FARA visits Cuba

22 – 26 September 2014. Havana, Cuba. The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) led a delegation of stakeholders in agricultural research and development (AR and D) to the Republic of Cuba  to meet with Cuban authorities to discuss avenues for partnership and collaboration between African and Cuban AR and D institutions and agribusiness enterprises. 

At the margins of the International Congress LABIOFAM 2014 

and the 3rd International Symposium on Products 

for Cancer Therapy, 

LABIOFAM and FARA signed an MoU to establish a strategic 

partnership between the two organizations in areas of 

bio-products, agricultural research, technology dissemination 

and adaptation, science and technology.

The mission consisted of 

• Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, FARA’s Executive Director 
• Dr. Emmanuel Tambi, FARA’s Head of Policy and Advocacy; 
• Dr. Emmanuel Okogbenin, Director of Research and Technology of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), Nairobi, Kenya; 
• Prof. Timothy Simalenga, Executive Director of the Center for the Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development in Southern Africa, Gaborone, Botswana; 
• Mr. Brian Mwanamambo Head of Agribusiness Incubation Trust Limited (AgBiT), Lusaka, Zambia; and 
• Ms. Marie Nkom Tamoifo, Head of Association Jeunesse Verte du Cameroun, Yaounde, Cameroon.

The FARA Delegation participated in the LABIOFAM 2014 International Congress co-organized at the Havana International Conference Center from 22nd to 25th September, 2014 by the Entrepreneurial Group LABIOFAM, Pan-American Health Organization, Cuban Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

Organized under the theme: Natural Products in Cancer Therapy, the International Congress addressed issues of Biopesticides, Biofertilizers and Biostimulants for Agriculture. Scientists and professionals from more than 20 countries attended the congress that presented and discussed more than 150 scientific papers during the four-day congress.