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| November 2009 |
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- IFOAM Advocacy Campaign for Copenhagen
- IFOAM Case Study Compilation on Women in Organic Agriculture in Africa now Available at the IFOAM Website
- FiBL Call for an African Writer/Editor for the African Organic Farming Manual
- Call for Nominations for One World Award 2010
- IFOAM World Food Day and World Summit on Food Security Press Releases
- The African Union will be partner of the African Organic Pavilion
- Cape Town Goes Green
- Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events
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| | 1. IFOAM Advocacy Campaign for Copenhagen
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| | IFOAM is leading a delegation from the international organic movement to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The delegation will raise awareness of organic agriculture as an affordable option for optimising the mitigation and adaptation potential of agriculture and for providing the world’s most vulnerable people with stable and secure farming systems. From December 7th to 18th IFOAM will be lobbying delegates, building alliances with like-minded NGOs and providing policy advice on the integration of organic agriculture into national policies and action plans.
The IFOAM delegation will track the various negotiations and participate in key events in an effort to ensure that organic agriculture is recognised as a holistic solution. IFOAM will provide regular multi-media updates from the conference that will be posted to the IFOAM website. IFOAM is preparing a number of climate change publications including an informative guide to Organic Agriculture and climate change. These publications will be posted on the IFOAM website in the coming weeks for your use in your own advocacy activities.
IFOAM would like to involve more affiliates in the climate change campaign! While IFOAM will not be able to provide any financial support, we would be very grateful if you could inform us as soon as possible if you are able to assist us in our advocacy efforts by:
- identifying contact details of delegates such as Ministers of Agriculture, Environment and their advisors from your country or region that the IFOAM team can approach at Copenhagen.
- setting up policy advice meetings with delegates from your country or region for the IFOAM team in Copenhagen.
The campaign and delegation is being led by IFOAM’s advocacy manager; Robert Jordan who can be contacted on:
Mobile: +49 (0) 176 525 13 4 25 E-mail: r.jordan@ifoam.org
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| | 2. IFOAM Case Study Compilation on Women in Organic Agriculture in Africa now Available at the IFOAM Website
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| | The compilation was commissioned by IFOAM to showcase the specific experiences of women engaged in Organic Agriculture in Africa. Each case study is authored by a local journalist drawing from interviews with:
- Sonia Mwadime from Uganda, Director of BioFresh Limited, a company working with organic smallholder farmers and exporting certified organic fruits and vegetables from Uganda to the EU.
- Fortunate Hofisi Nyakanda from Zimbabwe, Chief Executive Officer of ZOPPA, the national organic agriculture movement of Zimbabwe,
- Mame Condeye Sylla from Senegal, Owner of an organic restaurant in Thies, Senegal
- Eugenia Akuete from Ghana, Director of Naasakle Limited, a company working with women across Ghana on production and trade of shea butter.
The results presented in this report demonstrate a range of positive social and economic impacts associated with the uptake of Organic Agriculture by women across Africa. The stories are available at: www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam
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| | 3. FiBL Call for an African Writer/Editor for the African Organic Farming Manual
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| | The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FIBL) is seeking for an African Writer/Editor for the period January 4 to June 2010 for its “African Organic Farming Manual” project. For more information, please visit: www.fibl.org/en
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| | 4. Call for Nominations for One World Award 2010
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| | IFOAM and the German company Rapunzel Naturkost AG call for nominations for the prestigious international “One World Award” (OWA). The OWA promotes positive aspects of globalization that don’t solely aim for maximizing profit, but focuses on the three pillars of sustainability: ecological, social and economic. The OWA recognizes outstanding engagement and achievements in providing creative and high impact solutions in the area of environmental protection and fair livelihoods.
The nomination deadline is January 15, 2010.
For more information please visit: www.one-world-award.com.
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| | 5. IFOAM World Food Day and World Summit on Food Security Press Releases |
| | On the occasion of the World Food Day 2009, IFOAM joined the international community to celebrate World Food Day with the theme Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis. IFOAM delivered a press release titled: Putting the last first - The Organic Answer to Food Security for all, including the rural poor!
Read the full text of this IFOAM Press Release!
On the occasion of the World Summit on Food Security which is currently taking place in Rome, Italy, IFOAM delivered another press release titled: Fight poverty with Organic Agriculture! James Benjamin Cole, an organic farmer from Ghana, who has traveled all the way to Rome to showcase his experience, is shocked about the priority given to industrial agriculture: “This pushes many smallholders out of their livelihoods and makes them even poorer and hungrier. Genetically engineered seeds, chemical herbicides and fertilizers will push my colleagues further into debt. These inputs will increase our vulnerability, further degrade our soils and eco-systems and suck much needed money from our local economies.”
Read the full text of this IFOAM Press Release!
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| | 6. The African Union will be partner of the African Organic Pavilion
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| | The African Union recently agreed to be a partner in the Organic African Pavilion at BioFach 2010 and the next African Organic Conference to be held in Zambia.
It is expected that this endorsement of the African Union will enhance the importance of these events both nationally and internationally and will improve the image of organic farming in Africa. Furthermore, it can be seen as a clear sign of the African Union to support the further development of the organic sector in Africa.
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| | 7. Cape Town Goes Green
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| | The Organic Consumer reports that the city of Cape Town in South Africa is creating carbon credits under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by transforming its urban green waste into high-quality organic compost for farmers.
For more information, please visit: www.organicconsumers.org/articles
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| | 8. Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events
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| | United Nations Climate Change Conference
December 7 to 18 2009
Copenhagen, Denmark
Organic Africa Pavilion at BioFach 2010
February 17-20, 2010
Nuremberg, Germany
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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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