Brussels Development Briefing: Farmer-driven research to improve food and nutrition security

The next Brussels Development Briefing - Farmer-driven research to improve food and nutrition security -  will take place on the 14th November 2013 at the Jacques Delors Building (in Brussels).

You can download the detailed program of the event, as well as a brief research note on the topic here.  Use the form on the right to register, or send an email to boto@cta.int. The Briefing will also be broadcasted live online via webstreaming. The link will be announced on the day of the event.

The challenge for agriculture is threefold: to increase agricultural production, especially of nutrient-rich foods; to do so in ways which reduce inequality: and to reverse and prevent resource degradation. Science and Technology (S&T) can play a vital role in meeting these challenges — for example, by developing innovations that smallholders with limited resources can afford and use. However, they can develop such innovations only if they work in close interaction with the smallholder farmers, who are themselves innovating with the resources available to them.

Programme

8h15-8h45 Registration
8h45-9h10 Introduction and Opening of the Briefing: Isolina Boto, Manager, CTA Brussels Office
Introductory remarks: M. Xavier Verboven, EESC, ACP Follow up Committee President; DG DEVCO, EC; Secretary General, ACP Secretariat; Michael Hailu, Director of CTA; Marianne Meijboom, INSARD Coordinator
9h10-11h00 Panel 1: Approaches and instruments for ARD to be more responsive to smallholders’ needs
This panel will provide an overview of the key concepts, challenges and opportunities for agricultural research and development (ARD) to respond to smallholders’ needs and own initiatives. It will discuss what is needed to support participatory processes and enhance the capacities of farmers to innovate and develop appropriate systems of resource management to achieve food security, sustain their livelihoods and safeguard the environment using indigenous knowledge and creativity.
Chair: H.E. Brave Ndisale, Ambassador of Malawi
Panellists:
- Promoting participatory innovation systems for smallholder development
Prof. Neils Röling, Emeritus Professor, Innovation & Communication, University of Wageningen
- Knowledge transfer is a two-way street
Dyborn Chibonga, Chief Executive Officer, NASFAM, Malawi
- Farmer-to-farmer services to strengthen institutional development processes
Cees van Rij, Agriterra on behalf of AgriCord
- Local innovation support funds: experiences and lessons
Ann Waters-Bayer, Prolinnova, ETC Foundation, Netherlands
- Successful participatory research by farmers through innovative Farmer Field Schools in Rwanda
Jean-Pierre Busogoro, Belgian Development Agency (BTC), Rwanda
11h00-11h15 Coffee Break
11h15-13h15 Panel 2: Lessons and successes in farmer-led agricultural research
This panel will present concrete examples of farmer-driven ARD successes from the field, highlighting the lessons learned and good practices of partnership between smallholders and other actors in ARD.
Chair: H.E.Frédéric Assomption Korsaga, Ambassador of Burkina Faso (tbc)
Panellists:
- Lessons from joint learning about innovation systems in African agriculture
Anne Floquet, Joint Learning about Innovation Systems in African Agriculture (JOLISAA), Benin
- Promoting local innovation and participatory ARD: the role of women
Chris Macoloo, World Neighbors Regional Associate President for Africa, Kenya
- Quncho: the first popular tef variety in Ethiopia
Kebebew Assefa, Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia
- Participatory technology development in support of artisanal palm oil production in Ghana
Charity Osei-Amponsah, Researcher, CoS-SIS Programme, Ghana
- Women and young farmers as innovators in community-driven agro-ecological ARD
Bern Guri, Executive Director, CIKOD, Ghana
Concluding remarks
13h15 Lunch (Atrium 6 in 6th floor)