My son is in Kindergarten, and he's been bringing home his Songs and Poems book every Friday to read with us. At my school, the Grade One teachers run the same type of program. In this book he had a poem for September which he sung to me. This inspired me to create my own poem for October to send home with my own students.
Now I teach Grade 2, so my students will find this poem very easy to read, but I also work in a ESL (English as a Second Language) environment where the majority of my students do not speak English at home. So to bring home a Songs and Poems book each Friday, and sing it with their parents, helps strengthen the home-school connection, and also gives success to the children struggling with Reading.
I whipped up these little pages using My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up! Arent' those Greeting Card Kids simply adorable?? (I'm talking about the images) I apologize that these are simply in a jpeg form. But if you'd like to take them for yourself, simply left click (I'm a PC user) and save the picture. Then you can print it out as a whole page photo and use it with your own class.
14 October, 2011. Africa is Ready for Business: Agriculture Development, Food Security & Wealth Creation. Event sponsored by Iowa State University, African Association of Agricultural professionals in the Diaspora & Partnership to Cut Hunger & Poverty in Africa. In Collaboration with: Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) / African Union/NEPAD Coordination & Planning Agency (AU/NCPA) / Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences (SLU).
Round Table Discussion on African Agriculture: Key Issues, Challenges and Prospects
Iowa State and African Agriculture: Finding a Match – David Acker, Dean – Faculty of Agriculture
CAADP Implementation: Support for Agricultural Development in Africa – Dr. Richard Mkandawire, AU/NCPA
Fostering Africa-US Public & Private Partnerships in Agricultural Research; Extension Investments – Dr. Monty Jones, FARA
Harnessing African Diaspora in Africa’s Agricultural Development through teaching, research and extension – Dr. Peter Jeranyama, AAAPD
Trans-Atlantic Cooperation for Africa’s Agriculture & Food security - Prof Lisa Forsse, Vice-Chancellor, Swedish Agriculture University
Public Forum on “Africa is Ready for Business: Agriculture Development, Food Security & Wealth Creation
Panelists:
Hon. Jumanne Maghembe, /Minister of Agriculture – Republic of Tanzania
Hon. Florence Chenoweth, /Minister of Agriculture – Republic of Liberia
Hon. Aghatam Alhassane, Minister of Agriculture – Republic of Mali
Hon. Pacheco, Minister of Agriculture – Republic of Mozambique
Hon. Sally Kosgey, Minister of Agriculture – Republic of Kenya
Dr. Monty Jones, Executive Secretary – Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
Dr. Richard Mkandawire - //Head of Partnerships, Resource Mobilization and Communication, AU/NPCA
September 28, 2011. A new fund has been set up by a group of impact investors and a US government agency to drive growth in East Africa’s troubled agricultural sector. Already, $25 million has been invested into the African Agricultural Capital Fund (AACF) by the US Agency for International Development (USAid) and impact investors, who include Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Pearl Capital Partners, a Kampala-based specialised African agricultural investment fund manager, will be responsible for investing the funds in at least 20 agriculture-related small and medium-sized enterprises in East Africa over the next five years.
“The AACF will catalyse the growth of small and medium agribusinesses in East Africa,” said Julie Sunderland, the director of programme-related investments at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She added that since they work with smallholder farmers across the agricultural value-chain, these businesses are important for the sector’s sustainable development.
However, according to the managing partner of PCP, Tom Adlam, a funding gap exists for small-cap agricultural businesses across East Africa, between large-scale commercial banks and microfinance institutions.
“This new fund will help to address this gap, providing long-term capital to entrepreneurs who are building businesses in the agriculture sector while delivering quality financial returns for investors,” Mr Adlam added. In fact, there is optimism that the establishment of the fund could signal a change in fortunes for the businesses. “We are optimistic that the success of AACF and the individual businesses within its portfolio will encourage additional capital investment in enterprises employing, purchasing from, and providing inputs and services to smallholders,” said Ms Sunderland.
The CEO of the Global Impact Investing Network, Luther Ragin, Jr, concurred that collaboration between the diverse investors would result in increased capital to the sustainable African agricultural sector.
