Win 1,500 Euros by participating in an essay contest on "Youth finding solutions to challenges in agriculture and rural development using ICT

Youth finding solutions to challenges in agriculture and rural development using ICT !

Deadline for submitting applications extended to 15 August 2010!

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with FARA, Yam-Pukri, CAFAN, AYF, ANAFE, PAFPNET , is organizing an essay writing contest on “Youth and ICTs in Agriculture and Rural Development”. This is the first activity of the project “Agriculture, Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society” (ARDYIS) initiated by CTA; this project aims at raising the awareness and capacity of youth on the issues of rural and agricultural development for ACP (Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific) countries through new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

1. Aim of the essay contest
The contest aims at identifying innovative solutions on challenges faced by youth in agriculture and rural areas using ICTs, in ACP countries (see the list of ACP countries below). The essay contest will contribute to raising youth awareness on the potential and opportunities of ICTs in agriculture and rural areas.

What do we mean by ICTs?
UNESCO defines ICTs as the ”new or advanced technologies that enhance the dissemination or creation of information and communication”. In the same line of thought, ICTs include, within the framework of this contest, all “new” information and communication technologies (Internet, mobile phones, computers, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), etc.), associated or not with “traditional” communication technologies (such as radio, television, written press, video, etc.). Entries submitted should not deal exclusively with the use of traditional information technologies (traditional radio, video, etc.).

2. Who can participate
The essay contest is open to young people, aged 18 - 25 years old, from urban or rural areas of Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific countries. Young women, young agricultural producers and students in agricultural training courses are particularly encouraged to participate. Applicants will submit their entry in French or English.

3. How to participate
Participants will write an essay (between 1,200 and 1,500 words) responding to any of the following questions or issues:

a) Choose two challenges which you experience in your country or region related to agriculture or rural development, and explain how you could use ICTs to address them;

b) How can ICTs be used for effective advocacy and lobbying to promote agriculture in your country or region?

c) How can ICTs be used to improve access to market for agricultural products from your country or region?

d) Tell the story of a young producer or a youth leaving in rural area, in your country/region, who uses ICT successfully or in an innovative way (even if the experience was not a full success) for his/her work. Describe lessons learnt and alternatives envisaged, especially if the experience was not successful.

Each candidate will address only one issue and submit only one essay. The title of the issue or question chosen and the name of the author should be clearly written on the cover page to the essay. For each essay, concrete examples to support arguments developed have to be presented.

4. Selection process and prizes
An international panel of judges, made up of experts in ICT, agriculture and rural development will be set up to review entries. The selection process and prize awarding will be conducted as follows:

a) Finalists – Oral presentation
In the first instance, the best two (2) essays from each of the six ACP regions (West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa, Pacific and Caribbean) will be pre-selected. The 12 finalists will participate in an international meeting on rural development where, apart from attending the sessions, they will make an oral presentation of their submission before an international jury.

b) Regional Winner Prizes
Based on oral presentations, prizes will be awarded to the best entrant from each region (“East Africa Prize”, “West Africa Prize”, “Central Africa Prize”, “Southern Africa Prize”, “Caribbean Prize”, “Pacific Prize”). Thus, there will be 6 regional winners. Each of them will receive a cash prize of 1000 € (one thousand Euros).

c) Overall ACP Winner Prize
From the regional winners, another round of selection will be conducted to choose the “ACP Prize”, as the culminating award of the competition. The winner selected will receive an additional prize of 500 Euros (five hundred Euros); the author of the best essay from all regions will then receive 1,500 Euros in total.

The best essays received will be published and promoted on the project website and in other CTA and partners’ publications. Participants in the contest, in particular prize-winners, will have the opportunity to be involved in other ARDYIS project activities. Complementary or consolation prizes, at CTA discretion, could be awarded, notably to other best candidates.

5. Deadlines

Applications should be sent to CTA by email (see addresses in section 8 below) by 31 July 2010 [Deadline now extended to 15 August 2010!)

Finalists (the 12 authors pre-selected) will be announced in mid-October 15 October 2010.

