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Capacity Building International, Germany ( Established through the merger of CDG II and DSE ) InWEnt gGmbH Rural and Agricultural Development, Development Management Division Wielinger Str. 52 D-82340 Feldafing Germany Tel: ++49 8157 / 938 - 0 Fax: ++49 8157 / 938 - 315 email: feldafing@inwent.org   and :

International Centre North South Dialogue   P.O.Box 1361 D-37203 Witzenhausen Germany Tel: ++49 5542 / 502 - 9173 Fax: ++49 5542 / 502 - 9175 email: info@icnsd.org   Editors: Sahle Tesfai ( ICNSD ) Hartmut Gast ( InWEnt )

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NECOFA

Forward of the editor: Dr. Sahle Tesfai

It is now more than 4 years since the establishment of NECOFA “The NETWORK FOR ECOFARMING IN AFRICA” in Ethiopia.

In these years a lot has been done and reached towards further development and implementation of the principles of the network which the member Countries have setup as a pact , bundling their energy, their know how and their experience for a better promoting the Ecofarming in Africa.

 

The 7 Countries and Institutions, Network initiators 1998, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya and DSE/DITSL/ICNSD are now in the year 2004 superb, to see the expansion of the Network, its enrichment of more countries members.

Since then, Country like, Zambia, South Africa, Sudan, Namibia, Benin and Malawi has joined the Grand- Family Network. Since then the countries Zambia, South Africa and Sudan has successfully conducted their constitutional meetings and elected their official Administrative body. Workshops has been organized by County Groups and conducted with the cooperation and financial support of InWEnt, in Cameroon and Uganda.

 

Most of NECOFA COUNTRY Groups, with their objectives in mind have performed a good job in their respective countries despite the fact, that financial constraints was facing their activities.

NECOFA activities goes forward. Also this year NECOFA is preparing to conduct one of its vast activities which in fact has become traditional and sustainable.

 

The NECOFA Uganda Workshop in 2002 will be followed this year by the NECOFA –Workshop in Ghana. The Workshop will be conducted as the previous Workshops in Ethiopia, Cameroon and Uganda with the cooperation and financial support of

 

InWEnt and coordinated by the International Centre North South Dialogue (ICNSD). Preparations are under way and we wish the preparatory committee in Ghana a successful team work and assure our contribution for a better Workshop organisation.

In the meantime the International office ; InWEnt has made public following announcement regarding the NECOFA –Workshop in Kumasi, Ghana.

 

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Kumasi, Ghana, September 27 – October 8, 2004

Objectives:

Main objective is the further support of former DSE/ InWEnt participants from Africa and members of NECOFA regarding the implementation of Ecofarming concepts leading towards sustainable farming systems, which are ecologically sound, economically viable and socially appropriate and just. The workshop shall also strengthen the efficiency of NECOFA tasks and programmes at international and national levels.

 

Participants:

The number of participants is limited to 25 persons. The established NECOFA country groups (Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia) should be presented by an authorized board member and by one additional active member, who did not participate in an international event of NECOFA before. Ghana as host country may be presented by four members. Countries with not fully established country groups may send one member (Benin, Malawi, Namibia). All country groups are asked to nominate 3-4 members with a priority ranking latest till end of may, 2004.The nomination list has to be sent to the International Coordinator, Dr. Sahle Tesfai . Nominations of persons who have not yet participated in a previous international NECOFA workshop have to be accompanied with detailed informations regarding their employers, professional tasks, fields of specialization including a short C.V. InWent and Dr. Tesfai are in charge of the final gender balanced selection ( at least 40% women !) considering the needed diversity of experiences and the preferences of the country groups alike. Country groups who are too late in nominations will not be presented, their places will be given to other countries. In order to obtain economic air fares, reservations of tickets should be done as early as possible.

Due to limited funds, all country groups should try to find some financial support from their employers or donor organizations for international travel in order to reduce the enormous costs of that item.

 

Methodology

Unlike in previous workshops, time for presentations of participants will be limited to allow more time for discussions and workshops. All participants are invited to send their proposals of own contributions, which fit in the main topics proposed below, to Dr. Tesfai well in advance. The papers will be placed under documents in the virtual workspace of NECOFA in the Global Campus of InWEnt. All participants should download these papers prior the event and read them carefully. During the workshop, these contributions will than in most cases just be discussed. This is another reason why the list of participants should be closed well in advance of the event.

Invited resource persons will present on the main topics proposed below followed by workshops . The country reports at the beginning should also reflect achievements and problems in the implementation of the national action planes elaborated during the last workshop in Uganda. Future strategies and actions of NECOFA will be discussed and decided during the last two days of the workshop.

As in the last workshops, some time will be provided to learn from local experiences in Ghana.

