Africa’s Animal Agriculture: Macro-trends and future opportunities

Youth Session Announcement

Animal Agriculture; the next frontier for the youth in Africa

October 27-30, 2014.

Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

Background

The All Africa Society for Animal Production (AASAP) in conjunction with the Animal Production Society of Kenya (APSK) and the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MoALF) will hold its biannual conference with the theme “Africa’s Animal Agriculture: Macro-trends and future opportunities” (www.aacaak.or.ke/).

The conference aims to provide an opportunity for African and international scientists and the broader stakeholder groups in the animal science sector to discuss the potential role of animal agriculture as a gateway to improve the livelihoods of African people. The broader objective of this assembly will be met by attempting, through discussions of a series of papers, to answer various questions rotating around five thematic areas. It is hoped that, at the end of the conference, there will be specific recommendations for the key questions.

The conference will provide an opportunity for multi-disciplinary players within and outside the African continent to exchange ideas on key issues around the five themes and seek ways to address associated challenges while harnessing the opportunities such challenges present for the Animal agriculture sector in the continent. In particular, The Youth and Future of Animal Agriculture will be a core thematic area of the conference.

The Youth session is set against the back drop that, Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s youngest population and is home to over 200 million young people. Two out of three inhabitants are under the age of 25 years and 44% of its population is below the age of 15. About 70% of the youth reside in rural areas and those that are employed work primarily in the agricultural sector, where they account for 65% of the labour force. Young African men and women are critical to the development of agriculture and for consolidating efforts to attain food and nutrition security in the continent. They are the future farmers, policy makers, leaders, and researchers as well as the future drivers of Africa’s socio-economic and technological development! 

The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) and Dr Joram Mwacharo of The International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) have partnered to convene The Youth Session on 28th October 2014 during the 6th All African Conference on Animal Agriculture. Through this session we hope to drive the debate away from questions such as “How can farming be made more attractive to young people?” toward a broader analysis of the opportunities and challenges for different categories of young people in animal agriculture. Such an analysis will take account of changes not only in food production, but also in processing (value addition) and transformation, marketing, retail, governance, information technology etc. We also intend to have a question and answer session involving three to four panellists that will be followed by an open discussion.

Participants If you are:

· Involved in the animal agriculture (dairy, beef, swine, small ruminant, poultry, the horse industry, aquaculture, wildlife, veterinary medicine, livestock business and marketing, animal welfare and behavior, animal nutrition science, animal reproduction science, or genetics).

· Involved in the business, banking and information technology sector

· 15-35 years of age OR older and working with the youth.

· Someone with a success story related to youth involvement in animal agriculture

· An engaging and inspiring speaker and leader who is passionate about youth issues.

Then you are the person we need to grace the Youth Session.

To participate/apply, please send us a concise abstract of 250 words maximum, written in English. Authors may submit articles based on practical experiences, research findings, case reports/studies, retrospective studies or expressing interest to participate in exhibitions or practical demonstrations within the realms of the Youth Session Theme - Animal Agriculture: The next frontier for the youth in Africa. Authors are requested to indicate their preference for oral or poster presentation. Selected papers will be published in a special journal issue of the East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal (EAAFJ) hosted by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).

Please send your abstracts/applications to Joram.Mwacharo@nottingham.ac.uk by May 16th, 2014, highlighting in the email subject line your interest to participate in the AACAA Youth Session. Potential speakers will be put forward to a selection committee and will be notified by June 1st, 2014. The selection of participants will take into account continental, regional, country and gender balance.

The Organisers

Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), is a regional policy, research, and advocacy network. It is coordinated from South Africa but has a mandate to work Africa-wide in promoting linkages between government and civil society; capacity enhancement for policy research and advocacy; and stimulating demand for evidence-based food security policy in Africa. It is represented in 17 African countries and brings together Food, Agriculture and Natural resources (FANR) stakeholders ranging from government to private sector, civil society and research or academic institutions. FANRPAN has extensive experience in using engagement platforms to bring together different actors to engage at local, national, regional and international levels. Visit the website www.fanrpan.org

Dr Joram Mwacharo is a Scientist (Animal Geneticist/Genomics) with the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas and is interested in mentorship of youth with interest in Animal Science. He is volunteering his services to co-convene the youth session during the AACAA.

For more information contact:

FANRPAN: Sithembile Mwamakamba; sndema@fanrpan.org

Dr Tshilidzi Madzivhandila; TMadzivhandila@fanrpan.org

Dr Joram Mwacharo: Joram.Mwacharo@nottingham.ac.uk