Oral presentation and final selection of winners will be made in November 2010.

6. Selection criteria

The main selection criteria for the written essays are:

• Originality;
• Personal vision;
• Relevance and responsiveness to development challenges;
• Potential for replicability of the experiences or solutions;
• Quality of the analysis;
• Quality of language (engaging writing style, good spelling and grammar, etc.);
• Presence of bibliography and/or other relevant references;
• Respect of the prescribed format of the text:
  • Number of words: between 1,200 and 1,500.
  • Font : Arial;
  • Size of characters : 11;
  • Line spacing: 1,5.

For oral presentations, the main criterion will be the youth’s capacity to articulate his/her arguments and respond adequately to jury questions on issues addressed in the essay.

Essays should demonstrate that their authors understand the issues they are addressing, that they understand what ICTs are, as well as the potential of ICTs in agriculture and rural development.
Youth experiences or perspectives should be clearly indicated. Applicants’ positions should be adequately articulated (in the written document and during oral presentations).

7. Documents to be submitted
All applications should include the following documents:
- The essay the participant is submitting (in French or English);
- A short biographical note (to introduce the applicant), including participant full contact details (email address, telephone number(s), postal address, town, country, etc.) - no more than 1 page;
- A scanned photocopy of the applicant’s identification card or passport details.

8. Address for submitting applications or for more information
All applications should be sent simultaneously to the following two addresses:

Ardyis-project@cta.int This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and ictprogramme@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

While sending the applications, the subject of the e-mail should be “Entry for essay contest”.

9. Other rules for participation

a) The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation reserves the right to disqualify any entry if it does not meet the contest criteria and present regulations;

b) By entering, participants warrant that their entry materials are original and do not infringe on any third party's rights;

c) Entry to the contest constitutes an agreement to allow CTA to make, if necessary, articles, name, occupation and state of residence of applicants, public.

In addition it constitutes an agreement to allow CTA to use submitted texts in its publications and in the framework of promotional activities. Applicants will retain ownership and all other rights to future use of their texts;

d) CTA will not return submitted articles to their authors;

e) All local taxes and fees on prizes are the sole responsibility of the winner;

f) If, for any reason, the competition is not completed as planned, CTA reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend it;

g) The decisions made by the panel of judges and CTA are final and beyond dispute;

h) All participants in this contest implicitly accept the rules presented in this document.

ACP Countries - List
“ACP” stands for Africa, Caribbean and Pacific. It’s an organization composed of countries signatories of the ACP-EU (European Union) Cotonou Agreement. ACP countries are the following: South Africa - Angola - Antigua and Barbuda - Belize - Cap Vert - Comores - Bahamas - Barbados - Benin - Botswana - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon – Central African Republic - Congo (Brazzaville) - Congo (Kinshasa) - Cook Islands – Ivory Coast - Cuba - Djibouti – Dominican Republic - Dominica - Eritreia - Ethiopia - Fiji - Gabon - Gambia - Ghana - Grenada – Republic of Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Equatorial Guinea - Guyana - Haiti - Jamaica - Kenya - Kiribati - Lesotho - Liberia - Madagascar - Malawi - Mali – Marshall Islands - Maurice - Mauritania – Federated States of Micronesia - Mozambique - Namibia - Nauru - Niger - Nigeria - Niue - Uganda - Palau - Papua New Guinea - Rwanda - Saint Christopher and Nevis - Saint Vincent and Grenadines - Saint Lucia - Solomon Islands - Samoa - Sao Tome and Principe - Senegal - Seychelles - Sierra Leone - Somalia - Sudan - Suriname - Swaziland - Tanzania - Chad - East Timor - Togo - Tonga - Trinidad and Tobago - Tuvalu - Vanuatu - Zambia - Zimbabwe

More about the ARDYIS project:
The purpose of the ARDYIS (Agriculture, Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society) project is to raise youth awareness and improve their capacity on agricultural and rural development issues in ACP countries through ICTs. Its initial activities include an essay contest, a web 2.0 training, animation of an information portal, facilitation of networking among project participants, participation in conferences for best participants. An Advisory Committee for the project has been created; it’s composed of the following key ACP institutions: Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE), Pacific Agriculture and Forestry Policy Network (PAFPNet), Caribbean farmers’ Network (CAFAN), Yam-Pukri association, African Youth Foundation (AYF). ARDYIS activities will contribute to the promotion of opportunities for youth in ACP countries in the agricultural, rural development and ICT sectors.

