Crops for the Future is a small international non-profit organization working to promote underutilized crops for the benefit of the poor and the environment. Its focus is the collection, synthesis and provision of information and knowledge about neglected and underutilized plant species and their current and potential roles in people’s livelihoods and the environment. For more information on Crops for the Future, please visit www.cropsforthefuture.org.

Crops for the Future evolved from the International Centre for Underutilised Crops (ICUC) and the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species (GFU) and is hosted by Bioversity International (www.bioversityinternational.org) at its Asia, Pacific and Oceania Regional Office in Serdang, Malaysia in a joint venture with the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (www.nottingham.edu.my).

Crops for the Future is now seeking a well qualified candidate for the position of:

Global Coordinator

Based in Serdang, Malaysia the Global Coordinator will lead the development of Crops for the Future with responsibility for implementing the organization’s strategy and overseeing the development and implementation of an agreed work programme. The coordinator will have day to day responsibility for management of the organization’s staff and finances and will oversee the implementation of Crops for the Future projects around the world. Working under the oversight of the Crops for the Future Board and in close collaboration with Bioversity International and University of Nottingham the Coordinator will lead a small Secretariat and have the following key responsibilities:

• Develop a resource mobilization strategy and actively engage in fund raising and donor contacts to further develop Crops for the Future’s work programme and resource base;
• Lead the development and implementation of an integrated monitoring impact and learning strategy for Crops for the Future;
• Support and oversee the implementation of specific Crops for the Future projects
• Actively engage in relevant professional fora (such as the International Society for Horticultural Sciences, the Global Horticulture Initiative, the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research, the Global Forum for Agricultural Research and its regional and subregional organisations) and help coordinate underutilized crop-related matters, as appropriate;
• Continue where appropriate GFU’s and ICUC’s ongoing commitments, in particular the coordination of the project “Coalition to Diversify Income from Underused Plants (CoDI – www.codi-asia.net)
• Maintain and promote good collaborative relationships with the institutional partners of GFU and ICUC, and especially with Bioversity International and University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, and further develop new partnerships as appropriate;
• Engage in policy advocacy through participation in relevant fora and contacts to relevant decision makers, such as the UN Commission for Trade and Development, FAO-Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, European Commission;
• Commission and supervise studies to increase the global knowledge base on underutilized crops, especially on their role in nutrition & health, climate change and income generation, and ensure results are published in appropriate outlets (peer-reviewed journals, conferences, popular press, etc.);
• Oversee the work of and provide leadership to staff of the Secretariat and to other consultants and staff working for Crops for the Future;
• Oversee the financial management of Crops for the Future
• Serve as Secretary to the Crops for the Future Board.

Essential qualifications and competencies:

• PhD degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional qualification; education and experience in international affairs relevant to underutilized crops (e.g., agriculture, post-harvest, economics/marketing, policy, development);
• At least 10 years of progressive experience in research and programme management; including professional experience in several developing countries through long-term engagements;
• Demonstrated competency in communication and interpersonal skills, including extensive ability to motivate, inspire and promote team-work through negotiation and consensus-building and experience in diverse teams and in cross-cultural settings;
• Demonstrated competency in managing people in multiple locations,
• Highly organized, good people manager who provides leadership and direction;
• Demonstrates a proactive, flexible and creative approach and good judgment in making strategic and management decisions;
• Demonstrates originality, innovation and tenacity in problem solving;
• Demonstrated track record of raising funds for large international programmes.
• Excellent English, both written and spoken and working knowledge of another international language; knowledge of other international languages is desirable
• Willing to engage in extensive foreign travel (30-40% time);

Terms and conditions: The appointee will be a staff member of Bioversity International. Bioversity International offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary, non-contributory retirement plan, housing allowance, medical insurance and leave provisions. All benefits are denominated and paid in US Dollars. The initial contract will be for a period of three years subject to a probationary period of one year. Secondment arrangements would be acceptable.

Applications: A letter of application (responding to the required qualifications and competencies) and curriculum vitae in English, including date of birth, gender and nationality, with names and full contact details of at least three referees, including telephone, fax and email address, and two writing samples (maximum of five pages each) should be sent to Human Resources Office, Bioversity International, Via dei Tre Denari 472/a, 00057 Maccarese, Rome, fax (39) 06 6118341; or preferably online through the following link: Bioversity Employment Opportunities Webpage and by clicking ‘Apply’ or via email to: email hidden; JavaScript is required

Closing date for applications: 18 October 2009

Please quote source of advertisement.

We are an equal opportunity employer and strive for staff diversity in gender and nationality.

All applications will be acknowledged, but only short listed candidates will be contacted

Tune in to BBC’s Food Programme on Sunday 13 September at 12:32 BST (GMT+1) to listen to Sheila Dillon who looks at work to promote indigenous vegetables in Africa, an attempt to improve nutrition, maintain genetic diversity and respond to concerns about climate change. Are there lessons for developed nations as well?

