SPAC 2022
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The Science and Partnership for Agriculture Conference is crafted to encapsulate broad-based partnerships at different levels to address key issues in Africa’s agricultural research and innovation space.
The joint conference will provide the opportunity to leverage the participation of high-level individuals in Africa and European agriculture to jointly address pertinent emerging issues affecting the continent. The four conferences and their constituents will provide important technical and policy information from different engagements.
The Biennial Africa CSA conference will give the opportunity to take stewardship of the CSA actions especially the spate of technology generation and a foresight analysis of the plausible futures. The conference will host the continental dialogue on the Africa Climate Smart Framework (ACSAF); ACSAF is developed to respond to and plan the implementation of the AU-developed Africa Climate Change Strategy. The ACSAF dialogue also provides the opportunity to prepare adequately for CoP27 in Egypt. The conference will also host a side event for stakeholders’ consultation towards the development of the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA). There will also be a side event that will host the meeting of the High-Level Technical Think-Tank set out to respond to emerging technological issues in African agriculture. The various side event will generate outputs that will flow into the conference outputs
The Knowledge Management for
Agricultural Development (KM4AgD)
is an activity of the CAADP-XP4
organizations. The KM4AgD
Challenge & Conference is an
annual event that seeks to build
appropriate capacities, establish
communities of practice for
Knowledge Management and
strengthen the knowledge
ecosystem to accelerate the
achievement of the CAADP Malabo
goals by 2025 and the SDGs by
2030.
The Challenge is implemented
through an integrated, strategic,
educational, and transformational
approach. It aims to strengthen the
capacity of the knowledge
management experts and run an
investiture of new experts.
The LEAP4FNSSA was a project supported by the EU to provide a sustainable platform for Europe and African institutions to partner around innovations in food and nutrition. It achieved its goal through synergies and coherence between actors, research and innovation projects, initiatives, and programs, through the development of institutional alliances and clusters of projects The project will end in October 2022 and it has commenced its sustainability plan and transition into an International Research Consortium (IRC). The conference will host its closing general assembly and the launch of its replacement initiative, the IRC.
Pan-African Network for economic
Analysis of Policies (PANAP) is
established by the European Union
commission and aims to foster the
development of centers of excellence
in Africa and to promote both the
Europe-Africa and intra-Africa
scientific collaboration as an element
to vitalize synergies between the two
continents on economic policies.
PANAP was officially launched at the
AU in November 2019 with the
participation of 19 African partners.
Its action also fosters scientific
cooperation among the PANAP
member .
The PANAP conference will create
opportunities for synergies with other
relevant scientific communities and
networks operating at the Africa’s
continental level in agriculture.
President of the Africa Development Bank
Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina
Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina is the President of the Africa Development Bank, he is often called “Africa’s Optimist-in-Chief”, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina is widely lauded for his visionary leadership and passion for Africa’s transformation. Formerly the Nigerian Agriculture Minister, Dr. Adesina was first elected President of the African Development Bank Group on 28 May 2015. He was unanimously re-elected for a second five-year term on 27 August 2020. D.r Adesina graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics (First Class Honors) from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, in 1981. Dr. Adesina holds a master’s degree (1985) and a PhD in Agricultural Economics (1988) from Purdue University, United States of America, where he won the Outstanding Ph.D. thesis award for that year. Dr. Adesina won the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Social Science Fellowship in 1988, which launched him into his international career. A bold reformer, as Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria from 2011 to 2015 Dr. Adesina turned the agriculture sector of Nigeria around within four years. Under his tenure, Nigeria ended 40 years of corruption in the fertilizer sector by developing and implementing an innovative electronic wallet system, which directly provides farmers with subsidized farm inputs at scale using their mobile phones. Within the first four years of its launch, this electronic wallet system reached 15 million farmers, dramatically transforming their lives.
