Experts launch tool for identifying major rice weeds of Africa

October 11, 2012. COTONOU, Benin, /African Press Organization (APO)/ -- A new interactive tool for identifying nearly 200 different weed species of lowland rice in East and West Africa was recently unveiled at the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice). The tool is built on a comprehensive knowledge base that can be accessed online () and offline on laptops and CD-ROMs or as an app on smartphones and tablet computers.

“Weeds are perhaps the most important constraint in rice production, so this is a valuable resource for all those involved in research, training and management of rice weeds in sub-Saharan Africa, where total rice production losses attributable to weeds are estimated at US$ 1.5 billion,” said Dr  Jonne Rodenburg, AfricaRice Weed Scientist.

The weed identification tool is the product of a 3-year project on “African Weeds of Rice” (AFROweeds), which is coordinated by the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD) and AfricaRice with support from the European Union (EU) Africa, Carribean, Pacific (ACP) Science and Technology Program.

The project which is on the point of completion is carried out in close partnership with national agricultural research and extension systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

The ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in Science and Technology II (S&T II) Call for Proposals launched

08/10/2012. This second Call for Proposals under The ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in Science and Technology, builds upon the lessons learnt from the first Call for Proposals launched in 2008.

The global objectives of this Call for Proposals are:

• To address the scientific and technological divide between ACP member states and the most industrialised countries.
• To strengthen Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in ACP countries to enable creation, update and use of scientific knowledge.
• To enhance the use of STI as a key enabler for poverty reduction, growth and socio-economic development.

In line with the ACP Group of States' priorities and the EU Agenda for Change, the Programme prioritises Actions in the fields of Energy Access and Efficiency as well asAgriculture and Food Security. However, other sectors and/or interdisciplinary approaches are not excluded as long as the foreseen actions and activities are in line with the objectives of the Programme.

Deadline for submission
The deadline for the submission of applications is 7 February 2013.

EDULINK PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT WRITESHOPS AS PART OF CAPACITY STRENGTHENING COMPONENT OF PAEPARD PROJECT

May 14-18. Entebbe. As part of the PAEPARD Project, RUFORUM organised a proposal development writeshops for the recent EDULINK call.

Thirty-seven participants from universities across Africa and Europe worked on a total of 21 proposals for submission to the current Edulink call (www.acp-edulink.eu) in July.

The workshops were facilitated by Ir. Gerard den Ouden, from the ACP-ST Management Unit in Brussels, supported by Dr Paul Nampala from RUFORUM.

They led participants through the detailed guidelines and requirements of the call, explaining the process of how the proposals are evaluated by Edulink, and how to prepare a winning proposal. In the workshop, participants worked long hours to refine logical frameworks, activity plans and budgets, reviewing each other’s plans in a process of peer review.

The resulting proposals should therefore have a head start in the competitive selection process, and be more ably managed when funded.

Grants Provided on research and science about Post-harvest and Agriculture

March 28, 2012. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia. The African Union signed nine grant contracts with African and European universities, scientific think tanks and research institutes with the endorsement of the European Union.

These grant contracts are part of the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) Research for Sustainable Development Programme - Africa component (€14.7m) with the objective of strengthening international economic competitiveness of ACP countries.

During the signing ceremony Prof. Jean Pierre Onvehoun Ezin, Commissioner of the Human Resources, Science and Technology, AUC said “Science and Technology in Africa within the last decade have been tremendous evolution, so more that the African Union Commission is championing the scientific awards at national, regional and continental levels....”

"The signature today is very encouraging for all of us who believe that innovation is key for maintaining high growth rates in today's and tomorrow's increasingly competitive world", said Gary QUINCE, EU Ambassador to the African Union.

These projects on applied sciences are designed to respond to improve the living conditions of African population. More specifically, it aims to create networking among African scientific community and to build bridges with European partners while performing joint researches by the transfer of knowledge and know-how through a 'learning by doing' approach.

