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Agri Food Systems
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
Nutrition and Food Security Data Management in Africa | AAP Public Dialogue Series
Recorded on September 28, 2022 as part of AAP Public Dialogue Series
By:
Justin Rabineau
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
African Agriculture Climate Adaptation Research System RFP: Science for Africa Foundation
The RFP seeks innovative approaches to enhance climate adaptation for agriculture in Africa in ways that link directly with and strengthen the ecosystem of local actors and institutions. Specifically, the objective is: To support innovations that strengthen agriculture-related risk management processes and adaptation prioritization, planning, and investment, through intra-Africa research collaboration on data, data science, and modeling.
Due date: January 15, 2023
Grant period: 18-24 months
Seed projects: $100,000 US max; Transition to scale projects: $200,000 US max
Eligibility: Must be led by a PI based in Africa. Teams comprising multiple African institutions within or across countries will be given preference over applicants from single institutions. Other global partners may be included.
At least 90% of the funding must go to an African institution(s).
SAF particularly encourages applications from women-led projects and organization
https://scienceforafrica.foundation/funding/african-agriculture-climate-adaptation-research-system-request-for-proposals
By:
Ann Allegra
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
Its great to be here !.
By:
Nelson Mandela
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
+2
Call for Papers: Land and Sustainable Food Transformations
GUEST EDITORSAdam Calo, Assistant Professor of Environmental Governance and Politics, Radboud UniversityColine Perrin, Senior Researcher in Geography, INRAEKirsteen Shields, Senior Lecturer in International Law and Food Systems, University of EdinburghSylvia Kay, Researcher, The Transnational InstituteSarah Ruth Sippel, Professor of Economic Geography and Globalization Studies, University of Münster
This Elementa special feature invites articles exploring the role of land in sustainable food transformations. The forthcoming collection provides new understandings on how governance of land (property relations, land access, land tenure, landscape policy) mediates the potential for food system transformations. The special issue goes beyond understanding dynamics of the land food nexus to ask how land relations can be reformed to create favorable conditions for more just and sustainable food systems to emerge. A complete call for proposals can be found here.
Land relations—property, access, tenure, landscape—are a central underlying driver of the material form of food systems, from farm to distribution. Despite their fluidity and historical and geographical diversity, land relations have a tendency to become “normalized” through law, custom, and practice. In particular, the exclusionary private ownership model of property has come to be deeply entrenched in legal systems worldwide, particularly in the Global North. The power of this normalization is evidenced, for example, in how research and practice aimed at reshaping food systems from grassroots movement, policy-level, or biophysical perspectives often omit the role of land relations in bringing about agricultural sustainability and agrarian change. Understanding land relations as “static” thus potentially constrains or directs the kinds of sustainable agriculture and food transformations that can take place.
We thus invite contributions on characterizing the role of land relations in sustainable food production, critiques of existing sustainability interventions in the food system from a perspective of land relations, and socio-legal analysis of pathways to reforming or reimagining synergized land and food system transformations. We aim to highlight the role of land relations and property regimes in a ‘Global North Context’. We call for insights on the power relations embedded in land in both the dominant land regimes that underly the industrial food system but also in the alternative counter movements bubbling up to contest the status quo of the land food nexus.
Articles in this special symposium might examine the following topics or other related issues:
The role of power relations in assembling land for food production of differing forms;
Discourses that shape the legitimacy of strong property regimes and the resulting material influence in institutions, actors, social movements, resources, and technologies;
Cross disciplinary learning from other domains such as housing justice, intellectual property debates, and antitrust applied to understand food system transformations;
Global South—North food system co-learning on alternative land governance for food systems change;
Empirical evidence of the relationship between alternative property regimes and alternative food system practices such as agroecology, diversified or organic farming, local food processing, and/or food sovereignty;
Dominant food system technocratic “solutions” or interventions (such as vertical farming, regenerative agriculture, agricultural easements, payments for ecosystem services, crop biotechnology, alt-proteins and sustainable intensification) and the way they either entrench, challenge, rely upon, or overlook the role of property regimes;
Dominant food system social “solutions” or interventions (such as farmer training programs, capacity building, empowerment campaigns, dietary nudging, microfinance) and the way they either entrench, challenge, rely upon, or overlook the role of property regimes;
Politics of land reform in (seemingly) stable statutory institutions (such as liberal sovereign states in industrialized economies);
Creative imagined or practiced legal or social pathways to reform the norms of property on farmland or other nodes of the food system;
Advancements on access theory with regards to food system transformations;
The above themes relate to questions of how land politics influence food system transformation pathways.
