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"The Week on Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa (WAIA) revolves around a regional fair to celebrate the innovativeness of smallholder farmers: the Eastern African Farmer Innovation Fair (EAFIF) to be held 28-29 May 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. Four Prolinnova County Platforms in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are leading initiatives in their respective countries to identify innovative farmers and to help them prepare for the fair. This competitive call is inviting farmers or their contact organisations to apply to take part in the EAFIF. The top 15 women and men innovators will be selected to go to Nairobi. Priority will be given to women innovators. "

The objective of the Governance for Competitiveness Technical Assistance Project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of selected institutions to improve competitiveness in selected sectors in Rwanda. There are four components to the project, the first component being support to priority Institutions under Strategic Capacity Building Initiative (SCBI). The objective of this component is to strengthen the institutional frameworks of the project selected priority institutions to better deliver on their respective mandates, in support of improved competitiveness and the implementation of Rwanda's Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) and National Export Strategy (NES). The second component is the support for implementation of the NES. The objective of this component is to support the implementation of the NES's two key growth sectors: tourism and horticulture. It will: (a) provide assistance for the review and development of tourism and horticulture strategies and plans related to competitiveness; and (b) provide technical assistance to guide the implementation of these competitiveness strategies. The third component is the improved public-private dialogue for competitiveness. Finally, the fourth component is the project coordination. This component will support the coordination of the project under the Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM).

"For the first time since the beginning of the programme in June 2012, all participants and coordinators (coming from the three participating countries and the six partners' institutions) will gather together for a regional workshop in Hong Kong, organized by the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong (HKU). In addition to the provision of courses on the use of projections and scenarios in the preparation of education sector development plans and the opportunity to discuss and consolidate their draft country plan documents (that they are required to submit at the end of the distance programme), this will be a wonderful occasion for participants and partner institutions to exchange and share their country experiences. Participants are eager to meet each other. As Mrs. Nguyen Lan Huong, from Viet Nam, said in a recent interview: "We also look forward to the one-week study visit to the Hong Kong Institute of Education, where we will have a chance to see in person other participants and actually activate our professional network for the long-term benefit" .(Click here to read)"

"A group of African farmers are producing a commodity, but every season they struggle to access the needed inputs - improved seeds, quality fertilizers and crop protection products - at the right time, in the right quantity and quality, in reasonable proximity to their farms and for a reasonable price. They often do not have the needed cash or credit to pay for the inputs. After harvest, the farmers struggle to sell their goods. Often, they have no choice but to sell their produce at the local market for a low price. They are not organized and do not have the capacity either to negotiate for better prices, or to store their produce until prices increase. Even the basic options needed to add value are beyond their reach."

"The African Union Commission (AUC) and the NEPAD Agency will hold the 9th Comprehensive African Agriculture Development (CAADP) Partnership Platform (PP) from March 25 to 26, to evaluate progress and achievements made in implementing CAADP. CAADP is the Continent's main development programme to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture. It has a clear objective to raise agricultural productivity in Africa to at least 6 per cent annually and requires African countries to commit at least ten per cent of their national budgets to agricultural development. The PP is an annual high-level partnership platform, bringing together key stakeholders such as African governments, policy makers, civil society organisations and farmers' organisations to assess progress made in implementing the CAADP goals."

"What is the Teacher Education and Professional Development program? The Teacher Education and Professional Development program is a partnership between USAID, the Ministry of Education and the private sector. The Government's commitment to universal primary education includes a commitment to improving the quality of education even as the number of students increases. The program builds the skills and expertise of educators, and enables Kenya's public teacher training colleges to prepare teachers to deliver quality education by strengthening pre-service training and linking it to in-service professional development. USAID supports this program by transferring knowledge of international practices in teacher education and institution building, and by providing technology to enhance teacher training and the classroom experience. The Permanent Secretary of Education visited the pilot sites and evaluated the program to inform a Government strategy to roll out integration of technology in classrooms throughout Kenya. "

