YoBloCo Awards: Write a blog on youth and agriculture and win up to 3,000 Euros!

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) in collaboration with FARA, Yam-Pukri, CAFAN, AYF, ANAFE, SPC/PAFNET is organizing the Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition (YoBloCo Awards). This contest is launched in the ARDYIS initiative which aims to raise youth awareness and improve their capacity an agricultural and rural development issues in ACP countries using their capacity on agricultural and rural development issues in ACP countries using Information Technology.

This blog competition aims to:

• Put into limelight issues, successes and challenges faced by youth engaged in: agriculture in urban and rural areas;
• Encourage the production of information and the use of new information technologies by young farmers’ groups and organizations interested in the “youth in agriculture” question;
• Promote the sharing of information on the issues of agriculture and rural development in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

This competition is also being launched in the framework of the commemoration of  the United Nations International Year of Youth.

1. Who can participate

The YoBloCo Awards are open in two categories, individual category and institutional category.

The “Individual category” is open to students in agricultural training courses, young farmers, journalists or other young people.

The “Institutional category” is open to local or national

• young farmers’ organizations;
• young members of farmers’ organizations;
• young members of any organization interested in agriculture.

An organization is understood here as any type of non-profit or for-profit association, cooperative, forum, network or related grouping, excluding government institutions. Organizations that receive funding from governments but are not formal governmental institutions can be eligible if they fulfil all criteria.

If the organization or grouping submitting an entry is not officially registered in the country, it should be recommended, via a letter of recommendation, by a national partner organization which is officially registered.

When young members of an organization submit an entry in the “Institutional category”, they apply on behalf of their organization. If the entry wins an award, it’s the organization which will be declared winner and will receive the cash prize. The blog creator or a representative of blog creators (if it’s a team) will be invited for the prize giving ceremony and receive a trophy on behalf of the winning organization. When a team applies on behalf of their organization, the person representing the team must be specified in the application process. The cash prize won would be sent to the organization.

For both categories, the young people participating must be between 18 to 35 years old (by 31 December 2011) and be nationals of ACP countries signatories of the Cotonou Agreement (see Note 1 below).

2. How to participate

Blogs and all required documents should be submitted via an online form (the link will be provided on this page from 31 July 2011). Entrants must clearly indicate the category for which the entry is submitted.

In addition:

For the Individual category, entrants must submit the following documents:

a. A Profile Document (2 pages maximum) including

i.A short biographical note to introduce the applicant, which includes his/her full contact details (email address, telephone number(s), address, town, country, etc.);

ii.A summary of the blog’s objectives and content

b. A scanned copy of an identification document indicating the date of birth of the applicant.

For the “Institutional category” the following documents must be submitted, depending on the category:

A/ Registered organization

a) A Profile Document (2 to 3 pages maximum) describing the entrant’s organization which must contain:

i.On top of the first page, the mention “Registered organization”;

ii.A presentation of the mission and activities of the organization;

iii.Full identity, function(s), occupation and contact details (email address, telephone number(s), address, country, etc.), of the member(s) of the organization who have created/animated the blog;

iv.Name of the person representing the author(s)/animator(s) of the blog;

v.Full contact details of the organization (email address, website if any, telephone number(s), postal address, country, etc.);

vi.Name and contact details (email address, telephone number(s), address, country etc.) of the legal representative of the organization;

vii.Names and contact details of 2 to 3 partner institutions of the organization.

b) Copy of the certificate of registration or adequate legal references of the organization;

c) A scanned copy of an identification document mentioning the date of birth the author/animator of the blog (maximum two identification documents if it’s a team);

d) A summary of the blog’s objectives and contents (one page maximum).

B/ Non-registered organization

If the organization submitting the entry is not officially registered, the following documents should be submitted:

a) The 2 to 3 page Profile Document as described above for the organization –  But on top of the first page “Non-Registered Organization” must be mentioned

b) a letter of recommendation from one national partner organization

c) A document presenting the recommending organization : core activities, full contact details;

d) Copy of the Certificate of registration or adequate legal references of the recommending organization;

e) A summary of the blog’s objectives and content (one page maximum)

f) A scanned copy of an identification document mentioning the date of birth of each author/animator of the blog (maximum two identification documents if it’s a team)

Organizations (notably farmers’ associations) are free to request local assistance (if needed) for the technical design of the blog (see note 2 below). If required, an acknowledgement can be inserted on the blog to give some visibility to that partner.