Besides targeting positive financial returns, the fund is also interested in having significant social impact through provision of employment, secure markets and improved products for smallholder farmers across East Africa.
October 10, 2011. The German Marshall Fund recently launched the high-level Transformational Partnerships in Food Security in Africa: A Transatlantic Experts Group, whose American, European, and African members will identify and propose partnerships that drive positive change and lead to scalable food security programs, based on a shared vision among public and private sector actors. The group is co-chaired by GMF Senior Transatlantic Fellows Jim Kolbe and Jean-Michel Severino.
Under the guidance of the co-chairs and with input from group members, GMF will conduct consultations and hold workshops with government officials and experts in East Africa, the United States, and Europe to formulate recommendations on transformational partnerships to increase food security on a meaningful scale. At the group’s initial meetings in Brussels and Washington, members from think tanks, civil society, multilateral organizations, and government agencies, including The World Bank, USAID, UNDP, Wal-Mart, and the European Commission, debated the challenges and opportunities facing African food security partnerships and outlined an agenda for the coming months.
A final report will be released in Stockholm in early 2012, with shorter policy briefs and recommendations to be released in the interim.
October 12-14, 2011 – Des Moines, Iowa. The 2011 Borlaug Dialogue international symposium gathered the top minds and foremost leaders in global agriculture, food and development. The World Food Prize celebrates its 25th Anniversary of bringing hunger issues to the forefront.
The "Next Generation" theme asked several critical questions:
What are the most pressing future challenges that the global community will face in fighting hunger and poverty?
Who will be the next generation of leaders to confront such challenges and how do we best prepare and develop these leaders?
What are the next generation of technologies, methodologies, models and solutions to overcome such challenges?
Beginning Wednesday, Oct. 12, this three-day dialogue addressed the questions above by exploring the following:
Empowering youth through education and economic opportunities
The role of private investment in smallholder capital to spur innovation and entrepreneurship
The coexistence of high-tech agriculture and agro-ecology in promoting sustainability
New technologies and practices in improving agricultural ecosystems and environmental resource management
Improving efficiencies along the agricultural value chain and its effect on development, nutrition and health
Leveraging markets and trade on the macroeconomic level between high-income and developing countries
Changing demographics and the impact of population and dietary shifts, urbanization and aging
Maximizing the potential of women and girls in fighting hunger and poverty
Enhancing communication and collaboration across sectors and among all stakeholders to increase awareness and participation at all levels of advocacy.
ADAPPT is a project supported by a European Union grant through the ACP Science and Technology Programme to establish a network of scientists and agricultural technicians, from NGOs, agricultural institutes, ministries and universities from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom with a focus on pesticidal plants* as environmentally benign and safer alternatives to synthetic pesticides. The specific partners are listed on the Partners page of the website. ADAPPT will:
Establish an intra-African network with linkages to international networks,
Build capacity to assess research needs to facilitate the formulation and implementation of research policies associated with pesticidal plants and to prepare and submit project proposals for new funding opportunities, and
Enhance the research capacity and incentive of the network partners and so increase the quality and impact of research results and disseminated outputs.
Grant: FED/2009/217064
Project duration: 36 months(from 10/11/2009 to 09/11/2012)
October 10 – 13, 2011. Maputo, Mozambique. The 10th African Crop Science Society Conference emphasized the role of research in providing new and improved livelihood opportunities for farmers in Africa, thus improving their income and food security. The event provided a dynamic learning environment, with opportunities to interact and learn from one another, and to open and broaden horizons. The conference covered the following thematic areas:
agronomy, crop physiology, and cropping systems
horticulture
crop genetics and improvement
crop protection
biotechnology
integrated crop and livestock systems
soil and water management
agricultural extension and education
agricultural economics
environment and climate change effects on agriculture
At the 10th African Crop Science Society Conference, four Council Awards were presented to outstanding scientists:
Prof. Monty Jones (FARA;Sierra Leonean)
Prof. Kasem Zaki Ahmed (Minia University, Egypt)
Prof. Joyce Kikafunda (Makerere University, Uganda)
