Date: November, 15-21, 2009
Venue: ILRI Campus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia




US-Africa Connections

A Workshop to Explore Basic Science Research Collaborations for Agricultural Development
Date: June 18-23, 2009
Venue: Nairobi and Naivasha (Great Rift Valley Lodge), Kenya

The Biosciences eastern and central Africa-International Livestock Research Institute (BecA) Hub and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) initiated this conference to foster collaborations between US and African scientists. The workshop was timed to coincide with the opening of a new program called BREAD (Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development) that is jointly funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF). BREAD provides one possible source of support for US-African scientific collaborations; (please see:
www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503403&org=BIO ) . BMGF and the BecA-ILRI Hub aim to explore ways in which the advanced sciences can be synergized for the benefit of smallholder farming families in African countries



BecA - ILRI and Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture Partnership Conference

From technology to product development for the African Farmer
Date: April 29, 2009
Venue: John Vercoe Auditorium, BecA - ILRI Hub Nairobi-Kenya.

Presentations covered current efforts to improve African agriculture and the effective translation of science for product development, given the broad range of agronomically important crop and livestock species across Africa. The general talks were supplemented by presentations focusing on sorghum as a case study. Sorghum sustains the poorest farmers who have access to few inputs and the least favourable growing conditions. This cereal encapsulates the major issues sorrounding the application of technology to a variety of agricultural efforts. Breeders from several African National programs were also in attendance, lending hands on experience and intimate knowledge of the challenges facing sorghum improvement efforts to the case study discussion.