| |  | | October 2010 |
|
- Organic Policy Development in South Africa
- Summary Findings of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
- Submission of Papers for the Organic World Congress: Don’t miss the Deadline
- The Namibian Organic Association (NOA) Conducts an Organic Meat Market Study
- Call for proposals: Participation of African Export Companies at the African Organic Pavilion at BioFach 2011
- Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events
|
|
| | 1. Organic Policy Development in South Africa | | | Organic policy is in the process of being developed in South Africa. The national movement, led by the South African Organic Sector Organization (SAOSO), is strongly involved in the process. A draft policy has been recently jointly issued by the Department of Agriculture and Department of Trade and Industry. This draft is currently open for public comments. The draft includes many recommendations of the UNCTAD-UNEP CBTF report “Best Practices for Organic Policy: What Developing Country Governments Can Do to Promote the Organic Agriculture Sector”.
We congratulate the government of South Africa for recognizing the potential of organic agriculture as a powerful tool to address food security, climate change and poverty among smallholder farmers.
There is no doubt that once finalized, these policy frameworks will help realize the multi-functional benefits of Organic Agriculture in South Africa. Having an organic policy in place offers access to financial resources, educational and training programs, and increased market opportunities for organic farmers.
Given the affordability and multi-benefits of Organic Agriculture, IFOAM sees the need to enable national policy frameworks on Organic Agriculture in other African countries in order to grow the capacity for the African governments to develop sustainable, resilient and productive farming.
For further information, please contact Konrad Hauptfleisch: konrad@bryanstonorganicmarket.co.za.
| | | | | 2. Summary Findings of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
| | | A briefing published by the Pesticides Action Network – North America, titled "Biotechnology & Sustainable Development" synthesizes the findings from the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), as they relate to GMOs.
The four-year IAASTD, the most comprehensive assessment of agriculture to date, was conceived by the World Bank and UN agencies and conducted by more than 400 scientists and development experts from 80 countries. The IAASTD report has been approved by 58 governments.
The IAASTD found that reliance on resource-extractive industrial agriculture is risky and unsustainable, particularly in the face of worsening climate, energy and water crises. It noted that expensive, quick fixes - including GM crops - fail to address the complex challenges that small-scale and subsistence farmers face, and often exacerbate already bad conditions.
This is particularly important for Africa, as solutions proposed for increasing food security are sometimes based on the industrialization of African agriculture and the intensification of costly external and ultimately unsustainable inputs.
Instead, the IAASTD highlighted the need to build more resilience into food systems by increasing investments in agro-ecological sciences, small-scale biodiverse farming methods and farmer-led participatory breeding programs. These can deliver far better results, without the risks and high input costs that accompany GM seeds.
The full briefing is downloadable from: www.panna.org.
The full IAASTD report is downloadable at: www.agassessment.org.
| | | | | 3. Submission of Papers for the Organic World Congress: Don’t miss the Deadline
| | | The next IFOAM Organic World Congress, the first in Asia, will be held in the Republic of Korea from September 28 to October 1, 2011. The Organic World Congress is the biggest global organic conference happening every 3 years alongside the IFOAM General Assembly.
The Organic World Congress has two main tracks: the Systems Values Track for presentation and exchange of practical experiences from farmers, consumers, campaigns and cooperation; and a Scientific Research Track, where current academic research and others will be presented and discussed.
The deadline for submission of papers for both tracks is November 30, 2010.
All submissions must be in English and will be evaluated by experts.
Read the guidelines for paper submission for the Systems Values Tracks here and those for the Scientific Research Track here.
Papers both for the Systems Values and Research Track must be submitted at: www.kowc2011.org/eng/01_owc/paper_submission.asp.
| | | | | 4. The Namibian Organic Association (NOA) Conducts an Organic Meat Market Study
| | | NOA is currently conducting the research study “Assessment of the
Potential of Organic Meat Production and Markets for Namibia” for the
Meat Board of Namibia. The overall objective of the study is to
establish the current supply in Namibia of certified organic beef &
lamb meat and assess opportunities for marketing these products in both
the Southern African region.
The final draft of the study will be available soon.
For further information, please contact Manjo Smith, NOA at:
info@noa.org.na.
| | | | | 5. Call for proposals: Participation of African Export Companies at the African Organic Pavilion at BioFach 2011
| | | The Trade for Development Center invites African Organic Export Companies to submit a proposal for participation at the Africa Pavilion at the upcoming BioFach taking place from February 16– 19, 2011 in Nürnberg, Germany.
Organizations whose proposal will be selected will receive a grant covering 75% of all costs of participation.
Countries eligible for this call are: Benin, Burundi, DR of Congo, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
The deadline for proposal submission is November 15, 2010.
For further information, including guidelines for proposal submission, please visit: www.organicafricapavilion.com/latest-news.
| | | | | 6. Upcoming Organic Agriculture related events | | | The Global Conference on Agriculture,
Food Security and Climate Change
October 31 - November 5, 2010
The Hague, the Netherlands
IFOAM has two side events at this important international agricultural
conference in the Netherlands. The conference has a strong focus on
Africa.
For further information, please visit: www.ifoam.org/partners/advocacy/thehague.html.
6th National Organic Agriculture Conference
November 14 – 18, 2010
Borno State, Nigeria
For further information, please contact Prof. J.D. Kwari:
jdkwari@yahoo.com.
Organic Sector
Development Training (OSTD) - Africa 2011
March 21 - April 1, 2011
Lusaka, Zambia
The 17th IFOAM Organic World
Congress
September 28 – October 1, 2011
Gyeonggi Paldang,
South Korea
IFOAM
General Assembly
October 3-5, 2011
Gyeonggi Paldang, South
Korea
| | | | |
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
© 2010 IFOAM - All rights reserved. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) e.V.
Trial Court Bonn, Association Register no. 8726
|
|  |