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| June 2009 |
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- First African Organic Conference: Growth in African organic sector unity
- Global organic data survey 2010 - coming soon
- Former Zambian President, Dr. Kaunda, joins the organic movement
- The IFOAM study on Organic Agriculture and Women’s Empowerment
- The Namibian organic sector organizes itself into a national organic agriculture movement
- 5th Nigerian National Conference on Organic Agriculture
- New Book Release: Food Crisis, Climate Change and Importance of Sustainable Agriculture
- Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events
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| | 1. First African Organic Conference: Growth in African organic sector unity
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| | The First African Organic Conference “Fast tracking sustainable development in Africa through harnessing Organic Agriculture and Biotechnology” was held in Kampala, Uganda, from May 17 to 22.
Some 255 participants from 27 countries attended the conference, including representatives from governments, inter-governmental institutions, UN agencies, national and international NGOs, private sector, universities, and research institutions.
The conference was organized by IFOAM members the National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU) and the Ugandan Martyrs University (UMU) with the technical assistance of AGRO Eco Louis Bolk Institute Eastern Africa. The conference was an excellent platform for experience sharing and discussion on best practices, standards, certification, trade, policy formulation and other development initiatives.
The conference had a number of important outcomes:
- The Network for Organic Agriculture Research in Africa (NORA) was launched.
- Plans for forming an African Organic Network (AFRONET) were further developed.
- Agreement by the participants that Organic Agriculture can contribute to sustainable development, poverty eradication and food security in Africa and a call for increased support for African Organic Agriculture.
- Promoted the need for Organic Agriculture to leverage technologies from other schools of thought – in particular non genetic engineering based biotechnologies such as biological control, fermentation and rhizobial fertilizer that can be applied to organic farming systems to increase the productivity.
The main conference was preceded by an IFOAM capacity building fundraising workshop and regional meetings of East and West African delegates. The IFOAM capacity building fundraising workshop brought together 20 participants from 9 African countries. The program had a good mix of theory, exercises and role plays. Although most of the participants already fundraise for their own organizations, for many this was the first time they thought strategically about approaches to fundraising. The participants appreciated the workshop and agreed that it will build their capacities beyond fundraising and contribute to the tightening of the network.
The next African Organic Conference will be held in Zambia in 2012.
For more information about the conference, please contact Dr. Ssekyewa Charles: cssekyewa@umu.ac.ug or Moses.K.Muwanga: mkmuwanga@nogamu.org.ug.
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| | 2. Global organic data survey 2010 - coming soon
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| | Like every year, IFOAM and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) will soon be conducting the global organic data survey (to end of 2008) on the current status of organic farming worldwide. Hervé Bouagnimbeck of IFOAM will carry out the survey among African countries and Helga Willer of FiBL among other countries.
We would like again to extend our thanks to all individuals and organizations that have contributed to the previous survey (2007 data) which was publish this year in the yearbook 'The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends'. Without your contributions it would not have been possible to execute this global collection of data. It is a great hope that you will support the survey again with your expertise. With your support we can continue to make a substantial impact by providing information on recent developments in global Organic Agriculture.
For more information, please contact Hervé Bouagnimbeck: h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org.
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| | 3. Former Zambian President, Dr. Kaunda, joins the organic movement
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| | First Zambian republican president, Dr Kenneth David Kaunda, has joined the Organic Producers and Processors Association of Zambia (OPPAZ).
This was revealed in a meeting between Dr Kaunda and the OPPAZ Chief Executive Officer, Mr Munshimbwe Chitalu, last April, when Dr. Kaunda also accepted to be the patron of OPPAZ.
Dr Kaunda said he was very willing to be part of OPPAZ because organic farming is a better alternative to conventional agriculture to increase household and national food security in most countries in the world. He also promised to work hard to promote organic development in Zambia.
For more information, please contact Munshimbwe Chitalu: mchitalu@organic.org.zm.
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| | 4. The IFOAM study on Organic Agriculture and Women’s Empowerment
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| | It is IFOAM’s goal to facilitate equal participation of women in the Organic Agriculture (OA) movement. In this context, a new IFOAM study investigates the ways in which OA can contribute to the empowerment of rural women, and identifies “lessons learned” for future work on the basis of a collection of analytical case studies from around the world.
To download the document, please visit:
www.ifoam.org/growing_organic/1_arguments_for_oa/social_justice/women_in_organic.php.
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| | 5. The Namibian organic sector organizes itself into a national organic agriculture movement
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| | The Namibian Organic Producers Association (NORA) has been recently formed. This umbrella organization will represent the organic sector at the national and international level, link stakeholders and make efforts to promote and develop organic agriculture in the country.
For more information, please contact Manjo Smith: greenspot@greenspot.com.na.
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| | 6. 5th Nigerian National Conference on Organic Agriculture |
| | From November 15th to 19th 2009 the Organic Agriculture Project in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria (OAPTIN) is organizing a national conference in collaboration with the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. The conference will focus on organic agriculture for health, wealth and environmental conservation.
For more information, please contact Prof. M. C. Ofoh: mcofoh@yahoo.com.
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| | 7. New Book Release: Food Crisis, Climate Change and Importance of Sustainable Agriculture
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| | The Third World Network has recently published a new book titled: “Food Crisis, Climate Change and Importance of Sustainable Agriculture”.
For more information, visit: www.twnside.org.sg/title/end/end08.htm.
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| | 8. Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events
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| | Natural & Organic Products Exhibition
June 26 to 28 2009
Johannesburg, South Africa
International Training Course on Organic Agriculture
July 11 to August 01 2009
Kampala, Uganda
1st International IFOAM Conference on Organic Animal and Plant Breeding
August 25 to 28 2009
Sante Fe, New Mexico, USA
First All Africa Horticulture Congress
August 31 to September 3 2009
Nairobi, Kenya
World Congress on Organic Cotton “From Fashion to Sustainability”
September 21 to 25 2009
Interlaken, Switzerland
5th National Conference on Organic Agriculture
November 15 to 19 2009
Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
For further information, please contact Prof. M. C. Ofoh: mcofoh@yahoo.com.
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Email: h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org
Head Office Contact Information
Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5
53113 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49-228-92650-10
Fax: +49-228-92650-99
Email: headoffice@ifoam.org
http://www.ifoam.org
© 2009 IFOAM - All rights reserved. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) e.V.
Trial Court Bonn, Association Register no. 8726
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