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| The first ever All Africa Congress on Biotechnology - The Nairobi Declaration and way forward |
| 22 September 2008 - 26 September 2008 |
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Preamble
The 1st All Africa Congress on Biotechnology commenced on 22nd September, 2008 with
welcome addresses by Prof. Norah Olembo (Chairperson of the Congress Organizing
Committee and Executive Director of the African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum
(ABSF) who hosted the event and rallied partners), Dr Mpoko Bokanga, the Executive
Director of African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF); Professor Shaukat
Abdulrazak, Secretary, National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), Kenya;
the representative of Ms Rhoda Tumusime, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for
Rural Economy and Agriculture and Dr Wilson Songa, the Agriculture Secretary of the
Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Kenya. The Honourable Assistant Minister for
Agriculture in Kenya, officially opened the Congress with the vote of thanks by the
Rapporteur-General, Prof. Diran Makinde.
Plenary sessions were addressed by eminent speakers on the status of biotechnology in
Africa and the world. The tone for the presentation in the area was set by Dr. Clive
James, ISAAA Global Director, who spoke on the Global Status of Biotech Crops.
Subsequent plenary sessions in the 5-day congress dealt with the Advancement in
Biotechnology specifically in the areas of molecular biology, bioinformatics, genomics
and biotechnology tools; Policy and Biosafety, Communication, Awareness and
Networking; the Potential Impact of Agricultural Biotechnology for Food Security and
Socio-economic Development in Africa, Farmer Participation and Public-Private Sector
Partnership.
Breakout sessions were held in which details of the topics covered by the plenary
sessions were presented.
A total of 39 countries, of which 17 were from outside Africa including USA, Canada,
Brazil, Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, France, China, Australia, Pakistan,
India, Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium and 416 delegates attended the
Biotech Congress with representation from Dozens of international organizations and
institutions, leading amongst them were: United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Center for
Science in the Public Interest-USA, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Washington, Iowa State University-USA, Michigan State University-USA, Croplife
International, International Livestock Research Institute, World AgroForestry Centre
(ICRAF), International Centre for Research in Arid and Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT),
International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Open University - UK,
Swaminathan Research Foundation-India, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
(FARA), African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), ISAAA Global and
ISAAA AfriCentre, Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International (A-Harvest),
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), International Potato
Centre (CIP),United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Africa Union (AU) and
the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, UK.
Because of its sheer magnitude, the 1st All Africa Congress on Biotechnology was
roundly sponsored by a host of leading donor organisations through resource support and
sponsorship deals for international delegates. Amongst many of the sponsors included:
Applied Biosystems Ltd, USDA, AATF, ILRI, African Union, A-Harvest, Kenya
Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), CIMMYT, ICRISAT, UNESCO, IFPRI, ISAAA
Global, Kenya Plant health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), Kenya Bureau of Standards
(KEBS), Ministry of Science and Technology in Kenya, FARA, Association for
Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA), Biosafety
Train and Croplife International. |
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Full Version (475Kb ~ 1 min)
