A Vegetable Garden for All
A practical guide for setting up family gardens for the production of nutritious, safe food crops, that would contribute to the diets of populations affected by food insecurity.
West Africa heads on to consolidate knowledge sharing in food security and nutrition
21 November 2013, Accra – Seven years after the launch of the Economic Community Of West African States Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), food insecurity and hunger are still prevalent in West Africa. Acute food crises occurred in 2005, 2010 and 2012 in the region, hitting especially the Sahel. In 2012, 18.7 million people were affected by food insecurity.
Sharing knowledge and expertise on food security and nutrition is a key factor in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. Inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogues contribute significantly to the improvement of techniques and approaches for food and nutrition security of the most vulnerable populations.
Focus on West Africa Food Security and Nutrition Forum
Experts and practitioners in Food Security and Nutrition met on 20-21 November 2013, in the FAO Regional Office for Africa in Accra, Ghana, to discuss pressing Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) issues affecting the the Economic Community Of West African States.
Approximately 16 participants from West Africa attended a workshop dedicated to the FAO’s Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition in West Africa (FSN Forum), a worldwide network of experts and practitioners that take part in facilitated online discussions and knowledge sharing on food security and nutrition.
West African representatives from civil society, academy and research and government will identify key issues in order to support the further development of the West Africa FSN Forum and ensure its full ownership by regional actors.
“What is new is the focus on West Africa. The FSN Forum in West Africa will concentrate mostly on specific issues and concerns of the region”, said FAO Representative to Ghana and Sub-regional Office for West Africa, Mr Lamourdia Thiombiano, during the opening session. “It is particularly interesting that we are not reinventing the wheel here, but building on an initiative that has already proven to be successful at the global level and can be effective for the West African community, too”.
Thiombiano also observed that inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogues contribute significantly to the improvement of techniques and approaches for food and nutrition security of the most vulnerable populations. “These exchanges help in raising awareness and strengthen stakeholders’ support of policy processes”.
Building on existing initiatives
The Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition has been instrumental in building networks of stakeholders who can play a role in pushing forward the Right to Food agenda and in supporting the inclusion of diverse stakeholder groups into global food security and nutrition processes. The Committee on World Food Security (CFS), the High Level Panel of Experts of the CFS and the Post 2015 Development Agenda process feature among the FSN Forum collaborations.
"The FSN forum is ready to support the strategic objectives of FAO in the Region to reduce hunger and malnutrition", said Mauricio Rosales, Coordinator of the Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition, "the main challenge for the FSN is to achieve a greater impact at grassroots level".
The inputs obtained from this workshop will help establish a better forum for the West Africa region.
The FSN Forum nurtures a community of 7 000 members with one third of them from Africa. The new West Africa FSN Forum will aim at supporting policy formulation and processes by providing a channel for local, national and sub-regional West African stakeholders to actively contribute to existing initiatives, such as the new FAO/Germany supported "Zero Hunger” project of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), that seeks to unite the efforts of all regional stakeholders, including governments, parliaments, civil society and organizations of producers around eradicating hunger in West Africa.
Links:
Call for Articles - Gender equity in agricultural research
- Background – what was the drive behind the new development
- Description of how the new development works and how it is changing real lives
- Hurdles and challenges that were overcome
- Comments and experiences of ‘developers’ and users
- Limitations/constraints/future challenges
- Responses from relevant/significant bodies (e.g. partner organizations)
- What next in terms of development? What lessons have been learnt/can be transferred elsewhere?
International course at Wageningen University - Agriculture in transition
General introduction
Unique opportunity to participate in a course at one of the world's leading universities in its field. Wageningen UR is recognized as a world-leader in research and education in the domains of healthy living environments, safe and secure food, and sustainable value chains. We offer a wide range of courses which will help you to develop the capacities, leadership qualities needed to be creative, adaptive and responsive to the dynamics of a rapidly changing world. In our courses we connect WUR’s technical and scientific expertise with cutting-edge processes of innovation and learning.