"Contrary to conventional economic theories, the relationship between income growth and agricultural employment is extremely diverse, even among regions starting from similar levels of development, such as Asia and Africa. Due to its labor-intensive green revolution and strong farm-nonfarm linkages, Asia's development path is mostly characterized by fast growth with relatively slow agricultural exits. In contrast to Asia, urban biased policies, low rural population density, and high rates of population growth have led a number of African countries down a path of slow economic growth with surprisingly rapid agricultural exits. Despite this divergence both continents now face daunting employment problems. Asia appears to be increasingly vulnerable to rising inequality, slower job creation, and shrinking farm sizes, suggesting that Asian governments need to refocus on integrating smallholders and lagging regions into increasingly commercialized rural and urban economies. Africa, in contrast, has yet to achieve its own green revolution, which would still be a highly effective tool for job creation and poverty reduction. However, the diversity of its endowments and its tighter budget constraints mean that agricultural development strategies in Africa need to be highly context specific, financially sustainable, and more evidence- based"

There is a general perception that youth in agriculture, perhaps like their counterparts in other fields, often find themselves on the fringes of regional and global agricultural development discourses due a number of factors - among which are limited access to resources and platforms that can aid their active participation. To address this concern, several governments and development organisations working with youth have, in the past years, developed strategies to engage youth in agriculture, encourage their participation in agriculture development discussions, and stimulate their energies towards contributing to finding solutions to some of agriculture's problems - especially in the developing world. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has been one of the organisations at the forefront of this provision of support to youth in agriculture. Drawing on its Youth Strategy, which defines its engagement with young people in the field, CTA has made and continues to make significant contributions to the appeal of agriculture as a profession for youth and the development of young people engaged in the field.

The objective of the Local Government Support Program Project for Morocco is to set up a lasting program to provide local governments in the project area with access to decentralized support services and assistance to institutionalize inter municipal cooperation. There are three components to the project, the first component being de-concentrated Local Governments (LG) support centers. This component will design and pilot a support mechanism, through local single window support centers for LGs in the project area that will provide LGs with technical assistance to prepare and manage projects. These may include infrastructure projects, the improvement or introduction of a new public service or the contracting of a public service to the private sector. Based on the results of the pilot, the support mechanism is expected to be rolled out at a national level. This roll-out is outside the scope of this project. The second component is the inter-municipal cooperation and institutional reform for local service delivery. This component will include specific consulting services and incentives towards accelerating the formation of inter-municipal cooperation structures and the creation of new public asset companies on a pilot basis in the project area that the inter-municipal cooperation structures will establish for planning and financing their infrastructure investments. Finally, the third component is the program management.

"Call for Papers The JVET Conference Committee are pleased to be able to invite contributions to the highly successful biennial JVET conference. This meeting has been providing a lively and stimulating forum for debates concerning all aspects of work and learning since 1995. Contributions are welcome in the following areas of vocational and professional education and training, and contributions to any area of debate in VET will be considered: Globalization and skills Vocational Education in times of crisis Access to VET for minoritised groups VET policy The changing institutional context of VET Curriculum and assessment in VET The student experience of VET Work-related Learning 200 word abstracts of papers should be submitted by January 31 2013. Acceptance will be notified by 28 February 2013. Email your abstract to Pete Sanderson at p.j.sanderson@hud.ac.uk Enquiries about the Conference can be addressed to Bill Bailey at b.bailey@gre.ac.uk"

"The Hindu Business Line-. There are over 80 web sites and portals ran by Governments providing information to farmers on soil, plant protection, diseases, weather forecast, fertiliser use and farm and crop management. The number could be much more in the private sector. All this is likely to confuse the farmer. To tackle this, the Union Government has come up with the idea of a unified portal, to provide information on all farming needs. The portal www.farmer.gov.in, is not fully live yet. The basic version integrates the convergence technologies to offer latest information to farmers, instead of uploading dated information. "Compare this with the number of agri-climatic zones in the country. They are just 23. When they open the portal, the farmers see the Indian map. Depending on their location, they can select a State and the block they belong to," said Sanjeev Gupta, Joint Secretary of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India. "

"Imagine a local repair shed managed by DIY and IT enthusiasts. A place packed with digital fabrication tools such as 3Dprinters, open to anyone eager to learn, create, innovate and share its findings with the community. These are FABLABs, or FABrication LABoratories, and they are opening new ways for local communities to engage in innovation and reinvent the wider economy. Why this matters for FLAGs? Even the maritime economy is witnessing the birth of its first Maritime FABLABs: on land (@navlab) or at sea (@lab-rev), these could soon influence Bluegrowth innovation and its local ownership, and this is something FLAGs should be part of. When designing local partnerships for the next programming period, FABLABs could be local stakeholders to count on. These could hold key elements to help local economies innovate and bring tailor made answers to Bluegrowth challenges. This is why FARNET is encouraging you to meet with your nearest FABLAB."