Minister for Food and Agriculture Ghana
Honorable (Hon) Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto holds M.Sc. and PhD degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Cambridge, England. He worked as an Economist, Senior Economist, Principal Economist, and Chief Economic Advisor over a period of 18 years at the International Coffee Organization (ICO) in London, England. He has also worked as a consultant to the World Bank and the United Nations on Soft Commodities (Cocoa, Coffee, Sugar). Between 1995 and 2007, he was the CEO of two international commodity companies, Goldcrest Commodities Limited and Plantation Resources Limited both based in Ghana.
In 2008 he was elected to the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana. In 2017 he was appointed the Minister for Food and Agriculture. In this role he has spearheaded the design and implementation of the Government of Ghana’s popular and transformational agricultural flagship program, Planting for Food and
Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation-Ghana
Honorable Dr. Kwaku Afriyie is currently the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and a Member of Parliament for the Sefwi Wiawso Constituency. He is a Medical Doctor by profession and a farmer. He previously served as Minister of the Ministries of Health, Lands and Natural Resources, Western Regional Minister, and Minister of State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA). He holds a Master of Public Health from Tulane University, New Orleans, an MB CBH from the University of Ghana Medical School, and a Fellow of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Dr Kwaku Afriyie was the Managing Director of Afriyie Farms from 1990 to 2016 and the Managing Director of Green shield Hospital from 1994 to 2014. As Health Minister, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie introduced and implemented the well-known National Health Insurance Scheme, the National Post–Graduate Training program of Doctors and established the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons for a Postgraduate training of Doctors in Ghana. Dr. Afriyie, also served as a member of Cabinet Sub-committee on Cocoa Affairs (2001-2005); Member of National Development Planning Committee (2001-2004); Member of National AIDS Commission etc. In his role as Minister of Environment, Science and Technology,
Minister of Agriculture of Liberia.
The Honorable Jeanine M. Cooper is the Minister of Agriculture of Liberia. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1982 with a double B.A. in Business Administration and in French; and she has an MSc in Managing Rural Change from the University of London, Imperial College at Wye in 2003. Cooper has supported community-initiated agricultural projects and served on the board of directors of developmental bodies and educational institutions in Liberia and in Côte d’Ivoire. Following her time with VSF-S, Mde. Cooper served 13 years with the United Nations. Her, last posting was as the Permanent Observer to the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa and, Head of the Liaison Office for the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA). Ms. Cooper also held postings with the UN-OCHA in Kenya and for the Eastern and Southern Africa region.
Honorable Jeanine Cooper founded FABRAR Liberia, currently Liberia's largest rice processor and producer, in 2009 and was managing the company from January 2017 to 2020.
The new minister has detailed a vision of the transformation of Liberian agriculture; a visioMadeenteredan on elevation of Liberian farmers from subsistence farming to commercial smallholders. A vision to ensure the supply of quality agricultural products produced in a sustainable and organic manner prized in today’s market.
C.E.O of AUDA-NEPAD
HE Nardos Bekele-Thomas is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Africa Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD). She is the first woman to lead the African Union’s development agency. Prior to her appointment, M.s Bekele-Thomas was previously the Senior Director of the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General. She also served as Resident Coordinator for the United Nations in South Africa and as Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Kenya and Benin. Prior to that, she served for over four years in Kenya as Deputy Resident Representative. She is the author of several papers and monographs, and she is fully bilingual in French and English. She has excelled as a Private Sector Policy Adviser focusing on the promotion of trade and investment in several African countries through private/public sector partnerships in the United States. Ms. Bekele-Thomas has also served in a technical and advisory capacity in which she helped initiate and conceptualize a pro-poor program on the Social Dimensions of Development and has served in various other capacities in the international development space.