For more information, write to : Ardyis-project@cta.int

::Blog Admin Note::Reproduced from CTA Website

Le rhum agricole mauricien à la conquête du monde

Succès. Jadis appelé « arack » ou « ti lambic, le rhum mauricien sest métamorphosé pour devenir le rhum agricole. Désormais, ce produit du terroir haut de gamme connaît un vrai succès à létranger.

Le rhum agricole mauricien se porte bien. Selon les chiffres du Bureau Central des Statistiques, les exportations se chiffraient à 725 litres en 2008. Un an plus tard, ce chiffre est passé à 3 886 litres. Cest dire ! Trois distilleries, celles de Saint Aubin, la Rhumerie des Mascareignes Ltée et la Rhumerie de Chamarel, se partagent ce marché en pleine expansion. Paradoxalement, les litres de ce rhum ne sont pas destinés au marché local, exception faite pour la Rhumerie de Chamarel qui sest dabord penchée sur le marché local avant de songer à lexportation. « Nous souhaitons asseoir la réputation de Maurice comme fabriquant du bon rhum agricole. Nous avons dabord placé nos produits sur le marché local avant de songer à lexportation », explique Bruno Lemerle, directeur commercial de la Rhumerie de Chamarel. Ainsi, le rhum agricole mauricien commence à se faire connaître en Chine, au Japon, au Canada et aux Etats-Unis, notamment. Les médailles remportées par nos distilleries, font honneur à la qualité du label made in Mauritius. Cette percée internationale a démarré en 2006. La diversifi cation de la canne a permis de contrer la baisse du prix du sucre et la concurrence internationale. LAllemagne, lInde et la Grande-Bretagne sont les premiers marchés étrangers à être sollicités. Mais la concurrence est rude. Installé, mais pas forcément prisé, le rhum agricole mauricien doit faire face à des concurrents comme la Martinique et la Réunion. Doù limportance pour nos producteurs de travailler parfois en étroite collaboration.

Se serrer les coudes

Misant davantage sur le « branding », les trois distilleries du pays se serrent les coudes et sexposent ensemble dans les salons de lagriculture à létranger, soutenus par Enterprise Mauritius. « Le rhum agricole est un produit haut de gamme qui fait de la concurrence au whisky et au cognac. Nous sommes aujourdhui trois concurrents indirects qui travaillons ensemble pour que ce rhum agricole sexporte même si chaque distillerie propose un produit différent. Le marché est assez grand pour nous trois », soutient Frédéric Bestel, directeur commercial de Saint Aubin. Cette semaine, les Commercial Managers des trois distilleries du pays, participent au Buyers & Sellers Meeting de Cape Town et au UK Rum Fest 2010, salons de lagriculture international au pays de Mandela et à Londres. « Nous avons notre stand et nous proposerons à de potentiels clients les Rhums from Mauritius. Chaque distillerie pourra défendre son rhum, mais au fi nal, cest le rhum agricole mauricien que nous défendons, » explique Jean-Marie Caliste, directeur commercial à la Rhumerie des Mascareignes Ltée.