Tune into BBC Radio 4 or access through the internet. For more details visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnx3

After the Novel Foods Regulation was adopted in 1997 it has been subject to much criticism, especially with regards to exotic novel foods from developing countries. This research evaluates the significance of European food legislation on food-exporting businesses in developing countries, in the case of exotic novel food. Food-exporting businesses from Latin American and African countries were interviewed in addition to experts on the area…

This is just a brief introduction. Click on the tiltle below to access the thesis on the NFR Elisabeth Mari Cumming Smith carried out at Wageningen University

• The European Novel Foods Regulation – The Case of Exotic Novel Foods

For more information on this non tariff trade barrier, you might want to check a  web page dedicated to the Novel Food Regulation that GFU started compiling and we continue looking after.

[by James Shikwati*,  Business Daily Africa, 2 September 2009]

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Opinion%20&%20Analysis/-/539548/651270/-/item/1/-/ce8bxd/-/index.html

There was a time in Africa when elders would “talk” to the drought and negotiate their way into receiving rainfall. With their unique understanding of causation, elders would either sacrifice a black sheep or ask a virgin girl to bathe in a lake in order to draw the attention of the rain gods. Would that they could do so now.

With an estimated 50 million Africans in dire need of food aid and an additional 120 million facing starvation if immediate measures to alleviate the situation are not taken, the general assumption has become that developing countries do not have what funds are necessary to increase food productivity.

Too little time has been invested in seeking to understand why Africa, with its vast farmlands and its brilliant and innovative sons and daughters, still goes hungry as the rest of the world battles with obesity. Computer experts are aware of malware, the “malicious software” that is designed to infiltrate a computer without the owners’ informed consent. The general computer user is familiar with viruses, Trojan horses, worms, and spyware among other programmes that cause harm to the operating system.

As we talk about famine in Africa, we should take a moment to evaluate the hostile and intrusive programmes operating in the background as food aid in particular and aid in general run in the foreground. Ask yourself, for example, why a majority of Africans have changed their diets. Kenyan nutritionists point out that we have ignored high value foods and replaced them with junk, sacrificing thousands of Africa’s domesticated and wild edible crops at the altar of modernity. Crops whose production should be scaled up by virtue of their ability to adapt to Africa’s climate have instead been framed as crops of poverty.

Crops such as the tamarind, millet, sorghum, indigenous peanuts and potatoes have been kicked out of the menu in favour of wheat and beef.

Over 50 years of food aid targeted at Africa have been marked by a corresponding increase in episodes of famine, which points to the possible existence of a food “malware” – a malicious system that changes people’s dietary habits in favour of imported foods. The same malware has penetrated agricultural schools, where it trains graduates to promote the new foods as opposed to upgrading local varieties.

Worst of all, it has penetrated our political leadership, corrupting their minds with the quest for kickbacks to the extent that they do not invest in local solutions as foreign solutions can loaded with the the possibility of a quick 10 per cent. In the absence of an effective “anti-virus” this malware loads its intentions on the hapless operating systems of Africa’s nations, forcing them to become perpetual beggars.

It is my contention that, to reduce the incidence of famine on the continent, Africans must develop an effective system for detecting the “malicious background operating system” that has not only denied them the opportunity to promote their local cuisines but has also exposed their land to grabbing.

It is time we invested in our indigenous crops, turned our rural populations into celebrated food suppliers through incentives and invested in technology to free our continent from perennial famine. Contrary to common belief, money is not the solution to Africa’s famine problem. Neither, for that matter, is food aid. What we need to do is get rid of the malware operating in our system.

* James Shikwati is the director of Inter Region Economic Network: email hidden; JavaScript is required

Biodiversity Conservation, Ecosystem Services and Poverty Reduction – Shaping a New Agenda
Workshop September 17th to 21st 2009

The global economic crisis shocked the world earlier this year. Many governments have responded with immense, unprecedented economic stimulus and support pro-grams to avoid increasing unemployment and poverty. It is well known today that poverty impacts on the environment and increasing ecosystem degradation aggravates poverty. The loss of biodiversity is the central element in this vicious circle.

In 2010 the world will celebrate the UN International Year of Biodiversity and the theme of next year’s International Day on Biodiversity is “biodiversity for development and poverty alleviation”. Besides, the Convention on Biological Diversity, at its 10th Conference of the Parties, to be held in Nagoya, Japan in October next year, will adopt a new Strategic Plan. The plan will influence conservation policies of 191 member states for the period 2011 to 2022. One of the issues the plan will tackle is related to the importance of biodiversity for poverty reduction and the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals, taking into account that conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity should contribute to poverty reduction at local level and not harm the livelihoods of the poor.

These upcoming occasions would gain from further inputs by interested individuals and organizations. In order to elaborate suitable inputs the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), as part of the Steering Group on Linking Conservation and Poverty Reduction, would like to invite you to a workshop titled “Biodiversity Conservation, Ecosystem Services and Poverty Reduction – Shaping a New Agenda”. The workshop will be held at BfN’s International Academy for Nature Conservation on the Isle of Vilm, Germany, September 17th to 21st. It is the 4th workshop in a series of events on the Isle of Vilm that deals with linking conservation and poverty reduction. This year’s workshop specifically aims to develop inputs for ongoing discussions in the context of biodiversity and poverty, which include the specification of a clear conceptual framework and the identification of indicators. These will be discussed on the basis of case studies.

A detailed program will be provided in time, suggestions and proposals for inputs are welcomed.

Limited funding for cost reimbursement might be available for participants.

Please contact email hidden; JavaScript is required for further information.