Milano, September 24 / 26, 2024. A week full of events for EWA-BELT partners and external stakeholders who are flying all the way to Milan to attend the General Assembly and the second Scenario Workshop.
SAVE THE DATES - September 24/26 2024, Milan
In the quest to promote food security and enhance environmental resilience, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, sustainable farming practices are gaining momentum across East and West Africa. Dedicating particular attention to Neglected and Underutilized crop Species (NUS), land recovery, integration of traditional and innovative strategies for pest and disease management and plant protection, soil and water as well as agri-livestock management, the EWA-BELT Project has been working for the past four years to combat agricultural issues and balance environmental health with agricultural productivity, ensuring long-term food security and sustainability in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
It's now time that all partners of the Consortium gather to discuss about the achievements and results gained so far together with the challenges that still persist in a discussion with external stakeholders and interested third-parties towards upscaling and cooperation beyond the project and long-term sustainability of the activities carried out so far.
This is exactly what the upcoming week in Milan will do during the EWA-BELT General Assembly on September 24, 2024 at Spazio Cairoli and the second two-days Scenario Workshop on September 25 and 26, 2024 at Hotel Ramada Plaza.
On the theme "Sustainable Intensification in Agriculture to enhance Food Security: sharing experiences from sub-Saharan Africa", the General Assembly will reunite the entire Consortium to present the activities carried out so far within the project together and external panelists to showcase their efforts to sustainable agriculture, resilient food systems and adequate policies towards food security.
Starting with a presentation of the EWA-BELT Project by its Coordinator Giovanna Seddaiu (University of Sassari), the first session "Valorising Neglected and Underutilized Species to enhance food security and food diversity" will be moderated by François Tapsoba (EWA-BELT Scientific Advisory Board) and previews contributions from Claire Billot (Agricultural Research Centre for Sustainable Development (CIRAD), France
“Promoting Sustainable Agricult) on “Promoting Sustainable Agriculture through Neglected and Underutilized Species: a Multi-Case Study in sub-Saharan Africa”, Joseph Danquah (Savanna Agriculture Research Center CSIR-SARI) and James Kombiok (Kundok Development Consult) on “Participatory on-farm Testing and selection of high yielding Fonio varieties for cultivation within the Farmer Field Research Unit of EWA-BELT Project in Northern Ghana", Hamid El Bilali (Mediterranean Agronomic Institute CIHEAM Bari) on “Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) and sustainable agri-food systems: SUSTLIVES project in Burkina Faso and Niger”, and Giuseppe De Santis (Rete Semi Rurali) on “Developing research on wild crop relatives for a healthier, more participatory and resilient food system in the face of global warming”. After a Q&A, the second session "Integrating traditional knowledge and innovation to promote food security" will focus on the convergence of traditional practices and modern technological advances. Youssef Brahimi (EWA-BELT Scientific Advisory Board) will moderate the interventions by Rachele Stentella (ACRA Foundation) and Brice Nicodeme Koudougou (ACRA Foundation) on “Retrieving Traditional Knowledge for Plant Protection in East and West Africa: the case of Cassia Nigricans based extract in Burkina Faso”, Quirico Migheli (University of Sassari) and Giovanni Zanoni (Observatory on Digital Communication) on “PlantHead Platform: Exploiting Innovation for Remote Plant Diagnostics in Africa. A Technical Overview and Strategic Vision for the Future”, Barbara Aiolfi (University of Milan Bicocca) on “Leaves economy: lessons learned from agropastoral context in Dodoma Region (Tanzania) and Italian Alps” and Giovanni Sartor (Coalizione Azione TerrÆ Mani Tese ETS) on “Bridging tradition and innovation: Agroecological transition to enhance food security in the experience of Azione TerrÆ Coalition in West Africa”. Finally, the third session "Integrated agri-livestick systems to enhance food security" moderated by Giuseppe Enne (Chair of EWA-BELT Scientific Advisory Board), will showcase presentations by Mamadou Traoré (University of Nazi Boni) on “Enabling food security and sustainability in East and West Africa farming systems through strengthening agri-livestock integration”, Deodatus Kiriba (Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute) on “Effects of Integrated Use of Cow manure (FYM) and Inorganic fertilizers on maize yields in degraded soils of Northern Tanzania”, Gianni Matteo Crovetto (State University of Milan) on “Mixed farms to enhance food security: a case study on milk production in Kenya” and Cécile Michel (Milan Urban Food Policy Pact) on “The role of local actors and Municipalities in enhancing food policies for urban food system transformation: experiences from MUFPP (Milan Urban Food Policy Pact)” and will conclude with closing remarks by Giovanna Seddaiu and the EWA-BELT Scientific Advisory Board.
The next two days, September 25 and 26, 2024 (Hotel Ramada Plaza) will occupy partners for the second Scenario Workshop organized by Cranfield University with the support of the University of Sassari. Throughout its entire course, the EWA-BELT project has been working to develop and validate technologies aimed at increasing productivity while contributing to sustainable intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Some of these research endeavours have been identified as Key Exploitable Results (KERs), which are the main focus of the Scenario Workshop. In particular, stemming from the outcomes of the fist workshop that took place in Ghana in 2023, the event will address new acquired knowledge and refine it as input for the SI policy paper to be eventually published. It will also allow to engage the attending external stakeholders to collaboratively develop strategies that will guide the exploitation of the identified KERs now and beyond the life of the Project. Country presentations by partners as well as group sessions are previewed.
Save the dates - September 24/26 2024 in Milan.
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