Expertise étrangère

Participer à ces salons internationaux est le moyen par excellence de toucher des marchés étrangers. Avec une loi de la publicité qui interdit celle de lalcool à Maurice, les distilleries du pays sont contraintes de miser sur les dégustations dans les hôtels du pays afi• de toucher le million de touristes qui nous visite. Ce qui est loin dêtre évident. Heureusement que les bouteilles sont disponibles dans les boutiques hors taxe à laéroport. De plus, les visiteurs peuvent découvrir les secrets de fabrication du rhum agricole en visitant les distilleries. Chacune delles est bien installée sur la carte touristique du pays. Pour maintenir sa percée internationale, la Rhumerie des Mascareignes Ltée sest associée au groupe Isautier, première distillerie réunionnaise d'envergure industrielle qui opère depuis le milieu du 19e siècle. Ce partenariat lui permet de pousser dautres portes. Ainsi, nos distilleries sont souvent à la recherche dexpertise étrangère pour parfaire leurs techniques de fabrication. Le rhum agricole mauricien est actuellement présent à lExposition universelle de Shanghai où une deuxième commande de notre rhum agricole serait en cours de concrétisation. Avec ses milliers de litres destinés à lexportation, ses alcools déclinés en blanc, ambre ou paille, le rhum agricole mauricien peut continuer à déployer ses ailles.

:: Blog Admin Note :: Article reproduced from L'Express of 25.07.10

Agricultural Job Fair at UoM

We bring you today, news from an event that happened a few months back. So its not fresh news, but the initiative was worthy of publishing. We also believe that by motivating UoM students to document their activities, we will be promoting young talent in writing skills and at the same time consolidating our network. The document has been slightly edited. Enjoy the reading..

The Students’ Union in collaboration with the Agricultural Society of the University of Mauritius (UoM) organised their first ever Agricultural Job Fair on the 19^th March 2010. The event was held at the Raised Plaza of the university from 10:00 to 16:00 and among the organisations present were the Agricultural Services of the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU), Small Planters Welfare Fund (SPWF), Food and Allied Industries Ltd (FAIL), Irrigation Authority and the Mauritius Standards Bureau (MSB).

The agricultural Job Fair was held to allow the students from the Faculty of Agriculture (FoA) to meet potential employers and get acquainted with the nature of the job they will have to perform in the future. The Job Fair was also open to all the students of UoM as well as college students who had just finished their A-Level or were their final year.

After the inauguration at 10:00, lecturers and students from all faculties were welcomed by members of the Agricultural Society and everyone had the opportunity to interact with different organisations’ representatives. Present among the visitors were the Vice Chancellor of UoM, Dean of FoA and members of the Students’ Union.

By the end of the event, the Job Fair had gathered around 400 visitors. The event had wide media coverage and was helpful to third year students planning their final year course dissertation and going on the job market. According to information we have the event also helped in securing job placements for many students.

:: Blog Admin Note :: Thanks to Nawsheen Hosenally of the Faculty of Agriculture, UoM, for her contribution

White "gold"

Young dairy farmer Shailendra Singh Totaram, who lives in Triolet, northern
Mauritius, grew up with cows. For years, his grandparents and parents kept cattle to supplement their income. But a combination of increased urbanisation and the advent of cheap imported powdered milk forced them to give up their livestock. Two decades on, Shailendra, now 28, has revived the family dairy business, making it bigger and better than ever.

Shailendra keeps 20 cows in a concrete cowshed outside the village. He took up dairy farming last year following training from the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU). He sells his entire daily output of 200 l to a local food processor. "I want to enhance the value of this job and become the best farmer in the island", he says. Then, talking to one of his cows, he urges: "Eat my friend, you have to give plenty of milk."

Shailendra is one of a number of young entrepreneurs to have taken up dairy farming in the past year or so, encouraged by a range of incentives offered in an attempt to revive Mauritius' flagging industry. With milk production levels down to just 2% of local demand, the country's aim is to restore the sector and produce 10% of consumer requirements by 2015. Traditionally, the dairy industry in Mauritius was dominated by backyard producers, mostly women. But many of them abandoned farming in the 1980s to take higher paid jobs in the textile and clothing manufacturing industry. Powdered milk did the rest, making the island largely dependent on imports. As a result, the country's herds dropped from 25,000 heads to the current figure of 5,500 and from 10,000 small breeders to just 1,750.

