PRESS RELEASE - FARA ANNOUNCES THE MAIDEN EDITION OF THE CONTINENTAL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

7-9 December 2021. The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), in partnership with Continental and Sub-Regional Agricultural Research organizations, including the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA), CORAF and the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), announces the maiden edition of the Continental Knowledge Management for Agricultural Development (KM4AgD) Conference under the theme: Strengthening the Knowledge Ecosystem for Improved Agricultural Productivity in Africa.

The Continental Conference has been organized in collaboration with the Knowledge for Development Partnership (K4DP), Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD), and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR). The three-day conference had a physical attendance strictly limited to 40 guests from over 20 African countries. The online version was open to the general public (register here).

• Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, the Executive Director of FARA, opened the maiden Conference on December 7th, 2021, followed by a series of goodwill statements from partner organizations. 
• Dr. Sarah Cummings, a leading voice of the global Knowledge Management Community (KM4Dev) and a Director at the K4DP, delivered the keynote titled: A sixth generation of knowledge management for development? Implications for agriculture in Africa. 
• Advancing the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A), CAADP Malabo targets, and the SDGs agenda in Africa through KM for improved production and productivity in Africa -  Dr Irene Annor-Frempong, Coordinator for the LEAP4FNSSA Project and former Director for Research and Innovation at FARA. 

The 28 participants in the 2021 KM4AgD Challenge took turns to present their draft countries’ KM Concepts and Challenges for input and validation.

Presentations of concepts and challenges produced in the KM4AgD Challenge continued on Day 2 

The final day was dedicated to validating the 10 KM briefs developed from the 10 identified Challenges, inaugurating the Africa Knowledge management Community of Practice for Artificial Intelligence; 

• The implications of fake news and misinformation - Prof Kimir Dalkir of McGill University (Canada) 
• The concept of Knowledge Art - Dr. Andreas Brandner, a founding director of the K4DP

A special awards ceremony honored successful candidates in the 2021 Challenge with certificates and an International Knowledge Management Award Ceremony honored the 2021 Global prestigious KM Excellence award recipients, and presented the conference communique.

This Conference was organized under the CAADP-XP4 Programme, funded by the European Union (EU) and administered by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Director for Research and Innovation at FARA, will anchor the Conference with Mr Benjamin Abugri, Knowledge Management, Learning, and Communications Lead Specialist at FARA, and Dr. Andreas Brandner, Director at K4DP and faculty Coordinator for the 2021 KM4AgD Challenge.

Relevant Links

• Primary source of Press Release: https://faraafrica.org/2021/12/03/press-release-fara-announces-the-maiden-edition-of-the-continental-knowledge-management-for-agricultural-development-conference/
• Conference Concept Note & Programme (English) – https://km4agd.faraafrica.org/download/61/concept-note-programme/3247/km4agd-2021-conference-cn-final.pdf
• Conference Concept Note & Programme (French) – https://km4agd.faraafrica.org/download/61/concept-note-programme/3246/km4agd-2021-conference-cn-french.pdf
• For more information, visit: http://www.km4agd.faraafrica.org / www.faradatainforms.faraafrica.org and www.faraafrica.org or
• contact Mr Benjamin Abugri babugri@faraafrica.org & Daniel Peprah dpeprah@faraafrica.org

Recordings: