- Aid just seems to be one long list of acronyms making reading a report, post or blog difficult for outsiders. So within this blog I'm going to be committed to expanding every acronym I use and I want you the people to police me.
- More importantly I'm struggling to keep up to date with the reports, posts and twitter feeds. There are a lot of useful, insightful and grounded responses to aid being made today and that makes AASW6 a big deal. Shame its not on the BBC news.
Here are some of the posts:
Kips Isaac @Kipsizoo 17m
"Smallholder farmers hold the key to African development" - Dr Kanayo Nwanze at the #AASW6
IITA @IITA_CGIAR 11m
AASW6 keynote by IFAD Pres: African governments need to invest more on agricultural research. #AASW6
IFAD @IFADnews 2h
#Africa can feed Africa. Africa should feed Africa and Africa one day will feed Africa, says #ifad Prez @knwanze #aasw6
AAS CGIAR @AAS_CGIAR 1h
We're partnering with org's at local, national & global levels to achieve impacts at scale in #Africa: http://bit.ly/WY7Fdi #AASW6
Fairtrade Intl @FAIRTRADE 1h
Great convo on smallscale farmers at #AASW6. And while at it, check out our take on powering up smallholders http://ow.ly/n57pg
Addressing my first point IITA stands for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and AAS is the African Academy of Sciences. They are a mouthful but at least we are all on the same wavelength now. Also, Fairtrade International's take on smallholders and the report is well worth a read if you have some time.
Focusing on the second point, evidently there is a lot of traffic surrounding this forum and it's pretty difficult to pick out the key message. To summarize, Africa feels that Africa can feed itself, should feed itself and must feed itself to secure its future. AASW6 believes that science can make this a reality.
So as I watch delegates take their seats on the live feed I cannot help but notice that this is a united Africa saying what they need to resolve the issue of hunger that decimates the continent. It is not us prescribing a resolution to the issues Africa faces and often our ways of providing food aid which breeds dependency, assembling schools that never fill and sending monetary aid that ends in corruption, doesn't work miracles (I appreciate this form of aid is necessary at times but I want to look at the long-term solutions). Rather, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has declared that Africa holds unprecedented opportunities to resolve their own issues through science and create an industry which engages the youth. Our western magic is not working, the miracle of genetics and breeding will.
There is hope. Firstly, the work and strategies discussed in the AASW6 are entering onto a world stage. Secondly, Fairtrade International infers that the value of the smallholder is 'starting to be recognized as a potential powerhouse to fix a broken system'. Finally, Africa is not a hopeless case, is a rising star and must be recognized as a new frontier for sustainable economic growth.
Thoughts?
Addressing my first point IITA stands for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and AAS is the African Academy of Sciences. They are a mouthful but at least we are all on the same wavelength now. Also, Fairtrade International's take on smallholders and the report is well worth a read if you have some time.
Focusing on the second point, evidently there is a lot of traffic surrounding this forum and it's pretty difficult to pick out the key message. To summarize, Africa feels that Africa can feed itself, should feed itself and must feed itself to secure its future. AASW6 believes that science can make this a reality.
So as I watch delegates take their seats on the live feed I cannot help but notice that this is a united Africa saying what they need to resolve the issue of hunger that decimates the continent. It is not us prescribing a resolution to the issues Africa faces and often our ways of providing food aid which breeds dependency, assembling schools that never fill and sending monetary aid that ends in corruption, doesn't work miracles (I appreciate this form of aid is necessary at times but I want to look at the long-term solutions). Rather, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has declared that Africa holds unprecedented opportunities to resolve their own issues through science and create an industry which engages the youth. Our western magic is not working, the miracle of genetics and breeding will.
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| A smallholder supporting himself and Africa (Taken from IFAD blog) |
There is hope. Firstly, the work and strategies discussed in the AASW6 are entering onto a world stage. Secondly, Fairtrade International infers that the value of the smallholder is 'starting to be recognized as a potential powerhouse to fix a broken system'. Finally, Africa is not a hopeless case, is a rising star and must be recognized as a new frontier for sustainable economic growth.
Thoughts?
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