To stimulate dairy production, the government has introduced a battery of grants and loans to purchase equipment, import improved genetic breeds and acquire land for grazing. Ten other young dairy farmers recently joined the Cowbreeders Cooperative Society at Nouvelle Découverte, in the centre of the island. Together they produce about 1500 l a day. Since small-scale milk production will not be enough to meet the ambitious target, Mauritius has also offered huge areas of land and other incentives, to three major companies. Two of them - Gold Cream Ltd and SKC Surat - started operations several months ago using South African technical know-how. "We had to find a foreign partner", says Suren Surat, managing director of SKC Surat, whose farm lies at Rose-Belle, in southern Mauritius. This enterprise produces 1,000 l/day, all of it sold on the local market. Surat plans to produce 2,500 l/day by March 2010 and 4,000 l/day by the end of next year.

At Salazie, in northern Mauritius, Gold Cream's Eroll Parker manages a herd of 600 cows that he imported from his native South Africa. His milking shed is a huge steel building in the midst of a forest where he plans to house some 2,000 cows by next year. He sells his entire daily output of 1,500 l to a local processor. "A cow is every day; seven days a week. You have to feed and milk it daily. This is a very tough job", he says, as he milks 160 of his large herd. "But this is quite a promising industry now in Mauritius."

:: Blog Admin Note :: Article originally contributed by Nasseem Ackbarally in CTA Spore Magazine

© CTA, articles - but not images - may be freely reproduced for non-commercial use, provided the source is credited

Enterprise Mauritius invite les opérateurs de l’agroalimentaire à réfléchir aux moyens d’améliorer la compétitivité et accroître les exportations du

Enterprise Mauritius invite les opérateurs de l’agroalimentaire à réfléchir aux moyens d’améliorer la compétitivité et accroître les exportations du secteur.

« Il y a la possibilité, pour les produits mauriciens de conquérir le monde », c’est Amédée Darga, le président d’Enterprise Mauritius, qui fait cette profession de foi, lors de l’ouverture d’un forum, ce mercredi 21 juillet à l’Hôtel Maritim. La réunion, qui durera deux jours, a pour but de pousser à la réflexion sur les moyens, en vue d’améliorer la performance du secteur de l’agroalimentaire.

Lors de son intervention, le ministre du Commerce, Showkutally Soodhun, s’est dit prêt à soutenir les décisions du forum. « Il est primordial que le secteur de l’agro alimentaire puisse connaître un développement, qui s’oriente, davantage vers l’exportation. Je donne la garantie, que mon ministère soutiendra les projets qui sortiront de ce forum », déclare Showkutally Soodhun.

A noter que ce forum bénéficie aussi de la collaboration du Board of Investment (BOI). Prakash Maunthrooa, le nouveau président de l’organisme était présent à la réunio. Il a déclaré que le BOI soutiendra l’initiative d’Enterprise Mauritius en recherchant des investisseurs étrangers pour le secteur agro-industriel.

La production du produit casher (halal), sera également à l’agenda, lors de ces deux journées de réflexion. « Je suis convaincu, depuis longtemps, qu’il y a un potentiel pour desservir les consommateurs de foi islamique, sur les pays de la région africaine », affirme Amédée Darga. Les participants auront l’occasion de rencontrer le président du groupe Halal Industries, basé en Grande Bretagne, Mahesh Jayanarayan. Il s’adressera aux participants le jeudi 22 juillet.

Le président d’Enterprise Mauritius, a ajouté que d’autres produits mauriciens tels le rhum et les snacks.

Soixante-quinze opérateurs du secteur agro-industrie participent au forum.

:: Blog Admin Note :: Source - L'Express 21/07/10 :: Contributor - Kamlesh ::

Food and Agro Processing Forum on 21st and 22nd July 2010 at the Maritim Hotel, Balaclava

Enterprise Mauritius will be holding a two-day Food and Agro Processing Forum on 21st and 22nd July 2010 at the Maritim Hotel, Balaclava. The theme of the forum is “Expanding the Capacity, Enhancing the quality, competitiveness and Increasing Exports of the Food Processing and Agro based Industry “. The aim of this forum is to:
1.Give visibility to the processed food industry in Mauritius,
2.Evaluate the state of this industrial sector, and
3.Define a strategy for enhancing quality, increasing exports and developing further production in the sector

The forum will focus on the following themes be welcomed

1.Mauritian processed foods. What sells and why?
2.Tourism and as a Driver of domestically-produced processed foods
3.Mauritian Snacks, Speciality Foods, Fast Food and Pickles. Have we maximised export potential?
4.Achieving export readiness. What needs to be done? (Standards, packaging, product testing, technology)
5.Research and Development in the agro-processing sector
6.Developing a Halal export-oriented industry in Mauritius
7.Market development and strategies for export

:: Blog Admin Note :: Thanks to Kamlesh for the post

Call for Papers: International Conference on Digital Libraries and Knowledge Organization

Original papers in English are invited on a theme related to those mentioned below. An international review panel will review the papers based on originality of the work, quality and relevance to the main theme of the conference. Peer reviewed and accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings. The papers should strictly follow the submission guidelines.

Themes (but not limited to)

• Digital Libraries Development
• Tools and Techniques for Managing Digital Repositories
• Digital Resource Management Strategies
• Evaluation of Digital Libraries
• Content Development: Tools and Techniques
• Cultural Issues of Online Services
• Technology Issues in Online Services
• Standards and Specifications for Digital Objects
• Metadata Standards, Interoperability and Crosswalks
• Case Studies of Digital Libraries and Institutional Repositories
• Multilingual Digital Libraries
• Digital Preservation Strategies
• Web Retrieval Tools and Strategies
• Information Retrieval in Indian Languages
• User Interface and Patron Interactions Tools
• E-learning
• Open Source Software Tools for Digital Library Development
• Open Access Initiatives, Open Access Repositories
• Open Access for Scholarly Contents
• Information Management Using Web 2.0/3.0 Technologies
• Social Networking Tools for Information Services
• Knowledge Organization Techniques
• Knowledge Representation Models
• Knowledge Management
• Emergent Techniques for Search Algorithms and Context Sensitive Indexing
• Semantic Web Technologies for Knowledge Representation and Management
• Ontologies and Approaches to Building Ontologies

For submission guidelines, please click here

Paper Submission

Please upload your manuscripts at the following URL:
http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icdk2011

You may want to upload your title/abstract in advance of the deadline. You will need to obtain an account on EasyChair, if you are a new user.

Alternatively you may also mail the paper to the Conference Convener at icdk@mdi.ac.in with copies to ajose@mdi.ac.in and ajose@rediffmail.com

Timeline:
Submission of full paper: September 30, 2010
Notification of acceptance with reviewers’ comments: October 30, 2010
Submission of the final paper: November 30, 2010


::Blog Admin Note:: Thanks to Kamlesh for this contribution

AICKM National Workshop Ends

The National AICKM Workshop ended this Wednesday 14th July 2010 (see older posts). Participants had the opportunity (as representatives of their institutions) to work on a Stakeholder Information Needs Analysis and draft the foundation to a National AICKMS for the agricultural sector.

Both need to be further developed and the workshop organisers are pleased to announce that the participants took (among others) the resolution to:
(i) Review, elaborate and finalise the Stakeholder Information Needs Analysis matrix.
(ii) Review, elaborate and finalise a National AICKMS document.

The reports will eventually be submitted to the Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Secutity and to the SADC. The finalised documents are expected to be tabled within 3-5 months time. It is also interesting to note that for the editing of the documents, participants will be using online Web 2.0 Tools, in this case, a WIKI.

The AICKMS implementation will certainly enable institutions to revisit their current operations and better serve their stakeholders by proper packaging of services.

While SADC intends to table a regional strategy on AICKM for member states, it would also be interesting to see whether participants of the workshop take the lead and apply AICKM at the level of their own institutions.

