The CODESRIA – IFS Sustainable Agriculture Initiative

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), based in Dakar, Senegal and The International Foundation for Science (IFS), based in Stockholm, Sweden are pleased to announce their partnership to promote a dialogue that shifts the parameters and practice of multidisciplinary research on the conservation, production and renewable utilisation of natural resources beyond the confines of the social or the natural sciences, to enable a deeper interaction between social scientists, natural scientists, policy makers and resource users.

The first joint IFS – CODESRIA activity under this new partnership is a three stage initiative on Agricultural Sustainability in Africa. This initiative aims to help African researchers working in the field of sustainable agriculture to orient their activities towards meeting the needs of African farmers. The first stage of the programme will bring African researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners together in a workshop to discuss the current and potential capacity for multidisciplinary research on agricultural sustainability to meet the needs of African farmers. Agricultural sustainability is a subject on which both social scientists and natural scientists have worked extensively, and individual scholars bring important insights from their disciplines to bear on the issue. However, CODESRIA and IFS recognise that more multidisciplinary efforts are needed to build a holistic understanding of why agricultural sustainability has continued to elude much of Africa and how this situation can be redressed. Participants in the workshop will be encouraged to bring cross-cutting issues to the discussion, such as:

1. Drought and the development and use of saline and disease-resistant crops;
2. Irrigation, water allocation and water conservation;
3. Agricultural extension services and the promotion of sustainable practices and technologies;
4. Social and economic institutions affecting prospects for agricultural sustainability.

The first phase of this joint programme will commence with a meeting of up to 12 participants scheduled for 14 – 15 December, 2002 in Kampala, Uganda. In addition to serving as a forum for discussion and debate, participants are expected to jointly craft a multidisciplinary research agenda that addresses specific problems affecting African farmers. IFS and CODESRIA will use the recommendations of the meeting as the foundation for a joint research grant programme supporting African researchers working in a multidisciplinary context.

Researchers, policy-makers, and representatives of agriculturalists that are interested in being considered for participation in the Kampala workshop are invited to prepare an abstract on the multidisciplinary issues that they believe this programme should address. Abstracts and a CV should be received by CODESRIA and IFS by 30 September, 2002. Authors of abstracts which are selected will be notified by 15 October 2002 and will be required to develop their ideas into a short paper of approximately 10 pages that will be presented on the first day of the meeting in Kampala. The paper should be received by 15 November 2002. Invited attendees’ travel to and participation in the meeting will be sponsored by IFS and CODESRIA. The workshop will be held in English.

All abstracts, papers and other correspondence should be sent via e-mail to :

Mr Abdou Ndao
Programme Assistant,
CODESRIA
E-mail : abdou.ndao@codesria.sn
Fax: +221-8244289

and

Mr Eren Zink
Project Secretary for Social Sciences,
IFS
E-mail: eren.zink@ifs.se
Fax: +46-8-54581801