If you wish to submit a paper to the special issue, please submit a 500-word abstract detailing your article’s title, type, purpose, methodology, key findings, and significance to the guest editors at adam.calo@ru.nl by 14th January. Elementa accepts original research articles, reviews, policy bridges, commentary, and other creative multi-media formats such as interviews and podcasts. and discussion papers. All paper formats will be considered although original research articles are preferred. More information about submission criteria can be found here: https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/pages/submissionguidelines
Deadlines:
Abstracts: 14th January 2023 Authors notified of invitation to submit a paper: 1st February 2023Complete first drafts due to editors: April 28th 2023 (Spring 2023)Reviews sent to authors: Summer 2023
By:
Raquel Acosta
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
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Determinants of Small-Scale Irrigation Use for Poverty Reduction: The Case of Offa Woreda, Wolaita Z
Small-scale irrigation is one of the agricultural activities used by rural farmers to improve the overall livelihood of the rural community by increasing income, securing food, meeting social requirements, and reducing poverty. e main objective of this study was to look into the factors that influence small-scale irrigation for poverty reduction among small-holder farmers in theOffa Woreda, Wolaita Zone.
By:
Elias Bojago
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
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Submissions Joint Scientific Session convening with the African Crop Science Society
RUFORUM 18th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGSCIENTIFIC SESSIONS: JOINT CONVENING WITH THE AFRICAN CROP SCIENCE SOCIETYCONCEPT NOTEBackgroundThe Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) is a network of 147universities in 38 African countries. It was established in 2004 to (i) foster integration of African universities into the national agricultural innovation systems (NAIS); (ii) provide a platform for training quality graduates to support development processes in Africa; (iii) rationalise resource use and enhance economies of scale and scope; and (iv) provide a platform for networking, resource mobilisation and advocacy for agricultural higher education in Africa. RUFORUM envisions ‘vibrant, transformative universities to catalyse sustainable, inclusive agricultural development to feed and create prosperity for Africa’. The Eight Africa Higher Education Week and RUFORUM Annual General Meeting Conference will be held 12th-16th December 2022 in Harare, Zimbabwe, under the theme “Sustainable Africa Industrialisation Through Innovative Agricultural Research, Training And Outreach In The Post COVID-19 Era”.RUFORUM, in partnership with the African Crop Science Society and the Zimbabwean RUFORUM member universities, will convene a three-day scientific conference where scientists, academicians and students will present their work orally focusing on the application of biological, ecological and social knowledge for the development of resilient climate-smart agri-food systems including sustainable livestock production and environmental and natural resources management for food and nutritional security and economic and social stability. Digital innovations, data management, intellectual property rights, economics, policy analysis, andeducation and research institutions-community engagement experiences will be highlighted.Objective of the Scientific ConferenceThe Scientific Conference aims to bring together leading academicians, scientists, researchers and research scholars especially from the continent to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Agriculture and agricultural related sciences, and emerging development concerns with a focus on climate-smart innovations. It also provides an interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder platform for policy makers, researchers, practitioners, educators and students to present and discuss the most recent scientificknowledge, technological innovations, emerging trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted to strengthening agri-food systems. As in previous RUFORUM Conferences, special provision will be made for graduate students to share their research findings and profile their research. Themes for the scientific sessions will cover eight thematic areas (see Thematic Areas in Annex).CO-ORGANISERS:Date and VenueThe Scientific Conference will be held 12th-14th December 2022 at the Harare