Course introduction:
To go beyond just an increase in outputs to feed 9 billion people in 2050, an integral redirection of current farming practices is required. Nowadays there is a compelling need for creative thinkers that lead the way to innovative and more sustainable agricultural production. This two week’s intensive course will give you new tools and perspectives to become one of them. For information about this course please visit the following website:
Funding
For this course there are NFP Fellowships. A limited number of fellowships is available from Nuffic - the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP) for nationals of certain countries. In order to apply for such a NFP fellowship, you have to register at the following website: http://www.studyinholland.nl/scholarships/scholarships-administered-by-nuffic/netherlands-fellowship-programmes/scholarships-online-sol.
You will be informed by Nuffic whether your application has been accepted. For more information visit: http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/centre-for-development-innovation/short-courses/how-to-apply.htm
The application deadline for the NFP fellowships is 1 October 2013.
Registration deadline: 24th of March 2014
How to apply:
For more information about registration for his course visit:
Or contact: [email protected]
Location: The Netherlands
Call for Articles - Agri Enterprise involving Smallholders
Call for Articles on "Nutrition"
- Background – what was the drive behind the new development
- Description of how the new development works and how it is changing real lives
- Hurdles and challenges that were overcome
- Comments and experiences of ‘developers’ and users
- Limitations/constraints/future challenges
- Responses from relevant/significant bodies (e.g. partner organizations)
- What next in terms of development? What lessons have been learnt/can be transferred elsewhere?
Public consultations for the post-2015 development agenda on growth and employment
One of the themes on which the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) is convening public consultations for the post-2015 development agenda is growth and employment. Three e-discussions are currently taking place, on 1) growth, diversification and structural change, 2) development-led globalization and 3) sustainability and growth. Please browse the space http://www.worldwewant2015.org/employment to register and join.
Advancing Agroforestry on the Policy Agenda – A guide for decision-makers
Agroforestry Working Paper, no. 1 Agroforestry systems include both traditional and modern land-use systems in which trees are managed together with crops and/or animal production systems in agricultural settings. Even though these benefits justify increased investment in the development of...
Online Discussion from 6-20 February: Connecting people, sharing knowledge and increasing transparency. Using online platforms to increase access to open data, share best practices for monitoring women's land rights
Given the rapid expansion of the internet and the increasing number of users, including in the global South, the full potential of online platforms for promoting inclusive consultation of issues of high global interest is certainly not yet realised. An online discussion was organised to share views and perspectives on how online platforms could be used more creatively and effectively to share experiences on a key area where information and lessons learned through various interventions from around the world are generally dispersed, that is the area of monitoring women’s land rights.
The objective of the online discussion was twofold: (a) engage a collective reflection on ways of optimising the use of online platforms in efforts to promote equitable and sustainable natural governance and social justice; and, (b) to share experiences on approaches to monitoring women’s land rights.
The discussion was running simultaneously on landportal.info and across the following five platforms:
- Wikigender (http://www.wikigender.org/index.php/New_Home);
- E-agriculture (http://www.e-agriculture.org);
- AIMS (http://aims.fao.org);
- FSN-Forum (http://www.fao.org/fsnforum);
- Open-Development list (http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-development).
This discussion will be facilitated by the International Land Coalitions (ILC) (www.landcoalition.org) Women’s Land Rights team.
New course: Linking emergency aid to food and nutrition security 15 – 26 April, 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Wageningen UR-Centre for Development Innovation is organising a new course on Linking Emergency Aid to Food and Nutrition Security. The course offers participants a chance to gain insight in the inter-disciplinary and integrated nature of food and nutrition security in an emergency setting, in particular the role of stakeholders, institutions, and innovative governance/donor interventions to build resilience. In addition, it stimulates participants to consider their own role as manager, policy maker or practitioner, making use of a wide range of principles and tools, to strengthen their interventions to make the transition from emergency towards food and nutrition security.