Commissioner for the Department of Agriculture AUC
H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko is the Commissioner fo the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Econobilingualtainable Development (AUC-DARBE)., an Angola national; Mrs. Sacko was previously the special adviser to the Minister of agriculture, assigned with the responsibility of advising on issues related to international cooperation, Climate Change, food Security, Eradication of Hunger, and Poverty Reduction. She was also the former Secretary General of the Inter African Coffee Organization (IACO) for 13 years in Cote D’Ivoire where she oversaw the coffee economy of 25 African Coffee producing countries. During her tenure, she successfully advocated for the empowerment of small-scale coffee farmers across the continent by setting up Regional Centres of Excellence for Capacity Building of Member States, on Genetic Material Conservation, Coffee Quality Improvement, and Cup Tasting Liquor in Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Cameroon, and Zambia. adam Sacko has built up her international profile and reputation by either consulting or working with several Regional, and Global Institutional on Agriculture including the World Trade Organization (WTO), African Union (AU), International Coffee Organization (ICO), African Development Bank (AfDB), African Eexport-ImportBank (AFREXIMBANK), (FAO), UNECA, NEPAD ,etc
Assistant Director General (ADG) of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Africa
Abebe Haile-Gabriel is the Assistant Director General (ADG) of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Africa. The ADG holds a Doctorate and a Master of Arts degree in Agricultural and Rural Development from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) at The Hague, the Netherlands. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the Alemaya (now Haramaya University) the University of Agriculture in Ethiopia where he taught between 1986 till 2005.
He worked as a senior manager at the African Union Commission (AUC), he engaged with crucial stakeholders and partners ranging from government officials to civil society organizations, the private sector, farmers, etc. He served as Director of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture based at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Haile-Gabriel joined FAO in 2015 as Deputy Regional Representative for Africa and Representative to Ghana. He was also the Regional Program Leader for Africa since 2017.
Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN Organizations for Food and Agriculture
Dr. Hans Hoogeveen is the Ambassador / Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN Organizations for Food and Agriculture. He doubles as the Co-Chair of the Global Alliance on Climate-Smart Agriculture.
Before that he was the Director General (vice-Minister) for Agriculture and Nature Management at the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs for 9 years responsible for national, European and international policies related to sustainable agriculture, agri-business natural resources and nature management. As such, Dr. Hoogeveen was the most senior civil servant to lead agriculture, agribusiness, food safety, food security, veterinary and plant health, international affairs, including the European Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, international food security, the FAO and other UN affairs, trade liberalization (WTO), market access and nature/biodiversity management agendas. Dr. Hoogeveen has written several scientific papers on sustainable development and natural resources, including seminal work on lessons learned from global forest governance. He is Commander in the Order of Gregorius (Holy See) and Commandeur de l’Orde Grand-Ducal de la Couronne de Chene.
Chairperson of the FARA Board of Directors
Alioune Fall, Chairperson of the FARA Board of Directors, and the former Director General of Senegal’s National Institute for Agricultural Research (ISRA). He holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Agriculture from the Sam Houston State University, Texas, the United States, and a Doctorate degree (PhD) in Agricultural Engineering from Michigan State University, United States. Dr. Fall’s career in research spans three and a half decades. He joined ISRA in 1984 as a researcher and rose quickly to become Regional Coordinator of Farm Mechanization and Post-harvest Technology projects. Dr. Fall served as the Scientific Director of ISRA from 2008 to 2013 when he was appointed the Director General. He served as the Chairperson of CORAF’s Board of Directors from 2014 to 2018.
Chairperson of the FARA Board of Directors
Alioune Fall, Chairperson of the FARA Board of Directors, and the former Director General of Senegal’s National Institute for Agricultural Research (ISRA). He holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Agriculture from the Sam Houston State University, Texas, the United States, and a Doctorate degree (PhD) in Agricultural Engineering from Michigan State University, United States. Dr. Fall’s career in research spans three and a half decades. He joined ISRA in 1984 as a researcher and rose quickly to become Regional Coordinator of Farm Mechanization and Post-harvest Technology projects. Dr. Fall served as the Scientific Director of ISRA from 2008 to 2013 when he was appointed the Director General. He served as the Chairperson of CORAF’s Board of Directors from 2014 to 2018.