International Conference Centre, Zimbabwe. It is foreseen that this conference will be a blended session (face to face and virtuallyregistration link: (will be provided). The Conference will feature live-streamed webinars and will include both invited speakers and contributed speakers. The webinars will contain a Q&A session for live online audiences. In addition, there will be Posters and Exhibition Sessions (Links will be provided). ParticipantsThe Scientific Conference is targeting, graduate students, academics, researchers, policy makers, and development practitioners. Organisation of sessions and Expected OutcomeThe conference is conceived as a dynamic multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary (in the agricultural field) forum aimed at understanding and harnessing the socio-economic potential of innovation, its key drivers and processes, and impact pathways through exchange of knowledge, information and practices, review of enabling policies and platforms, and development of potential partnerships and action plans.The expected outcome Strengthened networking among members of the scientific community working in agriculture and related fields; Focus given to innovation in agri-food and nutrition systems, climate-smart agriculture and climate change adaptation and mitigation Improved presentation and communication skills for especially the graduate students Increased visibility of research and development outputs from Africa Improved methods for increasing the uptake of research results by other stakeholders (dissemination strategies)The Conference will have one official opening session, then break into different sessions where participants will split into small focused groups to discuss advances in science in the selected areas and make recommendations for follow up actions. The outcome of the breakout sessions will be shared during the AGM Closing Session and also online after the conference. Submission and Publication of Conference PapersPapers for both oral and poster presentations should be submitted by 31 August 2022 and should follow the format in the RUFORUM Working Document Series (see Link). Following review, selected papers may be published in the African Journal of Rural Development.Please submit your papers for the Scientific Conference to ruforumpapers@ruforum.org CO-ORGANISERS:Organisers and ContactsThis scientific conference is organised by RUFORUM Secretariat in collaboration with African Crop Science Society and Zimbabwean Universities. Contacts: Zimbabwe Organising Committee: Dr. Sebastian Chakeredza: chakeredzas@africau.edu RUFORUM: Prof. Majaliwa Mwanjalolo: m.majaliwa@ruforum.org ; secretariat@ruforum.org African Crop Science Society: Prof. J.S. Tenywa: acss@mak.ac.ug; acsj@mak.ac.ug
By:
Raquel Acosta
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
[CALL FOR PAPERS] RUFORUM 18th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE
The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) is a network of 147 universities in 38 African countries. It was established in 2004 to (i) foster integration of African universities into the national agricultural innovation systems (NAIS); (ii) provide a platform for training quality graduates to support development processes in Africa; (iii) rationalize resource use and enhance economies of scale and scope; and (iv) provide a platform for networking, resource mobilization and advocacy for agricultural higher education in Africa. RUFORUM envisions ‘vibrant, transformative universities to catalyze sustainable, inclusive agricultural development to feed and create prosperity for Africa’. The Eight Africa Higher Education Week and RUFORUM Annual General Meeting Conference will be held 12th-16th December 2022 in Harare, Zimbabwe, under the theme “Sustainable Africa Industrialization Through Innovative Agricultural Research, Training And Outreach In The Post COVID-19 Era”. RUFORUM, in partnership with the African Crop Science Society and the Zimbabwean RUFORUM member universities, will convene a three-day scientific conference where scientists, academicians and students will present their work orally focusing on the application of biological, ecological and social knowledge for the development of resilient climate-smart agri-food systems including sustainable livestock production and environmental and natural resources management for food and nutritional security and economic and social stability. Digital innovations, data management, intellectual property rights, economics, policy analysis, and education and research institutions community engagement experiences will be highlighted.
