Engaging Africa Diaspora in Knowledge Transfer through Networking

19-21 September 2018. Uppsala, Sweden. Engaging Africa Diaspora in Knowledge Transfer through Networking.

The Association of African Agricultural Professionals in the Diaspora (AAAPD) is an organization founded in 2008 and launched in 2010 at the World Bank, DC with the assistance of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It comprises a database of multi-disciplinary African Professionals in the Diaspora, many of them academicians, researchers, extension specialists, agricultural economists and development agents. AAAPD’s mission is to provide a platform for collaboration and partnerships to share and exchange information in agricultural research, extension, training through dialogue to enhance African smallholder farmers productivity and rural development.

• In this panel, AAAPD discussed how the Africa Diaspora is contributing to building collaborations, partnerships and knowledge networks in academia as well as the use of ICT in profiling and fostering distance learning. 
• The session debated issues that may strengthen the power of partnerships and networking between Africa Diaspora and African scholars. In the process, AAAPD built bridges between African agricultural institutions with other partners. This bridge could play pivotal roles in the transference of knowledge, technology and collaborative efforts.