Event Announcement: Présentation d’une Etude sur le Miel et les Produits de Charcuterie de Rodrigues

Le réseau Qualireg pour la qualité des aliments dans l’Océan Indien a mené une étude des filières porc et miel de Rodrigues entre mars et juillet 2010.

Le vendredi 16 juillet a lieu une restitution durant laquelle Raphael Belmin, chargé d’étude Qualireg, présentera son diagnostic de ces deux filières, puis discutera de l’intérêt et de la faisabilité pour un label de type « Indication Géographique ».

La présentation aura lieu a 10h dans la salle de Conference Des Services Agricoles du Ministère de l’Agro Industrie et de la Securité Alimentaire, a Reduit.

AICKM Workshop: Visit by Minister R Jeetah

Participants of AICKM workshop were pleasantly surprised by the brief visit of Minister R Jeetah (Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology).

The Minister was bubbling with energy and had a friendly chat with participants, organisers and resource persons.

He expressed his concerns on the negative impact of agrochemicals on human health. He was keen in down-streaming information in Agriculture to GrassRoots and discussed potential avenues. His visit is also covered in photos on his blog. (click here).

AICKM Workshop Launched

The National AICKM workshop was launched on the 12th July 2010. OK, so the Minister was not there! But he was represented by PAS Nathoo, who read the Minister's speech and declared the event open.

Other VIPs addressing the audience at the opening were the VC of the UoM, the Chairman and DG of FARC and the SADC/ICART Project representatives- Clesensio Tizikara and Krishan Bheenick.

While we are used to the routine Ministerial speeches, those who attended the opening ceremony, noted the seriousness of Minister Faugoo's address. Here are a few phrases that retained attention:
... Agricultural Information Management has featured in the strategy documents of my Ministry over the past decade ... I will make it a point to expect progress reported to me on this issue at regular intervals ... I look forward to hearing about the outcomes of this workshop and to reading the draft Strategy document in the near future. My Ministry will fully support this process in whatever way we can ...

While making his address, the DG of FARC, J Ramkissoon, highlighted the objectives of the workshop. Referring back to the Web 2.0 Training of last week, he gave examples of the Australian Gorvernment 2.0 project and President Obama's winning campaign to demonstrate the how Web 2.0 Tools are being used for information and communication.

National Workshop on Agricultural Information Communication Knowledge Management Strategy

Our readers will recall that last week, the Faculty of Agriculture organised and hosted an eye-opener training on Web 2.0 Collaborative Tools. This week it will host yet another important workshop: A National Workshop on Agricultural Information Communication Knowledge Management (AICKM) Strategy development.

The ICART Project, of the SADC-FANR, in collaboration with the FARC is organising a National Workshop on (AICKM). Spread over 3 days (12th to 14th July 2010), the workshop will be held at the University of Mauritius.

The workshop aims at paving the way for the development of a National Strategy on AICKM. Under the ICART Project, national AICKM workshops have already been held in the Seychelles, Zambia and Swaziland. It is expected that the outcome of the national workshops will be integrated into a Regional AICKM Strategy.

We hope to follow with the details of what is AICKM (following the workshop). It has so many virtues. But be it from a management or operational perspective it will definitely shape the future of agriculture. It will certainly optimise, if not reinvent, the way our institutions operate and deliver information and knowledge products and services to our stakeholders in agriculture.

The organising committee acknowledges the need and potential of AICKM and they are proud that this initiative is being driven at the regional level (SADC) by a son of our Motherland (K Bheenick- formerly Lecturer at the FoA and Programme Manager at the FARC).

Many VIPs are expected at the opening ceremony on Monday 12th July. Among them, would be the Hon. Minister of Agro Industry and Food Security (S Faugoo) and the Coordinator of ICART Project (C Tizikara) from the SADC.

Food Inc (2008) - A mirrored look at today's agriculture

Photo from www.imdb.com
This documentary was released in 2008, but even today, its message is still vibrant. Most of you might not have viewed it yet.

The documentary unveils the processes (behind the curtain) of the modern agriculture. It was nominated 10 times and won the best documentary category award 3 times.