"In 2015, l'Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA) will be recruiting 30 junior research scientists to reinforce its teams. Applications are open from 29 January to 2 March 2015 and positions are open to applicants of all nationalities. Whatever scientific discipline they have been trained in, researchers depend on laboratory and field activities. Involved in scientific networks, they respond to environmental, economic and social issues. In striving for excellence, they discover and create concrete applications, useful for society. Personal research and collective projects overlap to advance knowledge and to contribute to innovation, whether it means producing sustainably, preserving the environment or improving human nutrition."

Sent: 2014-05-20 13:49 #1 Subject: Successful initiatives to curb youth unemployment in Africa From: UNESCO-UNEVOC [unevoc@unesco.org] Dear e-Forum members, We are happy to share with you four videos - published by the UNESCO Office in Dakar - that showcase successful initiatives of technical and vocational training projects that give youth a better chance to find decent work. The videos focus on innovative projects in Benin, Nigeria and Senegal, which have proven effective in providing youth with skills and competences in demand. The series of the videos present: The Songhai Centre in Benin is a sustainable micro-enterprise that trains young Africans. It is considered a best practice model for rural development, sustainable development, employment and training for young people, and the self-financing of business creation. http://youtu.be/Z4K68WYtqXg The recognition of skills acquired in informal training in Senegal is an initiative that cater for the numerous young people who are being trained in the informal sector, such as car mechanics, tailors etc. The aim of the initiative is to put in place structures that allow for this training to be recognized at the same level as formal training. http://youtu.be/6RBSh5HtJgk Auchi Polytechnic in Nigeria is an Institute that facilitates the integration into the formal sector of some 30,000 graduates every year. Some years ago, a CEDAP village, which is center for entrepreneurship development, was created within the Polytechnic. Students are equipped with necessary skills in areas such as fish farming, carpentry, making of soap, shoes and pottery. http://youtu.be/NkievLtALug Sectoral centres in Senegal: public and private partnership are the result of a public/private partnership, which has proven efficient to provide training based a competency-based approach.It's currently present in three different areas. http://youtu.be/Hm_sD_-2pZw Best regards, UNESCO-UNEVOC

On May 28, 2013 a ''Memorandum of Agreement'' has been signed between UNESCO-UNEVOC and the BIBB. Present were, amongst others, Dr. Shyamal Majumdar, Director of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre in Bonn, Mr Borhene Chakroun, Director of TVET in UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and Dr Eckart Lilienthal, Desk Officer BMBF and Professor Dr Reinhold Weiss, Vice President, BIBB. To honour this event, a reception was held at the UN premises in Bonn. The purpose of the Memorandum of Agreement is the prospect of a synergetic collaboration in projects pertaining to the fields of "Greening TVET" and knowledge management, which is supported by sending two experts from the BIBB to work at UNESCO-UNEVOC. The event was inspired by the rising interest worldwide in Technical and Vocational Education and Training cooperation with Germany. The need for closer cooperation, usage and strengthening of the UNEVOC network, consisting of 280 training institutions worldwide, has been emphasized as a primary aim. Mr Lilienthal stressed the great need for support of UNESCO-UNEVOC's effort to promote the areas of Youth & Skills and Greening TVET in the area of Technical and Vocational Education and Training in and outside of Germany. The two experts, who will support those areas, Dr Uta Roth and Ms Dagmar Winzier, are intended to be deployed to UNESCO-UNEVOC for one year initially.