Executive Director - FARA
Is the Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). Prior to his appointment in 2013, Yemi was the Head of the Agriculture and Food Security Division at the African Union Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is a thought and process leader on the continent, Dr. Akinbamijo has considerable expertise in natural resource management including crop-livestock integrated systems. He is widely published in various agricultural disciplines. He is a former editor of the Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in Africa. He obtained his PhD in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences from the Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands
Director of Research and Innovation - FARA
is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). He holds a BSc in Surveying and Photogrammetry, plus MSc (ITC, The Netherlands) and Ph.D. degrees in Geomatics specializing in GIS and Remote Sensing (University of Melbourne, Australia). Dr. Agumya has 25 years professional experience, His work at the World Agroforestry Centre and at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa spans the entire African continent. Over the past years, Dr. Agumya’ s interest has been focused on the deployment of spatial tools in development work towards improving food security, incomes, and resilience to climate change-induced shocks.
Executive Director of ASARECA
Dr. Enock Warinda is the Executive Director of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA). His responsibilities include providing strategic direction, institutional leadership, operational, programmatic and human resource management; governance enhancement; financial, risk and compliance management; and enhancing stakeholder engagement and external relations. He has over 24 years of multi-disciplinary work experience in leadership, management, technical agricultural research for development, impact evaluation, strategic management, stakeholder engagements and public relations. He has spent over 18 years of his career in senior position as leader, manager and coordinator of assorted research for development programs. He is widely published in agricultural and evaluation disciplines, and has contributed to knowledge through peer-review journals, conference proceedings, and special publications.
Dr. Warinda has devoted his career and built his passion towards driving agricultural action research, strategic leadership, program management, development evaluation, and knowledge management. His passion is on ensuring high performance standards, teamwork, networking, multi-stakeholder partnerships, and fiduciary management. As a senior manager, researcher, strategic leader, and agricultural economist, Dr. Warinda previously served in ASARECA as the Interim Executive Director as well as the Deputy Executive Director and Head of Programs; in FARA as Lead Specialist (MEL); in FANRPAN as Work Package Manager; in African Wildlife Foundation as Senior Programs Manager; and in Forum for African Women Educationalists as Senior Programs Coordinator. He holds a PhD in agricultural economics, Master of Arts in monitoring and evaluation, Master of Philosophy in forestry economics and management, and BSc in forestry.
Professor of SD & Head of Department, Public Admin & Health Services, University of Ghana Business School
Prof. Albert Ahenkan is an Associate Professor and the Head, Department of Public Administration and Health Services Management, University of Ghana Business School. He is Sustainable Development, and Corporate Environmental expert with considerable teaching, research and consulting experience in the fields of sustainable development, green economy, green finance, disaster risk, energy transitions, corporate environmentalism, climate change finance, and public policy.
He has managed and led research, consultancy and governance assignments in the academic, public, NGO, and private sectors. In the last couple of years, he has consulted for a wide range of local and international organisations including United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank, New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Ministry of Finance, etc. He has numerous conference and workshop presentations both nationally and internationally and has published over 60 peer reviewed articles in reputable journals.
He is a member of the University of Ghana Academic Board. He has also served and continue to serve on a number of University, national and international Boards and Committees including the University of Ghana Intellectual Property Committee, University of Ghana Business School Academic Programmes Review Committee, African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, National Technical Committee for Good Financial Grant Practice, Green Climate Fund-Ghana Country Programme, National Technical Committee for development Ghana’s National Adaptation Plans, and Technical Committee for development of Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions Implementation plan. He has developed and managed a good number of projects in the area of sustainable development, climate change, disaster risk reduction, water and sanitation, and poverty reduction. He was a regular participant of EU development days in Brussels between 2004 and 2011.
Prof Ahenkan will deliver a keynote presentation on the topic How Knowledge influences economies and helps them achieve sustainable development in the Knowledge Management for Agricultural Development conference session of the SPAC 2022
Executive Director, K4DP
Executive Director, K4DP Knowledge for Development Partnership; Managing Director of Knowledge Management Austria and global Chairman of the knowledge.city network. Advisor to companies, governments, NGOs, and International Organisations in the development of KM Strategies; Initiator of the Knowledge for Development Challenges. Founder and Director of the School of Knowledge Sciences; Director at Joint Centre for Knowledge Sciences at International University of Management, Namibia; Director at Knowledge for Development Centre at Makerere University Business School, Uganda.
21 Dr Isert St, Accra Ghana
