GIS Training Workshop on Agriculture Monitoring and Evaluation, ILRI, Nairobi 21^th-26^th February, 2011

Background

Increased investment in agriculture and food security has created a growing demand for credible and easily understandable information and analysis during the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of agriculture development strategies in Africa, especially in support of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP).

The Vision 2020 Conference, "Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition & Health," concluded February 12th in New Delhi, India.   The objective of the conference, "to inform, influence, and catalyze action by key actors—policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, educators, and researchers—to better use investments in agriculture to achieve nutrition security and good health for the world’s poorest people," is well aligned with the CAADP agenda.

From CAADP:  The 2010 CAADP Day was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso with a call for the review of the Maputo Declaration regarding budgetary commitments of agriculture by including a date on which countries should have allocated at least 10% of their national budgets to agriculture. This call was made by Laurent Sedogo, the agriculture minister of Burkina Faso while opening the CAADP Day.

African Green Revolution 2010 Forum will be held on September 2–4 in Accra, Ghana

From CAADP: Africa investor (Ai), a leading international investment research and communications group, and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development are pleased to announce that the 2010 Africa investor Agribusiness Projects Summit will take place from August 31 to September 1 in Durban, South Africa.

From CAADP: The next CAADP Day will be held on the 21st of July 2010 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso within the context of the Africa Agriculture Science Week under the theme: ‘Post-Compact CAADP Imple-mentation: the African private sector and investments in agriculture’.

The 1st CAADP ReSAKSS Continental Steering Committee will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 2 and 3. The Steering Committee is a multi-stakeholder body whose main focus is to promote evidence-based planning and implementation of agriculture in Africa at country, regional, and continental levels.

The 5th African Agricultural Science Week and FARA General Assembly will be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on July 19-24.  The event is themed "African Agricultural Innovation in a Changing Global Environment" and will feature a marketplace exhibition on agricultural innovations; a celebration of African agro-biodiversity; parallel sessions on stakeholder subthemes; CAADP Day, involving high-profile dialogue among African leaders, farmers, and civil society organizations on CAADP implementation; the FARA General Assembly; and the AfriCANDO Awards Ceremony.

An ECOWAP/CAADP Process business meeting on the financing of national and regional investment plans was held on June 14-17 in Dakar, Senegal.  The objectives of this meeting included enabling ECOWAS member countries to submit their agricultural investment plans and budget estimates; enabling the ECOWAS Commission to  present the regional agricultural investment plan; discussing these investment plans and developing a strategy for the mobilization of financial resources in advance of the G8/G20 meetings; and developing  common approach among stakeholders to finance member countries' investme

The Ninth Ordinary General Assembly of CORAF/WECARD took place on May 28-29 in Cotonou, Benin.  The objectives of the General Assembly included examining and adopting the report of the Governing Board; examining and adopting the activity report of CORAF/WECARD; adopting the statutory documents; examining and adopting the budget for the next two years; electing new Governing Board members to replace those who have reached the end of their terms of office; selecting a country to host the 10th General Assembly; and examining any other matter relating to the life of CORAF/WECARD.