"The European Commission is widening its search for experts from all fields to participate in shaping the agenda of Horizon 2020, the European Union's future funding programme for research and innovation. The experts of the advisory groups will provide high quality and timely advice for the preparation of the Horizon 2020 calls for project proposals. The Commission services plan to set up a certain number of Advisory Groups covering the Societal Challenges and other specific objectives of Horizon 2020. To reach the broadest range of individuals and actors with profiles suited to contribute to the European Union's vision and objectives for Horizon 2020, including striving for a large proportion of newcomers, and to gain consistent and consolidated advice of high quality, the Commission is calling for expressions of interest with the aim of creating lists of high level experts that will participate in each of these groups. "

"Deadline: 31 July 2013 The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM: see www.ruforum.org) is keen to document case studies where institutions and individual actors could share their experiences of working downstream with farmers; what are some of the lessons and skill mix that universities would need to take into account in terms of strengthening their academic programmes to produce graduates with a blend of necessary skills and competences that will facilitate change processes at community level. Further, what institutional arrangements need to be addressed to more effectively reach smallholders to enable them improve their agricultural productivity and enterprises? "

"Ratings for the Agriculture Support Services Project for Tunisia were as follows: outcomes were moderately unsatisfactory, risk to development outcome was significant, Bank performance was moderately unsatisfactory, and Borrower performance was moderately unsatisfactory. Some lessons learned included: the benefits of a comprehensive project design can be outweighed by complexity, difficulty in implementation, and resources being spread too thin, even in a middle-income country like Tunisia. The effectiveness of complex projects implemented by multiple actors can be undermined unless the project management unit (or its parent agency) has sufficient authority to proactively coordinate key implementation agencies. Attempts to move from public to private provision of services can be undermined if there is not sufficient attention to beneficiary, needs, perceptions, and incentives, both for producers and service providers. Lack of ownership of producer associations by farmers limits their utility in providing farmers with inputs, access to services and inserting their interests into agricultural policy."

"The Agriculture Economist will assist the AFTA 1 Sector Manager in delivery of the unit's work program, assurance of quality, interaction with internal and external clients, including the private sector, staff development and partnerships. The primary responsibility of the Agriculture Economist will be to provide technical and strategic support to the development and implementation of the AFTA 1 program in Cote d'Ivoire. In particular, the Agricultural Economist will : * Contribute to policy dialogue on agricultural and rural issues and interactions with the client and partners, and alert management (both country and sector) to issues requiring attention ; * Lead/initiate/participate in analytical and strategic work pertaining to agricultural growth and productivity, including work managed by AFTA1 and that managed by other units, but requiring input from agricultural staff, such as public expenditure analysis ; * Assume an active role in the Cote d'Ivoire country team with the aim to ensure adequate and appropriate integration of relevant aspects of the agriculture and rural development agenda in core Bank products, including country assistance strategy, country economic memorandum and the like"

The Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department of the African Development Bank Group (OSAN) is responsible for Bank's assistance in Agriculture and natural resources management in the Regional Member Countries. This assistance includes environmental concerns, promoting agro-industries development, enhancing production, productivity and competitiveness. The Department provides technical and managerial services as well as technical quality assurance to ensure development effectiveness of Bank financed interventions in Agriculture and related areas on the continent . In 2010, the African Development Bank Group started implementing its current Agriculture Sector Strategy (AgSS) covering the period 2010 - 2014. The strategy aims primarily at contributing to the broader development objectives of greater and sustained agricultural productivity, food security and poverty reduction. The strategy was designed with the view of enhancing Bank interventions through more focused, selective and innovative activities. These activities covered areas such as: i) rural infrastructure, including water management and storage, and trade - related capacities for access to local and regional markets; and ii) natural resource management. The strategy also supported selected research initiatives and a wide range of capacity building programs, with distinct features of gender sensitivity, with particular emphasis on fully mainstreaming gender appropriat ely on more than 50% of projects, and ensuring that a similar scope of beneficiaries are women. The Bank recently concluded a Mid-term Review of the AgSS (2010-2014), and will soon commence work on the new Agriculture Strategy to cover the period 2015-2019,and it will be formulated in line with the Bank's Ten Year Strategy ( TYS:2013-2022).OSAN therefore seeks to recruit a junior consultant to assist in : data collection,analysis, research,results reporting and support for the preparation of an approach for the new Strategy.