Pulses: The Heroes of Nutrition and Agricultural Sustainability
In an expert seminar on October 5th 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EST, Dr. Douglas Cook, professor at UC Davis and Director of the USAID Innovation Lab for Climate-Resilient Chickpea, will share his decades of experience on legumes in a discussion covering agriculture, nutrition, delivery systems, and meeting the challenge of linking "upstream" science to develop resilient legumes with "downstream" delivery and adoption by farmers.
The seminar is organised by SecureNutrition and aims to engage the agriculture and nutrition community in celebrating the UN International Year of Pulses and to highlight the role pulses play in nutrition and agriculture sustainability.
The event can be joined online here
To find out more about the event please visit the webpage
Vacancy Announcement: Policy Officer for FIRST Programme
Food and Nutrition Security Impact, Resilience, Sustainability and Transformation (FIRST) is a FAO and the European Union partnership programme with the purpose of providing a policy assistance mechanism for improved food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture.
FIRST has a vacancy in Pakistan for a Policy Officer, who will work under the overall technical guidance of FIRST Manager (FAO/Rome) and working in close collaboration with the EU Delegation and relevant government ministries/institutions, as well as other stakeholders and development partners. The officer will seek to develop and implement coherent, nitrated, and effective policy assistance and capacity development. The officer will work to provide technical and policy advice and supports the Government of Sindh in development and implementation of their strategies and policies including the Zero Hunger. The officer will facilitate and advocate for an inclusive policy dialogue and supports the establishment of multi-sectoral food and nutrition coordination mechanisms and institutional structures such as SUN, IPC TWG etc. at the federal, provincial and regional level as well as developing strategic partnerships around FNSSA.
The VA closing date is 15 July 2016.
The full VA, including a detailed list of key functions, may be found at: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/VA/pdf/IRC3417.pdf
Central Asia Climate Smart Agriculture Workshop
In Bishkek, the Kyrgyz Republic will host the Workshop on Climate Smart Agriculture (12.07 – 14.07.2016), the participants of which will be representatives of the Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Workshop will address the interlinked challenges of food security, climate change, energy and disaster risk reduction (DRR) through an integrated climate smart agriculture (CSA) approach.
Rebuilding West Africa's Food Potential
FAO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) just released a publication dedicated to West Africa food potential which intends to support the decision process in the region. This comes at a time when many countries in the region have embarked on implementing their national agricultural strategies derived from the CAADP process. Indeed, after the food crisis of 2007-2008, West African countries took measures to create the enabling environment for greater investment in agricultural development.
Rebuilding West Africa’s Food Potential, presents a range of successful case studies and recommends priority areas for action. According to the study, boosting productivity, fostering competitiveness and ensuring that small-scale farmers have greater access to markets are key for West Africa to realize its full agricultural potential.
For more information, access the full publication: Rebuilding West Africa's Food Potential: Policies and market incentives for smallholder-inclusive food value chains
Huge opportunities for agricultural growth in West Africa
West Africa has unprecedented opportunities for agricultural growth, but making the most of them will require more effective regional integration, says a new report by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
To be competitive with large global actors, West African agriculture needs to capture some of the economies of scale that those countries enjoy in the markets for fertilizers and seeds as well as in agricultural research and technology development, adds the report.
While important progress towards regional integration has been made over the past two decades, effective implementation at national level has remained a challenge, as evidenced by roadblocks and trade bans hindering intraregional trade, along with continued use of disparate national standards for seeds and fertilizers despite regionally agreed-upon common protocols.
The report, "Agricultural Growth in West Africa: Market and Policy Drivers" (AGWA), comes at a time of great dynamism in the patterns of food demand in Africa.
For more information:
The State of Food and Agriculture 2015 - Social protection and agriculture: breaking the cycle of rural poverty
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on reducing poverty have been met by many countries, yet many others lag behind and the post-2015 challenge will be the full eradication of poverty and hunger. Many developing countries increasingly recognize that social protection measures are needed to relieve the immediate deprivation of people living in poverty and to prevent others from falling into poverty when a crisis strikes.
This edition of The State of Food and Agriculture 2015 makes the case that social protection measures will help break the cycle of rural poverty and vulnerability, when combined with broader agricultural and rural development measures.
Consultation
HLPE consultation on the V0 draft of the Report: Sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition, including the role of livestock
In October 2014, the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) requested the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) to conduct a study on Sustainable Agricultural Development for Food Security and Nutrition, including the role of Livestock.
As part of the process of elaboration of its reports, the HLPE is organizing a consultation to seek inputs, suggestions, and comments on the present V0 draft. This open e-consultation will be used by the HLPE to further elaborate the report, which will then be submitted to external expert review, before finalization and approval by the HLPE Steering Committee.
Consultation
Sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition, including the role of livestock - E-consultation to set the track of the study
At its 41st session in October 2014, the CFS has requested the HLPE to prepare a study on Sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition, including the role of livestock, to feed into CFS debates at the CFS Plenary session of October 2016.
As part of its report elaboration process, the HLPE is launching an e-consultation to seek views and comments on the following scope and building blocks of the report, outlined below, as proposed by the HLPE Steering Committee. Part A will set the context, drivers and challenges. Part B, exploring pathways, will constitute the greater part of the report.
The State of Food and Agriculture 2014
More than 500 million family farms manage the majority of the world's agricultural land and produce most of the world's food. We need family farms to ensure global food security, to care for and protect the natural environment and to end poverty, undernourishment and malnutrition. Goals can be thoroughly achieved if public policies support family farms to become more productive and sustainable; in other words policies must support family farms to innovate within a system that recognizes their diversity and the complexity of the challenges faced.
The State of Food and Agriculture 2014: Innovation in family farming analyses family farms and the role of innovation in ensuring global food security, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. It argues that family farms must be supported to innovate in ways that promote sustainable intensification of production and improvements in rural livelihoods.
Read more:
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4040e.pdf
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