Regional conferences/workshops of relevance during PDF-B (2004-2006)

Third Executive Committee Meeting of TerrAfrica, Cape Town, South Africa, 31 August – 1 September. With almost a year having passed since the launch of TerrAfrica, this two-day event, provided a timely opportunity to share information on the progress of the partnership, which aims to address land degradation by scaling up harmonized support for effective and efficient country-driven Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices in sub-Saharan African countries. The meeting also allowed the Executive Committee members to review the development of specific work programme products, such as the SLM Knowledge Base, the TerrAfrica Technical Vision Paper and the SIP Program Brief.

Market Access for Africa's Agricultural Products (MAAAP) 2006, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, 11 - 13 October 2006. This conference focused on market access for Africa's agricultural products - one of the key areas which will require attention during Kagera TAMP to incentivise wider adoption by users of land resources of SLM practices across the basin.

Biofuels Markets Africa, Cape Town, South Africa, 30 November to 1 December 2006. This two day conference brought together CEO's from leading African Biofuels corporations to investigate all the key issues relevant to Biofuels in Africa.  With speakers from all stakeholder areas of the industry this is an essential event for all parties both within Africa & globally.

Conference Announcement Nile Development Forum 2006, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 30 November - 2 December 2006. The immediate objective of the conference was to create and promote awareness on the Nile Basin Initiative, among international, economic and social development decision-makers, their policy advisers and development management actors, of the benefits of good practices in the utilization and management of the Nile Waters.

African Regional Workshop on Sustainable Use, Nairobi, Kenya, 11 - 15 December 2006. The workshop addressed: Ecosystem services assessment and financial costs and benefits associated with conservation of biodiversity, and sustainable use of biological resources. Moreover, it will provide a forum for government officials and practitioners to enhance their awareness and understanding of the Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines for the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity as well as other relevant CBD guidelines, and promote the use of these guidelines in an integrated manner, as a contribution to facilitating the achievement of the 2010 target, sustainable development and poverty alleviation. The workshop particularly focused on the applicability of the Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines to agricultural biodiversity in Africa as a contribution to the review of the work programme of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by the 13th meeting of SBSTTA (Subsidiary body for scientific, technical and technological advice).

4th African Soil Science Society Conference (Accra, Ghana, 7 to 13 January 2007)
This 4th International Conference gathered specialists interested in land use and sustainable land management in Africa, in the context of serious emerging issues such as climate change, global trade and biotechnologies including GMO uses. Emphasis was on strategies and policies for better preparedness to global issues, advise on norms and standards, risks assessment in the domain of land use and sustainable land management for better livelihoods and food security in Africa.

International Conference on Agricultural Innovation in Dryland Africa (AIDA): what are the key drivers for success?, Accra, Ghana, 22 - 24 January 2007. This International Conference launched the event of the INCO project ‘Unlocking the Potentialities of Agriculture in the Drylands of Africa to fight hunger (AIDA)’. The outcomes of the conference were: Shared experience on best-bet approaches to sustainable agricultural development in Africa’s drylands; Shared experience on monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of interventions aimed at improving rural livelihoods; Identification of knowledge gaps and development research needs; Increased awareness of policy makers and donors about successes in dryland agriculture in Africa.