Today's signature ceremony of grant contracts is the result of the "First Call for Proposal" of an amount of 7 million Euros which are limited to some strategic priority actions: Post-harvest and Agriculture, renewable and Sustainable Energy, water and sanitation.

The African Union Commission, through its Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology, is the Delegated Regional Authority for the Africa Component of the programme.

The Second Call for Proposal has been launched on 16 January 2012 with the aim to engage 7 million Euro on new grant contracts by the end of the current year.

Statement by Commissioner Ezin-280312

Statement by EU Ambassador

Background:

1. (a) The European Commission invests in Research in Africa, not onlythrough the African Research Grant, but also through the 72M€Africa Call of the 7th R&D Framework Programme. To this figureone should add the number of African research laboratories thatparticipate in the global FP7 calls, which is higher than any othercontinent, but very much concentrated in the North of Africa and inSouth Africa.
2. The 40M€ Nyerere programme that facilitates exchanges betweenAfrican universities for students at masters and doctoral level.
3. The 13 M€ (?) Africa Connect project that provides connection fromthe National Research Networks to the European High SpeedResearch Network GEANT2.
4. The 23M€ EDULINK-II Programme which fosters capacitybuilding and regional integration in the field of higher educationand where the call was launched last week.
5. A package of 500.000$ for continental science prizes and bestfemale science prizes.
6. And last but not least the EC support to the Pan-AfricanUniversity.

PAEPARD write shop in Entebbe

19-23 March 2012. Entebbe. As part of the PAEPARD Project, RUFORUM organised a proposal development writeshops for the African Union Research call (deadline 20/04/2012). A total of fifty participants comprising 16 inter-organisational groups prepared detailed proposals for submission under the African Union Research Call in April (French, Cotonou / English, Entebbe).

 Both workshops were facilitated by Ir. Gerard den Ouden, from the ACP-S&T Management Unit in Brussels, supported by Dr Paul Nampala from RUFORUM. They led participants through the detailed guidelines and requirements of each call, explaining the process of how the proposals are evaluated by the respective financing agencies, and how to prepare a winning proposal.

In each workshop, participants worked long hours to refine logical frameworks, activity plans and budgets, reviewing each other’s plans in a process of peer review. The resulting proposals should therefore have a head start in the competitive selection process, and be more ably managed when funded.

Intra-ACP mobility scheme - Call for Proposals

The second Call for Proposals under the Intra-ACP academic mobility scheme was launched on 10/02/2012, with a deadline of 10 May 2012.

The Intra-ACP academic mobility scheme promotes cooperation between higher education institutions (HEIs) and supports mobility in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) regions. The Programme aims to increase access to quality education that will encourage and enable ACP students to undertake postgraduate studies, and to promote student retention in the region along with mobility of staff (academic and administrative). In doing so, the Intra-ACP Programme is expected to increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of the institutions themselves.

2nd Joint Stakeholder Conference of the EDULINK and the ACP Science and Technology (ACP S&T) programmes

From 26 to 28 October 2011, the 2^nd Joint Stakeholders Conference of the ACP-EU EDULINK and Science & Technology Programmes is organised in Brussels. As the 1^st Joint Stakeholders Conference in October 2010, the event is being held in the ACP House, Avenue Georges Henri 451, 1200 Brussels, Belgium.

The conference topics are related to the two programmes and of interest to primarily participants from granted projects of these programmes, but also to other interested parties. The event is set up in three days and covers various thematic sessions, in an interactive way, with presentations from project participants and invited speakers followed by open discussions:   

• the first day is dedicated to EDULINK themes.
• the second day addresses common themes shared by the two programmes.
• the third day focuses on specific ACP Science and Technology Programme issues.

Bilateral meetings between the Management Units of the two programmes, the European Commission and the representatives of the beneficiary projects is arranged during the whole conference. The conference allows project participants from the ACP-EU collaborative programmes EDULINK and the ACP Science and Technology Programme to meet each other and to exchange experiences and information.