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"The 30th Brussels Development Briefing will take place on 4th March 2013 (8h30-13h00) on the important issue of Agricultural resilience in the face of crisis and shocks, highlighting proven approaches and successes in key areas of agriculture and rural development of ACP countries and other parts of the world. We will organise it in in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in Washington. For registrations: fill the form on http://ctaint.wufoo.com/forms/registration-for-the-brussels-briefing/, or send an email to boto@cta.int"

"The 2016 annual meeting of the European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD), organised in collaboration with the Platform for African-European partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD), brought together research and non-research professionals from Western, Central/Eastern Europe and Africa, to debate on the future of Users'-led research and innovation partnerships (MSHIP)."

"Inclusion makes headway. Inclusive education has been considered internationally as a fundamental structuring principle of the right to education at the latest since the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted. The open working group to devise the post-2015 agenda for sustainable development has proposed the following global objective for the education sector: 'ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all'. However, there is still a lack of theoretical knowledge and educational practice relating to how inclusion can be realised in the education systems of developing countries and thus how the goal of education for all can be implemented."

"The Youth Agripreneurs Project (YAP) is a pilot project to support young agricultural entrepreneurs, or "agripreneurs." YAP will select young agripreneurs from all over the world for their projects related to the agriculture supply chain, production (i.e., crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry, agro-forestry), value-added services, or market access. The program will provide US$5 thousand to facilitate the start-up of the selected projects. Additionally, GFAR will fund the travel and accommodation of the selected agripreneurs to attend the Third Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development in Johannesburg, and support to integrate them in the YPARD (Young Professionals for Agricultural Development) mentoring program. The deadline for applications (English, French, Spanish) is 15 March 2016."

"The debate is intended to be an open exchange of views among high level political personalities on how the future relations between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries should look like after the expiry of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement in 2020. The Joint Communication "Towards a renewed partnership with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries", sets out the main ideas for a revitalised political partnership with ACP countries, focussing on common interests and going beyond the sole aim of development policy and donor-recipient paradigm. Distinguished speakers, representing both the ACP regions and the EU, will gather together to share their expectations, views and recommendations regarding the future of the ACP-EU relations, focusing on which are the key priorities and the biggest challenges ahead. This session will also provide the opportunity to reflect on how to make the current relationship fit for delivering on common challenges and mutual interests in an interconnected and globalised world. Remaining time would be devoted to questions and interventions from the audience. "

"Last chance to development-proof the CAP, warns UN food expert [17 January 2013] BRUSSELS/GENEVA - With a key European Parliament vote only days away, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, urged EU legislators to change the course of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform before development concerns are excluded."

"The third Call for Proposals under the Intra-ACP academic mobility scheme has been launched, with a deadline of 10 June 2013. The intra-ACP academic mobility scheme supports higher education cooperation between countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The scheme aims to promote sustainable development and poverty alleviation by increasing the availability of trained and qualified high-level professional manpower in the ACP countries. The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) is responsible for the managing this programme, with the support of the African Union (AU) and the Africa Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), and under the supervision of the Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation-EuropeAid. More… "

"[KUALA LUMPUR] New approaches to agricultural research and development (R&D) that support local innovation are needed in order to tackle global poverty, say agriculture experts. At a conference, Re-imagining Agricultural Research in Development Dialogue, held in Penang, Malaysia last month (29-31 January), experts from the agricultural sector convened to discuss how agricultural research could best be used to benefit the 870 million people still living on less than US$1.25 a day. "The [conference] was motivated by the realization that agricultural research was not benefiting the poorest of the poor," Boru Douthwaite, Knowledge Sharing and Learning theme leader for the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS), tells SciDev.Net. "

"IT News Africa-. The mobile application space is set to boom across Africa, as enterprises and developers lead the world in bringing to market unique mobile applications suited to a developing market. There are several reasons for this - crucially, Africa is a mobile continent. Mobile devices are becoming smarter, faster and more affordable; smartphone adoption is growing by around 15% year on year across the continent, and mobile bandwidth has become better and more affordable."

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).