We are eating food daily. Fast food (like the KFC and McD) has become part of our diet, but did you ever bother where the food came from, how it was produced and how it reached here! What you see or hear might not necessarily be true.

So ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy this movie. May be ... just may be ... it might change your life.

The plot as described on www.imdb.com is reproduced below:

The current method of raw food production is largely a response to the growth of the fast food industry since the 1950s. The production of food overall has more drastically changed since that time than the several thousand years prior. Controlled primarily by a handful of multinational corporations, the global food production business - with an emphasis on the business - has as its unwritten goals production of large quantities of food at low direct inputs (most often subsidized) resulting in enormous profits, which in turn results in greater control of the global supply of food sources within these few companies. Health and safety (of the food itself, of the animals produced themselves, of the workers on the assembly lines, and of the consumers actually eating the food) are often overlooked by the companies, and are often overlooked by government in an effort to provide cheap food regardless of these negative consequences. Many of the changes are based on advancements in science and technology, but often have negative side effects. The answer that the companies have come up with is to throw more science at the problems to bandage the issues but not the root causes. The global food supply may be in crisis with lack of biodiversity, but can be changed on the demand side of the equation.

Web 2.0 Training Group Photo

Last day of Web 2.0 Collaborative Tools Training

The Web 2.0 Collaborative Tools Training ended today. 45 participants representing various agricultural stakeholders in Mauritius attended the training.

During the two days, participants were exposed to tools covering: social media, RSS, blogs, wikis, Dgroups, GoogleDocs, social bookmarking, learning management and online surveys.

The group is now aware of possibilities in information exchange and collaboration and it is their turn to raise further awareness among colleagues. They were also called upon by the resource persons to look at how things could be improved at institutional levels.

During the training session, one farmer demonstrated his ability to use facebook- an example the resource persons said should be reflected upon as it showed that even farmers are going online and using Web 2.0 Tools.

One realisation that emerged was that although most agricultural institutions (represented by participants) had a website, yet none of them provided the RSS feature. RSS, as it was demonstrated, allowed users to get updated information from websites (through their RSS readers, like Google Reader) without having to access the websites. For users, it means less time wastage and quick access to updated news. On the other hand, institutions also benefit as they are able effectively communicate information to users. A few partcipants showed interest in having their existing websites go Web 2.0 compliant and RSS ready.

Next week, as from 12th July 2010, we are having a 3 days National AICKM workshop in Mauritius. So keep tuned to get latest information.

Web 2.0 Collaborative Tools training session launched

The Dean of Faculty of Agriculture (third from left) launched the Web 2.0 Collaborative Tools training sessions. In his address, he stressed on the collaboration of UoM, FARC and SADC for holding the event. He reckoned the relevance of the training and is keen on learning the tools as well!

The SADC resource person, Mr K Bheenick (left) was enthusiastic about the response by participants and institutions. He congratulated the collaborative effort of the UoM and the FARC and exposed the potential of Web 2.0 Tools.

The Vice Chancellor of the UoM (second from left), who declared the training session open congratulated the efforts made by all and wished participants to take full benefit from the training.

Training in Web 2.0 Collaborative Tools for Agricultural Stakeholders

The SADC in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture (FoA) of the University of Mauritius (UoM) and the Food and Agricultural Research Council (FARC) will be running a two days training sessions on Web 2.0 Collaborative Tools for Agricultural Information Management on the 8th and 9th July 2010.

The FoA has opened the training sessions to other agricultural institutions.

While this will be the start of a capacity building process in Web 2.0 technologies, it is also being expected that agricultural institutions in Mauritius will appreciate the effectiveness of such tools and adopt them strategically for the benefit of their own organisation and their stakeholders. Indeed, Web 2.0 Collaborative Tools offer numerous possibilities in areas such as media management, learning management, document editing/peer reviewing and social networking.

One tool that is still underexploited in Mauritius, and completely overlooked in the agricultural sector, is the use of RSS. Institutions will therefore be having a golden opportunity to rethink their communication strategy.