October 31, 2013
Preamble
1.The 11th African Crop Science Society conference was organized by Makerere University in close collaboration with the Regional University’s Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Presidential Initiative for Banana Industrial Development (PIBID), National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and Busitema University. The conference was held 14th-17th October, 2013 at Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel, Entebbe Uganda under the theme “Sowing Innovations for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security in Africa”
2. The objectives of the conference were to emphasize the role of crop science research on providing for new and improved livelihood opportunities for farmers in Africa with a view to enhancing farmer incomes and food security. Further, the conference sought to provide an engaging environment between young and senior innovators in sowing seeds of innovation for sustainable food and nutrition security in Africa. This theme is in accordance with the aspirations of the African Crop Science Society, founded in 1993.
Formal opening
3. The conference attracted a wider Africa and global participation of three hundred, thirty nine (339) participants hailing from twenty seven (27) countries. The conference was officially opened by Her Excellency Commissioner Hon. Rhoda Tumusiime of the African Union who noted that the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) had provided a continental wide framework for mobilizing investment for the agricultural sector, and notable progress had been made to improve agricultural productivity and food and nutrition security in a number of countries. She however noted that agricultural innovation and adoption of technology for achieving food and nutrition security continue to encounter many challenges including: low level of investment in research infrastructure, human capacities and technology markets. She shared a success story of agricultural innovation and adoption with regard to new rice for Africa (NERICA) of which adoption has been successful. Consequently, the adoption brought in a private sector through private motivated entrepreneurs who lobbied for policy reforms from government in support of the innovation. Thus, she pointed out that the ACS conference theme is in-line with the AU theme which will be “transforming Africa’s agriculture for meaningful impacts on lives and livelihoods through harnessing opportunities for results”. She therefore stressed her keenness to see universities and institutions of higher learning intensify efforts to produce entrepreneurs including agri-business oriented graduates and not just office bearers. She also underscored the need for professional societies evidence based advice to policy.
The event opening was also graced by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry; Hon. Tress Buchanayandi who challenges the young and senior innovators to innovate for a successful agricultural sector that addresses the needs of today and tomorrow. The Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof. John Ddumba Ssentamu, acknowledged the pivotal role of Makerere University for birth of ACSS in 1993 and appreciated the role the university has continued to play on the council as well as supporting processes of steering it progress. He appreciated the need for continued knowledge exchange among innovators from using various mechanisms including participation in conferences such as the 11th ACSS conference. He concluded by observing that science led economic growth driven by innovations is the critical engine that has the potential to end hunger and eventually poverty in sub-Saharan Africa: and, in which case the conference is in line with one of Makerere University core functions which is research and innovation.
4. The Key note address delivered by the Deputy Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Dr. Ramadjila Tabo highlighted stability, policy, science and technology as a pyramid for building the agriculture of the future as Africa remains below the bottom of the development pyramid. Therefore the challenge is more complex than merely increasing productivity. It is also about increasing resilience, reducing waste and improving nutrition. Innovation holds the key to finding the solution to this complex challenge. The exploitation of S&T further holds key to accelerating agricultural transformation in Africa. The key note speaker stated that producing game changing agricultural innovations requires that innovators exploit the global collaborations and public investment opportunities. To strengthen these innovations, it is imperative for R&D funding to embrace long-term research engagements. Within the foregoing Prof. Wale Adekunle presented views on partnerships and strategic alliances for better performance of the agricultural sector in Africa in line with the following: (i) as small states, use of innovative partnerships to derive strength; (ii) engaging in strategic alliances with other parts of the world; and, (iii) use of integrated research for development (IR4D) has been shown to have success for accelerating wider uptake pathways and strengthening value chains.
In his presentation on “Addressing emerging challenges in African agriculture through a Commodity Innovation Systems Approach” Dr. Mathew Abang highlighted the challenges that Africa faces in meeting her sustainable agricultural development bargain. It was pointed out that threefold challenge needed to be addressed: developing downstream agribusiness opportunities, commercializing agriculture, and promoting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within a value chain context. The challenge therefore is how to innovate and do the agribusiness differently. In a keynote address by Prof. Patrick Okori, Africa was presented as a land of opportunities; he dismissed by and large the pessimistic view often held in regard to Africa. Prof. Okori’s address focused on “opportunities for increasing crop productivity through agro-ecological intensification”. He noted that three fronts provide opportunity for this perspective namely; economic, biophysical and the varied ecologies in the region. The economic front stresses the essence of diversified economies as the more resilient option to withstand shocks by way of expanding regional and intra-regional trade for both pre-transitional and transitional economies. The biophysical opportunities (expanding cultivation into new lands) require R&D and non-agriculture sectoral growth. Varied ecologies present a diversity of environments which can be harnessed for their potential in contributing to diversified economies. The basis of innovation entails: better management for improved yields, technology advancement to harnessing total factor productivity gains and linking growth to ecosystem services. Agro-ecological intensification was also emphasized as an investment for increasing crop productivity upon the cornerstones of intensification that include: biophysical production potential, human population density and access to markets.