3. Content of eligible blogs

The blog submitted can be a newly created one, or one that already exists but which has been recently updated with content related to agriculture.  However mainly blog posts from the commencement of the competition will be judged.

A blog that deals with, or contains posts/articles on other subjects than agriculture must include, consistently (see Note 3 below), new articles related to agriculture, in order to be considered eligible.  “New articles” or “new posts” means here texts published between the launch of competition until its closure (please check section 7 below for the deadline). If necessary, the entrant can explain why she/he/they think the blog is relevant and/or submit the list and links of new agriculture related posts. Posts/articles considered for the competition must be in French or English and can be related to one or several ACP countries.

Articles on the blog will cover themes or issues such as:

• Challenges, success and issues faced by Youth in agriculture and related activities
• Climate change, environmental conservation, natural resource management
• Agri-business (marketing, commercialization, processing, etc.)
• Agricultural production
• Agriculture value chains and agricultural policy
• ICT use in the agricultural sector (how can ICTs promote agriculture or how can ICT support innovation in agricultural value chains, ICT and agriculture policies, etc.)
• How are ICTs improving (or can improve) youth opportunities in rural areas
• Actions, policies and strategies related to youth involvement in agriculture
• Food security
• Agro-tourism
• Any other agriculture related theme or issue;
• Dialogue and mutual understanding among youth and other stakeholders in rural areas (see Note 4 below).

4. Selection process

An online vote by internet users will be organized as part of the selection process. In addition, an international panel of judges composed of experts in ICT and agriculture will be set up to review pre-selected entries and declare winners.

5. Selection criteria

The main selection criteria are the following:

• Quality of language in posts
• Originality of posts/articles (most posts should be written by the entrant)
• Quality of analysis in the posts
• Frequency/Consistency of blogging
• Animation of the blog
• Presence of agriculture related content (especially since the launch of the contest for existing blogs)
• Overall technical quality of the blog

For the institutional category, additional criteria are:

• Presence of information on the organization’s activities;
• Presence of information in youth in agriculture issues.

6. Prizes

For the “Individual category”: three prizes will be awarded, considering the whole ACP region

- First prize : 1,500 Euros

- Second Prize : 1,000 Euros

- Third Prize : 800 Euros

For the “Institutional category”, regional prizes will be awarded, one for each of the six ACP regions (West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa, Pacific and Caribbean). Each regional winner will receive a cash prize of3,000 Euros. In addition, the best runner-up in each region will receive other rewards from CTA.

Winning blogs and other best blogs will be promoted by CTA and its partners’ various channels.  In addition, authors of winning blog or other best blogs will have the opportunity to be involved in future activities of CTA or of its partners.

7. Deadline and key dates

The deadline for submission of entries is 31 October 2011 at 6 PM GMT.  The winners will be announced in February 2012. The date of the prize giving ceremony will be announced subsequently.In addition, some best blog authors will have the opportunity to be involved in our future activities.

8. Additional terms and rules

a. The organizers reserve the right to reject any application that does not meet the contest criteria and the present regulations.

b. Participation in the competition implies an explicit agreement given to the CTA to make public, as needed, the experiences described, as well as participant’s identity. Moreover, it constitutes an agreement given to the CTA to use the experiences described in its publications and for promotional activities.

c. CTA will not return to the participants documents submitted.

d. By entering, participants warrant that content on the blog does not infringe on any third party's rights.

e. All local taxes on prizes, if required, are the sole responsibility of the winners.

f. If, for any reason, the contest cannot be conducted as planned, the CTA reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, close, change, or suspend it;

g. Youths directly working for CTA or ARDYIS advisory Committee organizations are not eligible to participate. However young people working for partners of these organizations are eligible:

h. Applicants will be informed about the competition results by email to the addresses provided in the application form

i. Apart from the public result announcement, each winner will be notified through the e-mail address he/she provided. A reminder will be sent if necessary. In case of non response to the reminder message and 10 days maximum after the result announcement, the next best candidate in the same category will be declared winner;

j. Decisions taken by the jury and the CTA are final and are beyond dispute;

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

9. Contact

Feel free to contact us if you have any question or if you want to join the ARDYIS project discussion list to exchange/receive information about youth, ICT and agriculture.