 

Contents:

The selection of the main topics and suggested methodology will be decided in a chat session in early April . The chat session ( day and exact time) will be announced by Dr. Tesfai on the pin board of the virtual forum of NECOFA within the Global Campus 21 and by Emails to the national coordinators. Based on the chats hold in November and December last year and further suggestions of members, the following main topics and activities are proposed:

 

Day	Activity/ Topic a.m.	Activity/ Topic p.m.
Sunday,26.09	Arrivals	Transfer to Kumasi
Monday, 27.09.	Opening session	Country reports
Tuesday, 28.09.	Country reports	Local Seed
Wednesday, 29.09.	GMO	Workshop on seed issues and GMOs
Thursday, 30.09	Food Security	Workshop on Food Security
Friday, 01.10.	Extension & Lobbying for Ecofarming	Workshop on extension issues
Saturday, 02.10.	Professional excursion (local expériences)	Professional excursion (local expériences)
Sunday, 03.10.	Cultural excursion	Cultural excursion
Monday, 04.10.	Evaluation of the excursion/ open space	Information management
Tuesday, 05.10	Ecofarming and health issues	Forest use by farmers/ agro forestry
Wednesday, 06.10.	Marketing and certification of organic food	Marketing and certification of organic food
Thursday, 07.10.	Workshop on marketing and certification issues	Strategies of NECOFA
Friday, 08.10.	Final decisions/ closing	Transfer to Accra
Saturday, 09.10.	Departures	Departures

 

 

Local Organisation:

 

During the last NECOFA workshop in Jinja, Uganda, the national NECOFA group of Ghana has kindly agreed to host this workshop. The responsibility for the local organization and the excursion programme is upon the responsibility of all NECOFA members of Ghana .

 

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January 24-25, 2004
Meeting Hall, Agricultural Research and Technology Corporation
Wad Medani

 

The Sudanese Society for Ecological Farming (SUSECOF), Network on Ecological Farming in Africa (NECOFA) and Agricultural Research and Technology Corporation (ARTC)

 

Sponsored by

 

Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gemeinnützige GmbH (InWEnt}

(Capacity Building International, Germany) and ARTC- Sudan

 

Background & Justification

Conventional agriculture is associated with a heavy use of agrochemicals in form of pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, defoliants etc. This has led to negative effects on soil, water and air qualities, global climate, wildlife and biodiversity that, in turn, affect food security and livelihoods of people throughout the World. Ecological farming or organic farming is perceived in many countries to provide solutions to most of these problems and to achieve greater sustainability in agriculture. Ecological farming is now enjoying a growing interest throughout Europe, Australia and North America, particularly as it favours environmental protection, food quality, animal welfare and the conservation of resources. In developing countries, especially in Africa, ecological farming is still in its infancy facing many challenges and constraints.

As a member of the Network on Ecological Farming in Africa (NECOFA), the Sudanese Society for Ecological Farming is organizing the 1st National Workshop on Organic Framing  that will bring together researchers,  policy-makers and other stakeholders to exchange knowledge and information on scientific and policy issues related to organic farming and to provide a forum for thought-leaders to determine the future directions in research and development in ecological agriculture in the Sudan.

 

Goals:

• Create a platform for knowledge and information exchange.
• Identify and share current experiences, problems and concerns.
• Develop and expand contacts among researchers and practitioners

Explore ideas for future research

 

Themes:

• Organic farming (historical, worldwide, basics, principles, concepts, policies, statistics)
• Organic soil fertility and soil building practices (biological and mineral processes. green manuring, compost, mineral rock dusts, organic fertilizers, tillage etc.).
• Organic pest management (varietal, hormonal, microbial, botanical, soft pesticides , beneficial insects etc.)
• Organic weed management  (Hand weeding, organic mulches, tillage, rotations, cover crops and timing of operations etc.).
• Crop/livestock integration.
• Economics and policy (Quality standards, processing marketing and related regulations).

 

Submission:

Presentations must be submitted in Microsoft Power Point together with a hard copy abstract not later than 15 January 2004. Manuscripts must be submitted preferably in soft copy Microsoft Word not later than 22.January 2004.

 

Organizing Committee:

• Dr. Abdalla El-hagawa – Land and Water research Center, Agricultural research and Technology Corporation(ARTC).
• Dr. Adam I. Adam, -Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Gezira
• Dr. Ahmed Hasan – Integrated Pest management,  ARTC
• Dr. Kamal El-Siddig, Cotton Ressearch Program, ARTC
• Dr. Zakia Ibrahim, Wheat Research

List of Participants NECOFA National Meeting, Sudan

 