As part of strengthening dissemination of research outputs and lesson sharing, RUFORUM invites interested authors (Researchers and scientists from national, regional and international research institutes, Higher Education stakeholders and beneficiaries of RUFORUM supported projects, including postgraduates students and their supervisors and development practitioners) to submit Research Application Summaries (Papers) of each maximum 10 Pages following the RUFORUM Working Document Series Guidelines and format (see Link). Papers on other topical issues, including development practice, will also be considered. The deadline for submission is 31st August 2022 Papers should be submitted through triennialpapers@ruforum.org. All submissions will be scanned for originality through the antiplagiarism software; peer reviewed and published as open access resource materials with a serialized RUFORUM Working Document Series (ISSN: 1993-8462) which will be made available to various stakeholders through the RUFORUM Institutional Repository (https://repository.ruforum.org/).
The RUFORUM Working Document Series is published in French and English. Therefore, authors are requested to submit papers in either English or French. For inquiries about your submission, please contact us through triennialpapers@ruforum.org.
By:
Raquel Acosta
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
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2022 RUFORUM Young African Entrepreneurs Competition
The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), a consortium of 147 Universities in 38 African Countries, is pleased to announce the call for 2022 RUFORUM Young African Entrepreneurs Competition (RUYAEC). The overall purpose of the RUFORUM Young African Entrepreneurs Competition (RUYAEC) is to catalyse entrepreneurship through promotion of business innovation and provision of seed funding to young entrepreneurs with creative and innovative business ideas. The call targets young entrepreneurs and incubates below 35 years of age to compete for 20 awards that show case their innovations, enterprises, business concepts and propositions.
This fifth round of the RUFORUM Young Innovators Competition will be a regional competition and specifically targets only Southern Africa countries[1]. The awards will be made in Harare, Zimbabwe during the RUFORUM Annual General Meeting “AGM” slated for 12 to 16th December 2022.
RUFORUM targets to recognise young innovators and entrepreneurs especially in the following fields: Food and agribusiness, ICTs, Health, Engineering, Natural Resources, and Meteorology, among others. All the 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021 RUFORUM Young Innovators Awardees are NOT eligible to apply.
The RUYAEC operates within RUFORUM’s thrust of promoting creativity and seeks to offer opportunities to develop innovative solutions both in addressing the problems faced by smallholder farmers, and in designing innovative solutions to emerging challenges and opportunities.
Remarks: Kindly note that you will not be required to upload a word document as an application form but you need to fill the form online. For Any question, kindly contact Mr. Yamungu Alongo Boniface at b.yamungu@ruforum.org for assistance.
Call Announcement: deadline 15/September/2022
For more information, please visit https://ruforum.smehub.africa/ The Application form will be accessed at https://smehub.africa/calls/8/form
By:
Raquel Acosta
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
+1
2022 RUFORUM Young African Entrepreneurs Competition
The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), a consortium of 147 Universities in 38 African Countries, is pleased to announce the call for 2022 RUFORUM Young African Entrepreneurs Competition (RUYAEC). The overall purpose of the RUFORUM Young African Entrepreneurs Competition (RUYAEC) is to catalyse entrepreneurship through promotion of business innovation and provision of seed funding to young entrepreneurs with creative and innovative business ideas. The call targets young entrepreneurs and incubates below 35 years of age to compete for 20 awards that show case their innovations, enterprises, business concepts and propositions.
This fifth round of the RUFORUM Young Innovators Competition will be a regional competition and specifically targets only Southern Africa countries[1]. The awards will be made in Harare, Zimbabwe during the RUFORUM Annual General Meeting “AGM” slated for 12 to 16th December 2022.
RUFORUM targets to recognise young innovators and entrepreneurs especially in the following fields: Food and agribusiness, ICTs, Health, Engineering, Natural Resources, and Meteorology, among others. All the 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021 RUFORUM Young Innovators Awardees are NOT eligible to apply.
The RUYAEC operates within RUFORUM’s thrust of promoting creativity and seeks to offer opportunities to develop innovative solutions both in addressing the problems faced by smallholder farmers, and in designing innovative solutions to emerging challenges and opportunities.