ARDYIS project/ICT4D Programme

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA)

Email Ardyis-project@cta.int

Telephone: +31 (0)317 467 100

Netherlands

Notes

Note 1: The ACP countries targeted here are those that have signed the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement : Angola - Antigua and Barbuda - Belize - Cape Verde - Comoros - Bahamas - Barbados - Benin - Botswana - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon – Chad -  Central African Republic - Congo (Brazzaville) - Congo (Kinshasa) - Cook Islands – Côte d’Ivoire - Cuba - Djibouti – Dominican Republic - Dominica - East Timor - Equatorial Guinea - Eritrea - Ethiopia - Fiji - Gabon – The Gambia - Ghana - Grenada –Guinea - Guinea-Bissau  - Guyana - Haiti – Jamaica - Kenya - Kiribati - Lesotho - Liberia - Madagascar - Malawi - Mali – Marshall Islands - Mauritius - 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 - São Tomé and Principe - Senegal - Seychelles - Sierra Leone - Somalia - South Africa - Sudan - Suriname - Swaziland - Tanzania - Togo - Tonga - Trinidad and Tobago - Tuvalu - Vanuatu - Zambia - Zimbabwe

Note 2: The main elements that will be evaluated are the blog animation and content.

Note 3: To be evaluated by selection committees.

Note 4: This theme is designed directly along the core theme of the UN International Year of Youth.

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 using ICTs. The Advisory Committee for the project is made of the following 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.

Download this announcement document on the ARDYIS website HERE.

Source: CTA

Lancement du concours : "Nou plante, nou manze"

La Fondation Solidarité du groupe Food and Allied avec le support de l’Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU), lance un concours national de jardins-potagers. Le thème "Nou plante, nou Manze". Le coup d’envoi du concours est prévu pour le 20 juillet et s’étalera sur trois mois. 

Le concept

Le projet répond à un double objectif. Il s’agit d’une part de valoriser la production de légumes par les familles mauriciennes, et d’autre part, d’éveiller la conscience de chacun sur la nécessité, de produire ce que nous mangeons, tout en créant une émulation sur ce thème a l’échelle nationale. A travers sa Fondation Solidarité, le groupe Food and Allied souhaite continuer à sensibiliser à la valorisation du jardin potager. 

Le concours

Le concours national, "Nou Plante, nou manze" est ouvert à tous les Mauriciens, sauf aux professionnels du secteur. Trois catégories sont proposées : les potagers existants, les nouveaux potagers et ceux situés sur le toit, sur la terrasse ou en conteneur. 

Pour les deux premières catégories, la surface minimum cultivable est de cinq mètres carrés. 

Pour participer, les candidats doivent remplir les bulletins d’inscription qu’ils trouveront dans la presse ainsi que dans le Village Council de leur localité à partir du jeudi 23 juin, et le déposer au centre de l’Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU), le plus proche de chez eux. 

Ils ont jusqu’au 11 juillet 2011 pour s’inscrire. Passé cette date, les candidatures ne seront pas prises en compte. Pour des raisons pratiques et logistiques, seuls les 1000 premiers inscrits seront retenus pour le concours. 

Les règlements du concours est consultable sur le site web du groupe FAIL, sur la page Facebook "nou plante, nous manze", dans la presse ainsi que dans les Demonstrations Centres de l’AREU.

Début du concours

Le concours débute le 20 juillet et se termine le 31 octobre. Pendant toute la durée du concours, les techniciens de l’AREU prodigueront divers conseils aux candidats en se rendant à leurs domiciles. Les visites seront aussi l’occasion pour les techniciens de l’AREU d’évaluer les potagers. Au total trois visites par candidat sont prévues. 

Pour mener à bien le projet, tous les participants du concours « Nou plante, nou Manze » recevront un « starter kit ». Il comprendra les items suivants : des semences, boutures et plantules (carottes, haricots, laitue, patate douce, tomate, thym, persil, celeri), des outils et arrosoir, du fertilisant, un livret édité par l’AREU, intitulé "Produisons ce que nous consommons". 

Critères d’évaluation

Pour évaluer les potagers, l’AREU dispose de critères d’évaluation bien définis. Les candidats seront jugés sur les points suivants : 

Aménagement des cultures : 5 points 

Pratiques agronomiques : 5 points 

Diversité des cultures : 10 points 

Développement des plantes : 10 points

Santé des plantes : 5 points 

Propreté générale : 5 points

Présence d’un système de compostage : 10 points

Les candidats seront notés sur un total de 50 points. Le jury composé des membres de l’AREU, donnera son verdict début novembre. 

