IFOAM - Africa Organic News
April 2009
  1. The IFOAM electronic newsletter, Africa Organic News, reaches more than 2,500 people inside and outside Africa
  2. IFOAM fundraising training in conjunction with the First African Organic Conference
  3. Report on the Fourth Senegalese National and Annual Fair of Organic and Natural Products
  4. Environmentalists call for end to GM cassava trials in Nigeria
  5. African Fellows Programme:  9th Call for Pre-Proposals
  6. Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events
 

1. The IFOAM electronic newsletter, Africa Organic News, reaches more than 2,500 people inside and outside Africa

 The e-newsletter, Africa Organic News, is published in English and French and circulated to more than 1,000 contacts inside and outside Africa. 14 of these contacts are IFOAM African Contact Points (each of them represents or is the coordinating office of a national organic agriculture movement or national or regional network) that provide inputs for and circulate the newsletters to their own membership. Currently, the IFOAM African Contact Points circulate each issue of the newsletter to more than another 1,500 contacts across Africa.

The following Contact Points are currently established:
  1. The Ethiopian Association for Organic Agriculture (EAOA), Ethiopia
  2. The Ghana Organic Agriculture Movement (GOAN), Ghana
  3. The INADES-Formation Côte d’Ivoire, Ivory Coast
  4. The Kenya Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN), Kenya
  5. The Laulanié Green University and Association (LGU and LGA), Madagascar
  6. The National Federation of Organic Agriculture (FENAB), Senegal
  7. The National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU), Uganda
  8. The National Organic Movement of Mali (MOBIOM), Mali
  9. The Organic Producers and Processors Association of Zambia (OPPAZ), Zambia
  10. The Organic Agriculture Project for Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria (OAPTIN), Nigeria
  11. The Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Regional Desk, Zambia
  12. The Sustainable Agriculture Development Network (REDAD), Benin
  13. The Tanzania Organic Agriculture Movement (TOAM), Tanzania
  14. The Zimbabwe Organic Producers' and Processors' Association (ZOPPA), Zimbabwe
The IFOAM Africa Office invites all people involved in organic agriculture at any level, in Africa and beyond, to make use of this important information channel by contributing articles, news, and event announcements to do with its development in Africa.

Inputs should be sent to Hervé Bouagnimbeck at h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org.

 
 

2. IFOAM fundraising training in conjunction with the First African Organic Conference

 In order to strengthen the African organic network and ensure its sustainability, IFOAM is organizing a two day fundraising training for representatives of the African movements in conjunction with the African Organic Conference to be held from May 19-22, 2009, in Kampala, Uganda.

The training is scheduled for May 16-17 and aims to improve knowledge and organizational skills of the national movements in their fundraising efforts at the national and international level. Specifically the training will provide participants useful guidelines and tools that can be used to:
  • Develop financial strategies.
  • Create opportunities and services to support financial strategies.
  • Secure consistent sources of income.
  • Ensure the medium to the long term sustainability of their organization.
Representatives coming from IFOAM Contact Points and other member organizations are eligible for receiving this capacity building training. The participation is free of charge. Besides some fixed places, there is (limited) opportunity for participants of the African Organic Conference to also participate at the training. Interested persons are invited to submit the following information by e-mail to Hervé Bouagnimbeck at h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org by April 26, 2009:
  • Name and acronym of the organization
  • Country or region of activity
  • Activities currently performed to support Organic Agriculture in the country or region
  • Reasons why you would like to attend the training.
Attendees will be chosen by a screening process and applicants will be informed about the final decision by end of April.

For more information about the conference, please visit: www.nogamu.org.ug/newcms/index.php?page=nog_intevents&expand=2. 

 
 

3. Report on the Fourth Senegalese National and Annual Fair of Organic and Natural Products

 From April 8-12, 2009, the National Federation for Organic Agriculture of Senegal (FENAB) organized in collaboration with the FAO the Fourth Senegalese National and Annual Fair of Organic and Natural Products in Thies.

The Fair which has been initiated by long standing IFOAM member AGRECOL Afrique was a great success. It was officially opened by Mr Amath Sall, Senegalese Agriculture Minister, in the presence of Mr. Amadou Ouattara, FAO Representative in Senegal, and several other authorities. Some 45 exhibitors were displaying the specialties from Senegal ranging from fresh and dried fruits and vegetables, herbs to juice. A lot of publicity was given to this event, on radio, television and in the newspapers.

In addition to the exhibition there was a consultation on the first draft of “The Basic Standards of Organic Agriculture in Senegal based on IFOAM Basic Standards”. The meeting brought together all stakeholders from the organic sector in Senegal, including representatives from farmers organizations, government, NGOs, consumers organizations, private sector and other organizations working in the organic sector in the country. During the discussions it came out that the scope of the standard and its intended use were not clear. The meeting participants agreed to elaborate a standard that will be well adapted to the conditions in the country and focus mainly on the domestic rather than the export markets. All suggested revisions will be taken into consideration during the preparation of a second draft on which all stakeholders will be invited to comment. Additionally, the Standards Committee will also seek inputs from stakeholders from African countries that have already developed national/regional standards.

IFOAM was officially represented at the meeting by Hervé Bouagnimbeck, IFOAM Africa Office Coordinator, who provided guidance for a sustainable development of the organic sector.

For more information about the fair and the standards development process in Senegal, please contact Ibrahima Seck at iseck@yahoo.fr.

 
 

4. Environmentalists call for end to GM cassava trials in Nigeria

 More than 30 local civil society groups have called for an immediate end to the trials of a genetically modified cassava - 'Super Cassava' - in Nigeria, to be conducted by the National Root Crops Research Institute with the reported approval of the National Biosafety Committee - a body that currently has no legal power to grant such an approval.

”Nigeria does not need any 'Super Cassava'. The genetic modification of cassava to produce Vitamin A is fraught with many dangers to the health of Nigerians who depend on cassava as a staple. Some years back, the biotech industry engineered the so-called golden rice to be rich in Vitamin A, but one would need to eat 9 kilograms of that rice to have as much Vitamin A as one would have from eating just two small carrots. The golden rice was a golden hoax and the super cassava will turn out to be super fraud”, said Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth Nigeria/Environmental Rights Action.

For more information, please visit: http://allafrica.com/stories/200903130668.html.

 
 

5. African Fellows Programme:  9th Call for Pre-Proposals

 The Rothamsted International African Fellows Programme is now inviting pre-proposals under its 9th Call. The African Fellows Programme (AFP) aims to support sustainable agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa by catalyzing innovative solutions needed to achieve food security.

Deadline for Pre-proposal Submission: June 19th 2009.

For more information, please visit: www.rothamsted-international.org/afp/index.shtml.

 
 

6. Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events

 Africa Organic Conference
May 19-22 2009
Kampala, Uganda

Natural & Organic Products Exhibition
June 26-28 2009
Johannesburg, South Africa

International Training Course on Organic Agriculture
July 11-August 01 2009
Kampala, Uganda

1st International IFOAM Conference on Organic Animal and Plant Breeding
August 25-28 2009
Sante Fe, New Mexico, USA

First All Africa Horticulture Congress
August 31-September 3 2009
Nairobi, Kenya

World Congress on Organic Cotton “From Fashion to Sustainability”
September 21-25 2009
Interlaken, Switzerland

 
 


Email: h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org

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International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) e.V.
Trial Court Bonn, Association Register no. 8726