Remarks: Kindly note that you will not be required to upload a word document as an application form but you need to fill the form online. For Any question, kindly contact Mr. Yamungu Alongo Boniface at b.yamungu@ruforum.org for assistance.
Call Announcement: deadline 15/September/2022
For more information, please visit https://ruforum.smehub.africa/ The Application form will be accessed at https://smehub.africa/calls/8/form
By:
Raquel Acosta
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
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Transforming Institutions Strategic Funding Proposals
The Alliance for African Partnership is now accepting proposals for the Transforming Institutions Strategic Funding Program. Successful applicants will receive up to $20,000 in seed funding to develop international strategic partnerships with universities, institutions of higher education and research, and/or organizations in the public or NGO sectors.
The application deadline is August 29th, 2022.
Alliance for African Partnership seeks proposals from AAP consortium members and their partners for activities which directly address AAP's pillar to transform institutions to be better able to participate in sustainable, equitable, and research-driven partnerships that make a broader impact on transforming lives. Travel can include any of the following—within Africa, to Africa from external locations, to the US, or to other locations outside of Africa. Virtual engagement is highly encouraged as it can be cost effective.
Exploratory Projects to support initial-stage partnership development. This funding is meant for new partnerships that have not previously worked together
Proposal Development Projects to support partners to develop a proposal in response to a specific funding opportunity
Pilot Workshop Projects to support short-term training activities or workshops
Proposed partnerships should focus specifically on institutional strengthening and capacity development. This could include projects that aim to build institutional strengths; to contribute to individuals’ capacity development which will lead to institutional strengthening; to plan for new units or institution-wide initiatives; and/or to pilot new approaches to research support, teaching or outreach that can eventually be scaled up across the institution(s).
Proposals that address the following areas will also receive priority in review:
1) building grant proposal development and/or improving grant management,
2)innovative models of joint teaching or degree programs (e.g., COIL courses), or
3) innovative models of research communication and engagement (e.g., building capacity of researchers to engage/communicate with policy makers, communities, etc.)
To learn more about the program, including how to apply, visit:
https://aap.isp.msu.edu/funding/transforming-institutions-call-proposals/
By:
Raquel Acosta
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
Using Digital Finance to Promote Women’s Economic Empowerment in Agriculture
Digital financial services have the potential to positively affect women’s economic empowerment, despite limitations that restrict their access to and use of financial resources and services. Building on the Digital Finance and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Beyond Production Roles in Agriculture and Food Systems report published by the Feed the Future Advancing Women’s Empowerment Program, this webinar will invite participants to learn about promoting women’s economic empowerment in agriculture using digital financial services.
Presenters will share out the findings, conclusions, and recommendations from the report, highlighting through a fireside chat the lessons learned and best practices from implementers and service providers working in the DFS space, and provide time for participants to pose questions to the presenters.
To learn more/Register: Using Digital Finance to Promote Women’s Economic Empowerment in Agriculture | Agrilinks
By:
Raquel Acosta
AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
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AGRILINKS EVENT: Managing Soils to Address Global Challenges
Join us for the 2022 USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (USAID/RFS) Research Honorary Lecture, given by 2020 World Food Prize Laureate Rattan Lal. Dr. Lal is recognized globally as a pioneer in soil-centric agricultural management to improve food security and develop climate-resilient agriculture through soil carbon sequestration, sustainable intensification, use efficiency of agroecosystems, sustainable management of soils, and soil health. His career in soil science and international agricultural research spans over 5 decades and four continents.
The lecture and discussion will outline global challenges including food and nutritional insecurity, climate change, soil degradation, water scarcity, and pollution. This presentation will also highlight Dr. Lal’s modeling research for achieving sustainable and resilient production systems to restore soil health. The strategy involves producing more from less and returning land back to nature.
To register: https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/register/sgghvjcz
By:
Raquel Acosta