Les prix

Les gagnants recevront leurs prix en novembre lors d’une cérémonie organisée à cet effet. Le premier prix pour les trois catégories est un bon d’achat d’équipements de jardinage d’une valeur de Rs 20 000. Le deuxième prix est un bon d’achat d’une valeur de Rs 15 000 et le troisième prix est un bon d’achat de Rs 10 000.

ONG 

Les organisations non gouvernementales (ONG), ont été mises à contribution pour ce projet. Les ONG qui ont souhaité apporter leur contribution au concours sont les suivantes : Maison Familiale et Rurale et Nord, Maison Familiale et Rurale de l’Ouest, Caritas, Elan, Aid Action et le Mouvement pour l’Autosuffisance Alimentaire.

"Nous espérons que cette initiative va permettre de vulgariser le concept du jardin potager à Maurice. C’est notre objectif d’où d’ailleurs le partenariat avec l’AREU. Par ailleurs la formation des familles aux méthodes de plantation leur permettra d’avoir accès de manière pérenne à des légumes de qualité. Cette production leur assurera une partie de l’alimentation familiale", déclare la direction du groupe Food and Allied. 



Source: Orange 23.06.11

Food prices linked to smallholder productivity

Field of smallholder farmer in Mauritius

Neglect of smallholder farmers will compound food insecurity and food price volatility: IFAD President challenges G20 agriculture ministers

Rome, 21 June 2011 – Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the United Nation’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), will urge minsters to place smallholder farmers on top of their agenda during the upcoming first meeting of the G20 Agriculture Ministers, on 22–23 June in Paris. Nwanze, who is attending the meeting, will take critical messages to the ministers.

Advocating on behalf of smallholder farmers in developing countries and ensuring their interests are represented in the international arena, the president of IFAD said: “In economically troubling times it might seem prudent to cut back investments on agriculture, but this is a false economy. Cutting back now means losing much in the long run.”

The issue of rising food prices is a particular challenge for those on low incomes who are net food buyers — including poor urban dwellers and rural people. As a result, their food and nutrition security suffers when prices surge, especially when they do so unexpectedly. Women and children in rural households typically suffer the most.

“The smallholder and family farmer are the vast majority of food producers across the world, particularly in developing countries,” Nwanze said prior to leaving for Paris. “And while they feel the impact of these challenges the most, we must not forget that they are the main investors in agriculture. And they are the main producers of food consumed in developing countries.”

“When people cannot afford to eat because they cannot make a decent living, they become desperate, which led to riots during the 2008 food crisis,” Nwanze emphasized. “The current food price increase has pushed an estimated 44 million people into poverty creating once again a volatile mix. During the last price increase, when smallholders were assisted in accessing markets for finance, seeds and fertilizers, they were able to benefit from higher prices and both poor producers and consumers were better off.” 

France holds the presidency of the G20, which consists of the largest economies in the world. In Paris, G20 agriculture ministers are tasked with developing an action plan to address price volatility in food and agricultural markets and its impact on the poor. Numerous studies show that GDP growth generated by agriculture is more than twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth in other sectors.

Nwanze will tell the ministers that the G20 has a comparative advantage in promoting the sharing of experiences of countries that have made significant progress in boosting agricultural supply and creating an enabling environment for investment in agriculture, such as the experiences of Brazil and China. In addition, the G20 can strengthen policy coherence and coordination, which is essential in dealing with sensitive issues in trade, biofuels and responsible investment in agriculture, he added.

“I take this message to the ministers on behalf of the smallholder farmers around the world:  The development of rural areas is central to overcoming hunger and poverty, mitigating climate change, achieving energy security and protecting the environment, and it is the smallholder farmer that holds the key. But we must seriously start investing in their potential to support them to deliver,” Nwanze said.

Source: IFAD

Announcement: Sale of Endemic Plants

Alimentation : du poison dans nos assiettes?

Après la vache folle, le mercure dans certains poissons, le parabène des biberons, voilà maintenant les concombres toxiques. 16 personnes sont mortes en Allemagne et en Suède, intoxiquées par une bactérie Escherichia Choli qui aurait infecté des concombres cultivés dans des exploitations biologiques. Faut-il s'en inquiéter ?

Cliquer sur lien pour regarder video. Origine video: France24 de 06.01.2011.

http://www.france24.com/fr/20110601-alimentation-agroalimentaire-concombre-sante-europe-france-dangers-partie-2