"The NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA), in collaboration with the Government of Republic of Benin and with the support of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), organise the first Africa Rural Development Forum (ARDF) slated for 2-4 May 2013, in Cotonou, Republic of Benin. This forum will be held under the high Patronage of His Excellency, President Boni Yayi of Republic of Benin and within the context of the NEPAD Rural Futures Programme. The theme of the forum is "Sustainable Rural Transformation Agenda for Africa"."

"[LONDON] Smallholder farmers in Africa must participate in research to ensure higher crop yields and to fend off hunger as the continent's population grows, according to a report published today (18 April). A combination of traditional knowledge and modern science will be key to achieving higher productivity at lower ecological cost - known as 'sustainable intensification' - the report says. 'Sustainable Intensification: A New Paradigm for African Agriculture' was written by the Montpellier Panel, a group of international experts from the fields of agriculture, sustainable development, trade, policy and global development. "

"The conference of the RICTD 2013 committee welcomes both academic and practitioner papers on a wide range of topics and a wide range of scholarly approaches. The main focus of the conference is related to rural ICT development. "

"An increasing number of young innovators and entrepreneurs in developing countries now develop ICT for agriculture solutions to strengthen agri-food systems in their respective countries, and to provide employment and livelihood opportunities for themselves and other young people."

Increasing agricultural productivity in developing countries and promoting youth employment and entrepreneurship are important recommendations of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play an important role. Young entrepreneurs using ICT innovations are particularly suited to contribute to increased agricultural productivity and sustainability given their inventiveness, energy and capacity to take risks.

"Young people from all corners of the world, aged 21 to 26, are invited by the European Commission to take part in the Young Leaders Programme at this year's European Development Days (EDD 2017). The event is Europe's leading forum on international cooperation and development and it will take place in Brussels on 7 and 8 June."

"Paris, 22 Jan 2014. Donor Platform logo The author of "Aid on the Edge of Chaos: rethinking international cooperation in a complex world" emphasised the urge to get out of the box, find new ways to look at and understand longstanding problems and to take risks in development programming. "

"Ten years ago, the UNESCO International Meeting on Innovation and Excellence in TVET Teacher/Trainer Education held in Hangzhou, China, asked for developing TVET into an internationally acknowledged scientific community in order to professionalize TVET teacher/trainer education and to integrate TVET as sustainable, reproductive and innovative national scientific systems into national systems of innovation. The First World Congress on Teacher Education for Technical and Vocational Education and Training held in 2008 in Bandung, Indonesia reaffirmed this request by demanding that TVET teacher/trainer education should encompass "studies in the analysis, design and evaluation of: (a) vocational learning, educational and qualification processes, (b) occupational work and business processes, and (c) technology as an object of work and learning processes (d) as well as critical pedagogy for social change," and by asking for establishing respective "frameworks for promoting the continuing professional development of TVET practitioners." T"

"Reforming agricultural education curriculum in tandem with technological advancement and development demands remains one of the key challenges facing African universities. Fara-Web Bureaucratic bottlenecks and inadequate resources have conspired to slow down the pace of curriculum reform in the midst of rapid technological advances especially in the field of agriculture.The cumulative effect of the dislocation between agricultural education curriculum in African universities and practical realities could have a negative impact on development in the continent. Hence, the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE) led a side event on Curriculum reforms during the FARA Science week held from 15 - 20 July 2013 in Accra, Ghana. The main objective of the session was to identify bottlenecks to curricula reform and agree on key steps to undertake to reform TAE curricula in sub-Saharan Africa. The session was chaired by ANAFE's Board Chair, Prof. John D. Saka."

"To strengthen global and regional harmonization for the advancement of TVET transformation through the capacities of UNEVOC's unique global Network of specialized TVET institutions and affiliated partners, the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre is organizing a series of meetings to be held in all regions of the world. The meetings are organized following the recommendations outlined in the Shanghai Consensus, in which the role of the UNEVOC Network is highlighted as playing a key role in developing the capacities of decision-makers and practitioners, and facilitate the involvement of all stakeholders in TVET transformation and development across the globe."