The key note address on “the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa” presented by Dr. Tabo was further echoed by Dr. Rita Laker-Ojok, who emphasized the need to change from the “jab” in the arm funding to a more sustainable funding for successful interventions. She pointed out that there is need to break the barriers of innovation by addressing the key elements of the change process to include agitating for dissatisfaction of the status quo, visioning of how things should be different, and championing the change.
Among other windows for realising change is the capacity building process for young innovators and re-tooling of the senior innovators to cope with challenges of unsustainable food and Nutrition Security in the region. In her key note presentation Ms. Nodumo Dhlamini pointed out numerous potential benefits of ICTs in firming agricultural tertiary level training. She urged for institutions to undertake actions towards maintaining and improving the relevance of agricultural training in the changing times. In building the young innovators of today and future, experimentation and innovation should be encouraged. The essence of such capacity building is to move out innovators who will be expected to move on the path of the future; these should be aligned with the relevant monitoring and evaluation as a way of keeping the dynamism active.
In retrospect, Dr. Clesensio Tizikara discussed the aspect of M&E. The value of M&E in technology uptake and pathways is to explain complexity, assign contribution, clarify causality and attribution, relationships required to release power of entire ecosystem and enhance accountability and performance.
Breakout sessions at the conference
5. A total of one hundred eighty (180) parallel session presentations were made by conference participants. The thematic areas covered in the presentations include: agronomy, crop physiology and cropping systems, agricultural economics, post-harvest handling and food sciences, agricultural extension, education and capacity building, pest and weed management, strengthening partnerships for higher education in agriculture, crop improvement and genetics, soil and water management, environment, climate and agriculture, integrated agriculture and innovations, crop protection, integrated crops and livestock systems, standards and policy. Several posters were also presented. The presentations from various parallel sessions addressed emerging issues of the contemporary research and innovation development. Among the many, some of the areas addressed included: the issues of mitigating environmental impacts of oil spillage, use of remote sensing and GIS tools for disease surveillance, exploring hydroponics for climate change adaptation, innovative approaches to manage disease, weed (e.g. Striga control, weed identification software) and pest management, and the use of molecular techniques to confer resistance. In addition, there are efforts to explore the medicinal value of non-cultivated plants previously regarded as weeds.
7. In addition, a side event was organized by RUFORUM for Higher Education actors in and outside Africa to reflect on the past and existing initiatives to build scientific capacity for Africa in terms of what has worked or not worked well and what should change, and to forecast the future to foresee what sort of initiatives and partnerships are needed to respond to future Agricultural Education and Training landscape. The meeting welcomed the increased attention being given by African governments and their partners to help Africa rebuild its human and institution capacity to support development processes in the continent including CAADP.
Recommendations
6. The papers demonstrated the potential of the young innovators in the making. However, they also gave the opportunity to reach recommendations that both the ACSS and the innovators will need to take into account:
i. The gender balance witnessed during the conference should be sustained as well as participation in the actual presentations.
ii. There should be an active cooperation and collaboration between the senior and the younger innovators to enhance not only writing for science but writing for advocacy with the necessary scientific acumen
iii. Efforts should be made towards developing competencies in software and inferential statistics as well as technical reporting (verbal and written) since this was noted to be a major gap during the presentations. Belatedly, more emphasis should be placed in improving quality of dissemination and information sharing.
iv. The society needs to establish strategic links and partnerships with African Union Commission, FARA, CTA, and other strategic bodies.
v. FARA be encouraged to support existing Journals such as the African Crop Science Journal and the newly established African Journal of Rural Development
vi. There is need for AUC and FARA to advocate for support to accelerate innovations and innovation processes in line with the current theme (sowing Innovations for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security in Africa).
vii. The participatory research should truly represent a multi and trans-disciplinary engagement so as to develop critical policy paths and decisions.
viii. There is need for a closer collaboration between the arms of government and total innovation system to ensure innovation growth and development, producers, agri-businesses and capacity building are integrated.
ix. Establish a well-funded capacity building programmes for the skill enhancement of young innovators who will be charged with planning, research, and statistics in and critical areas of policy framework, ICT and cross-cutting disciplines to ensure the emergence of qualitative policies and programs of implementation.
x. The African Science agenda should encompass long term Foresight studies to map up evolving landscape of Higher education over the next 50 years
x. There is need to continue building capacity in climate research so as to provide timely, relevant and integrated climate information that is essential for adaptation and strengthening resilience of agriculture to the current and projected climate change impacts.
x. Some of the applied areas such as the marketing component of the value chain, water use through irrigation, and post-harvest handling technology need to be encouraged in terms of research and future presentations.
x. The society and its members need to take opportunity for capacity building being offered by some of the member states such as Egypt and agencies such as Beca in molecular biology.
Appreciation
7. The conference saluted the active support of ICRISAT, AATF, NARO, NAADS, NaCRRI, NEMA, and Busitema University. The conference also saluted the tireless effort of RUFORUM toward building capacity for the agricultural sector in the continent. The conference also appreciated the effort by RUFORUM to launch the African Journal of Rural Development dedicated to addressing rural development issues and for making it an open source journal. The conference thanked Makerere University for stepping in to host the 11th Society meeting at a very short notice of only four months.
8. The Conference adjourned on Thursday, 17th, 2013 at 6:00 pm. (EST).
For more information, kindly, visit conference website at: http://acss.mak.ac.ug/
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