Kick Off Meeting (KOM) and 1st General Assembly (GA) of the Long-term Europe-Africa Partnership for Food and Nutrition Security, and Sustainable Agriculture (LEAP4FNSSA)

30th January to 1st February 2019. FARA Secretariat, Accra, Ghana

The Long-term Europe-Africa Partnership for Food and Nutrition Security, and Sustainable Agriculture (LEAP4FNSSA) is a Coordination Support Action (CSA) funded by the Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) of the European Commission (EC), under Horizon 2020. It brings together 35 institutions from Africa and Europe which are ready to engage in collaborative research and innovation on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) roadmap signed in 2016, between the African Union and the European Union.

From Left: Dr. Mawoko Philippe (Africa Union Commission), Agnieszka Romanowicz (European Commission), Madam Patricia Apiagyei (Hon. Deputy Minister of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation of Ghana), Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo (Executive Director, FARA) and Philippe Petithuguenin (CIRAD)

A presentation to the 

Honourable Deputy Minister

The official Kick Off Meeting, which is taking place at the Secretariat of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Accra, Ghana, aims to provide visibility to the project while proving opportunity for engagement, reflection and discussions by officials, authorities and stakeholder representatives.

The meeting generated useful feedback and recommendations for the implementation of the Project. In addition, the GA provided an opportunity to build a shared vision of the project by clarifying contents of work package activities, the reporting line and work plan for year 1.

The event brought together over 75 participants from across Africa and Europe including the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) of the Republic of Ghana and European and African Ambassadors representing countries involved in the project in Ghana for day one.

Participants representing the 35 partners of the LEAP4FNSSA Project at the Kick Off Meeting & General Assembly

Background
Leap4FNSSA is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) whose main objective is to provide a tool for European and African institutions to engage in a Sustainable Partnership Platform for research and innovation on Food and Nutrition Security, and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA).

Under the aegis of the High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) and its Bureau, building upon former EU funded projects such as RINEA, CAAST-Net Plus, ProIntensAfrica and linking with the ongoing ERANet Cofund LEAP-Agri, Leap4FNSSA aims to achieve its main objective through:

• Increased synergies and coherence between actors, research and innovation projects, initiatives and programmes, through the development of institutional alliances and clusters of projects. 
• An enhanced learning environment and large knowledge base, including monitoring and evaluation activities, and established communication and links between different initiatives in order to improve European-African cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). 
• A well-established long term sustainable partnership and co-funding mechanism. 

The project will have a 4-years duration, from November 2018 to October 2022.

For more information on LEAP4FNSSA kindly refer to the below flyers (English and French).

https://faraafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2019-01-21-Leap4FNSSA-Flyer-En.pdf
https://faraafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2019-01-21-Leap4FNSSA-Flyer-Fr.pdf

Annual seminar of the Hungarian National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre

11 May 2016. Budapest, Hungary.  The Hungarian National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre (Naik)'s lectures gave this year an insight in domestic and foreign research aimed at addressing climate change and global challenges.

Extract of the programme
See programme (in Hungarian) + programme in French

• Agriculture in times of climate change (Hetesi Zsolt, Nemzeti Közszolgálati Egyetem)
• Introducing the Platform for African European Partnership on Agricultural Research for
  
  Development (PAEPARD) (Rémi Kahane, CIRAD / PAEPARD, in English)
• Outcome of the ICARDA conference on pulses and lessons learned from GCARD3 (Somogyi Norbert - see picture)
• The links between climate change, agriculture, agricultural research and food security in the Gaza Strip and broader Middle East (Heather Elaydi, The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature Jordan
• The links between climate change, agriculture, agricultural research and food security in Morocco through the example of the selection beans against water stress, (Lamiae Ghaouti, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco)
• Potato production in Morocco a: Hungarian scientific knowledge and varieties and market opportunities (Zsolt Polgar, Bánfalvi Sophia)
• Why Partnership is useful with Hungary on the wheat resistance breeding in Kenya, The Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)  (Jenes Barnabas, Tar Melinda)
• Algerian agriculture in the context of the current geopolitical system (Norbert Somogyi)
• Nepal's agriculture and forestry and agricultural research in the XXI century and in the light of the global challenges (Jenes Barnabas et al)
• Forestry and forestry research in Argentina (Attila Borovics)
• Italian experience - table grape production and climate change (Lazar John et al)
• Climate Change and Adaptation poultry in an ever warmer climate? (Gócza Elena, Kristina Liptói)
• Argentina's agriculture in the crossfire of global challenges - it is possible to provide food and preserve our natural world resources? (Stephen Anton et al)
• Agro Forestry Morocco (Attila Borovics, Norbert Somogyi)