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The Equilibrium Fund is now called the Maya Nut Institute
Read the Maya Nut Institute summer 2010 Newsletter!
Plant Genetic Resources in the Pacific
During September 2009 a suite of meetings and events will take place in Fiji, related to plant genetic resources:
21-22 September: “Crops for the Future in the Pacific”. This consultation meeting aims to explore the potential of under-utilized species as crops for the future in the Pacific region and highlight the areas/gaps that would benefit from further action. The outcomes from this seminar will feed into the next phase of the Pacific PGR network (PAPGREN) project.
23-24 September: ITPGRFA meeting. This meeting is a follow up to the 3rd Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) meeting in Tunis, Tunisia (June 2009). At this 3rd Session meeting the Pacific officially placed the collections held in trust by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees into the Multilateral System of the Treaty. At the two day workshop in Fiji participants will cover the following issues related to ratification and implementation of the Treaty, namely (a) using the SMTA (b) how to fulfill your obligations under the Treaty (c) issues related to accession to the Treaty (d) international and regional cooperation in the implementation of the Treaty
25 September: Opening of the new Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) in Suva.
26 September – 2 October: PAPGREN meeting and training. This is the annual meeting of the Pacific Plant Genetic Resources Network (PAPGREN) during which PAPGREN members will present their country activities for the last year. The role that diversity plays in climate change, nutrition and trade will be discussed as these are key issues in the Pacific. Three days of this week long meeting will be spent conducting training in genebank management to include morphological and molecular characterization.
The above meetings are co-organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Communities (SPC), the Asia-Pacific Association for Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) and Crops for the Future. For more information contact Mary Taylor.
Call for Contributions: Urban Agriculture Magazine No. 23
UA Magazine No. 23: Urban Nutrient Management will be published in December 2009.
Please send your contribution before 15 September 2009 to: email hidden; JavaScript is required
Urban food demand, especially for fresh perishable food products, is increasing with population growth. Urban agriculture responds to this demand through intensive and continuous production taking advantage of market proximity. Such intensive production is highly dependent on nutrients and water. Rapidly growing cities face the challenge of providing basic services such as drinking water and sanitation on the one hand, and sustainably managing urban wastes and wastewater on the other. UA Magazine no. 20 focused on water, and the following issue, no. 23, will focus on the equally important aspect of nutrient management.
For more information about the call for contributions and about RUAF, visit the RUAF website (www.ruaf.org).
UA Magazine is published two times a year on the RUAF website and in hardcopy version. This English version is translated into Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese and Portuguese. The UA Magazine welcomes contributions on new initiatives at individual, neighbourhood, city and national levels. Attention is given to technical, socio-economic, institutional and policy aspects of sustainable urban food production, marketing, processing and distribution systems. Although articles on any related issue are welcome and considered for publication, each UA Magazine focuses on a selected theme.
The Chicago Initiative on Global Agricultural Development
The Global Agricultural Development Project aims to stimulate and inform the policy discussion around America’s role in alleviating poverty through global agricultural development. The project also seeks to identify opportunities for the United States to work with governments and other institutions to increase productivity, market access, and incomes of rural smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
www.thechicagocouncil.org/globalagdevelopment/default.asp