African and European Researchers in Sustainable Agriculture Meet in Accra

24 - 26 September 2024, Ghana. African and European organizations focused on research and innovation in sustainable agriculture, along with various stakeholders, have convened in Accra to discuss strategies for expanding innovations in agricultural and food systems.

The Development-Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) CONNECT Days, was a three-day event focused on agricultural innovation in Western Africa, Central Africa, and Madagascar.

It is being organized by the European Commission under the DeSIRALIFT initiative and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).  

A news brief shared with the Ghana News Agency indicated that the goal of the event was to share lessons and outcomes from the DeSIRA projects and discuss strategies for scaling up innovations within the agricultural sector. It said participants would have the opportunity to engage in a series of activities to present their projects, jointly reflect on key topics, including participatory innovation with civil society and the private sector, and mechanisms for responsible innovation. Participants would also discuss the role of research in agricultural innovation, education, knowledge, and job creations as well as in policy making.

"It will provide participants with insights on innovation mechanisms and scenarios for a climate resilent agriculture - healthy for the planet and the people - to built a long-lasting impact on food security, poverty alleviation, and socio-economic and gender-balanced inclusion while protecting biodiversity and ecosystems. The DeSIRA Connect Days will feed the broader agenda of EU- Africa and other international initiatives, policies and strategies in support of sustainable agriculture and food systems." it added. 

The DeSIRA initiative aims to promote innovation in agricultural and food systems to support sustainable transitions and improve resilience to climate change in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Through participatory research and multi-stakeholder engagement, DeSIRA projects drive innovation to enhance food security, nutrition, and livelihoods. 

Resources:

CIRAD (2024) Activating agricultural transitions to sustainability through participatory research and
co-innovation: Stories of change across Africa, Asia and Latin America from the DeSIRA initiative # 5 p.

The report discusses the use of the co-innovation approach in DeSIRA projects, which focus on addressing issues in agriculture and natural resource management. By leveraging national agricultural innovation systems, researchers played key roles in designing and implementing these innovative approaches while enhancing the capacities of the partnering organizations.

The first chapter highlights various co-innovation approaches and the factors influencing their effectiveness, such as the type of innovation (technological or organizational), the novelty within different country contexts, and the role of researchers. The co-innovation process is distinct from the traditional linear transfer of technology model, as it emphasizes collaborative learning and knowledge exchange in iterative, non-linear cycles between researchers and other stakeholders.

The chapter also presents four case studies from DeSIRA projects, illustrating the challenges of implementing co-innovation. These include adapting researchers' roles (Fair Sahel and SUSTLIVES projects), guiding experiments (LIPS-Zim project), managing joint learning cycles (SUSTLIVES project), involving farmers as co-innovators (LIPS-Zim and SUSTLIVES), and building partnerships for co-innovation (Climate-smart Malawi project).

Altieri, M.A., Nicholls, C.I., Dinelli, G. et al. Towards an agroecological approach to crop health: reducing pest incidence through synergies between plant diversity and soil microbial ecology

Nature article. Given environmental, economic, and social costs of unilateral chemical and biotechnological interventions to control pests, there is an urgent need to transition towards a knowledge-intensive holistic approach emphasizing agroecosystem design and management. The focus will be on what makes agroecosystems susceptible and vulnerable to insect pests, pathogens and weeds, in order to design diversified agroecosystems that prevent and suppress insect pest, pathogen and weed problems.

The September issue of the FAO Agroecology Digest presents a selection of news, research publications, stories from the field, multimedia materials (and much more) from around the world recently uploaded to the Agroecology Knowledge Hub.

• This issue of the AKH Digest, curated a special selection of resources focusing on Agroecology in Action, taking advantage of the release of several insightful videos and practical guides on agroecology by some of our partners on the ground, from Africa (Uganda and Kenya) to Asia (Cambodia, India and the Philippines) to Latin America (Colombia).
• Daniel Moss from Agroecology Fund contributed the column (Farmer Managed Seed Systems - Why Controlling Seeds Is a Threat to Food Sovereignty).