No.	Name	Organization
1	Abdalla Ibrahim Elhagwa	Agricultural Research and Technology Corporation
2	Asbdelmagid Ali Elmobarak	;;
3	Kamal Elsiddig	;;
4	Zakia Ibrahim Ali	;;
5	Fawzi Mohamed Salih	;;
6	Mustafa Ali M. Idris	;;
7	Elnain Abdalla Ali	;;
8	Shama Elamin Dawelbait	;;
9	Awadelkarim Elmobarak	;;
10	Bushra Mohamed Meheisi	;;
11	Hassan Mohamed Fadl	;;
12	Ibrahim Mahmoud Burymah	;;
13	Omer Khodary Eissa	;;
14	Osman A.R. M. El Tom	;;
15	Arafa Abdalla M. Osman	;;
16	Mahaisn Ali Mohamed	;;
17	Nuri Osman Muhktar	;;
18	Mohamed Ahmed Adlan	;;
19	Ahlam Elsammani	;;
20	Mohamed Ahmed Salih	;;
21	Osman Ahmed Ali ageeb	;;
22	Gaafar Ibrahim	;;
23	Omer Abdu Dahab	;;
24	Abdegabbar Eltayeb	;;
25	Mohamed Mustafa Omer	;;
26	Mohamed Ahmed Ali	;;
27	Eltahir Ibrahim	;;
28	Ahmed Hassan	;;
29	Ahmed Abdelgadir	;;
30	Adam Ibrahim Adam	Universwity of Gezira
31	Moawia Elbadawi Hamed	;;
32	Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed	;;
33	Elfatih Elagib	ARC, Hudeiba
34	Osman Elfadni	ARC, ElObeid
35	Abdelrahman Khidir	ARC, ElObeid
36	Kamal Hamid	ARC, New Halfa
37	Abbas Doka	University of Sudan
38	Mukhtar Ahmed Mustafa	University of Khartoum
39	Tarig Mohamed Nour	Upper Nile university
40	Hatim Ahmed Sulfab	Upper Nile university

 

 

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Tentative Program: NECOFA National Meeting and Workshop, Wad Medani- Sudan

Agricultural Research and Technology Corporation, HQ

Time	20.12.2003
9:00-10:00	Opening Session: Inaugural Speech
10:00- 10:30	Break
10:30-11:00	About NECOFA
11:00-12:10	1st Session:
	Organic Farming and Soils
	3 Oral Presentations
	2 Poster Presentations
12:10-12:40	Discussion
12:40-13:50	2nd session
	Organic Farming and Crop performance
	3Oral Presentations
	2 Poster Presentations
13:50-14:20	Discussion
14:20-14:30	Break
14:30-15:40	3rd Session
	IPM Practice in Sudan
	3 Oral Presentations
	2 Poster Presentations
15:40-16:10	Discussion
16:10	Lunch
19:00-20:00	Round Trip- Wad Medani-( German Guests)
20:00	Dinner
	21.12.2003
8:00-11:00	Excursion( gzira Scheme and some Private Farms)
12:00-14:00	NECOFA Members Meeting and elections of The National Committee
14:00-14:30	Closing Session

 

 

Following Participants are welcomed to Workshop

40 NECOFA members

20 Invited Persons from Different Agricultural scheme

10 Farmers Representatives

10 Distinguished Guests

20 Potential Members to join

Result: 100 Participants

 

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ECOLOGICAL AGRICULTURE OVERSEAS STUDENTS ASSOCIATION (EAOSA)

UNIVERSITY OF KASSEL, WITZENHAUSEN

Our Aims and Objectives

Our Mission Statement:

The Ecological Agriculture Overseas Students Association is an association operating from the above University and was founded on the 23rd of January 2004. The Association is dedicated to serve farmers in developing and developed countries in a variety of problems encountered in their various farming communities. We are out to promote organic farming both in the University of Kassel and outside the University. Our major target is to promote the image of present citadel-University of Kassel both here in Germany and in our various countries upon graduation. Further activities of our programmes are spelt out in our aims and objectives.

 

OUR AIMS

• Our goal is to qualify students and farmers to contribute to a sustainable development of Agriculture.
• Is to strengthen students’ relationship in all Agricultural Universities worldwide and to encourage young Agriculturists
• Members of the Association must be innovated, creative and hard-working
• Is to Identify key principles that will frame the policy of our constitution and institutional the framework for promoting a large-scale rural organic production;
• Formulate strategies to cost-effectively develop skills to support the twin objectives of poverty reduction and environmental improvement; and
• Apply lessons learned and best practices from other countries/universities to inform organic farmers strategies for scaling up production and for the transformation of chemical farming to organic.

OUR OBJECTIVES

• To promote and encourage the production of organic crops and to address issues concerning its access, production and nutritional aspect of sustainable food security in third countries.
• To integrate local knowledge and transfer mechanism and ways of discouraging inappropriate use of land by local farmers.
• To stimulate the interest of students to take up a career in the practical agricultural science discipline.
• The organisation of workshop ones or twice a year where issues militating against Organic Farmers would be addressed.
• To create awareness of waste management and relevance of recycling with a view of compost and biogas production

The organs of the Association/ Background

The Association consists of nine executive members and founders as well as five patrons. The executive members are elected for a period of two years after which a new election is conducted for new executive members.

The members of the Association reserve the power to revoke against any of the executive members if the person is found wanting. This may call for impeachment. The president of the association’s signature must be present in any of the document relating to the Association. Decision making most be accepted by the executive members, in case there is argument, voting would be the solution wherein majority’s vote decides the result. Members of the executives’ shall be

re-elected through voting by the entire members of the Association.

The ASSOCIATION IS A NON-PROFITABLE ORGANISATION; financial support may be solicited from reputable organization or individuals as well as the patrons when programmes need to be organized.

The Association may request for adviser from any reputable organizations relating to the direction of the association. It is also the interest of the Association to affiliate with any agricultural firm or firms.

Monetary contribution is not expected from any member of the association but practical experiences, innovation, creativity and hard work are highly welcome.

 

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