the learning event on 25 February 2016 in Rome, held by IFAD and the CCAFS-CIGAR. Through a simple five step process, it provides a range of tools and resources that are available to supportthe development of climate-smart value chains in different stages. The key conclusion of the learning event is that building incountry capacity to use relevant tools for real decisions is even more important than building the tools. »

Is agriculture the sector of opportunity for youth in sub-Saharan Africa? That was the question that was asked as part of a debate for the Mastercard Young Africa Works Summit in November 2015. Dr. Nteranya Sanginga – Director General International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Jim Sumberg from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), highlighted the pro’s and cons of this debate. Jim Sumberg presented four reasons to be cautious. »

In this article on the CGIAR website, Michael Halewood of Bioversity International reports on the workshop ‘Mutual Implementation of the Plant Treaty and the Nagoya Protocol in the context of wider policy goals’, held Nov. 16-20 in Addis Ababa. The meeting focused on how countries can identify and access diversity they need and share associated benefits. »

On the 2-3 February 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a technical meeting betwen Indigenous Peoples’ respresentatives and FAO staff. This report includes the work plan based on the main suggestions made for how FAO and indigenous peoples can collaborate in the short, medium and long term. The report identifies concrete steps that can be followed in relation to the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication, known as the SSF Guidelines, inidgenous food systems and fishers among others. »

The Fin4Ag conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya, July 2014, specifically focusing on agri-financing. This conference report (PDF) by The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) provides a valuable overview of the event »