| |  | | April 2007, Vol.2, no.4 |
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- IFOAM Organic Guarantee System Revision
- Registration for the African discussion forum
- Link to the UNEP-UNCTAD/CBTF webpage available on the African section of the IFOAM Website
- East Africa Organic Conference
- East African Standards committee recommended the East African Organic Standard (EAOS) final draft
- IFOAM attended the Political Dialogue on the EU-Africa Strategy with Louis Michel and contributed to the public consultation for a joint EU-Africa strategy
- Forum for Food Sovereignty – Declaration of Nyeleni
- Public Forum: Green Revolution - Who’s Revolution?
- Upcoming organic agriculture-related events
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| | 1. IFOAM Organic Guarantee System Revision | | | IFOAM is revising its Organic Guarantee System (OGS) to provide more access for producers, standard-setting and certification bodies, and governments, and to maintain the integrity of Organic Agriculture. All interested stakeholders are invited to comment on the first revision draft of the new IFOAM Benchmark for Standards which is a document resulting from the revision of the IFOAM Basic Standards (IBS).
The deadline for comments is the 14th of June 2007.
Gerald A. Herrmann, IFOAM President offers the background and details of the revision, and calls for IFOAM members and other interested stakeholders to contribute to the revision process to create the best IFOAM Benchmark for Standards possible.
To read the full IFOAM President’s call, go to http://www.ifoam.org/press/press/Organic_Guarantee_System_Revision.html.
To comment on the draft of the new IBS, please go to http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/standards/OGS_Revision/OGS_Revision.html.
| | | | | 2. Registration for the African discussion forum
| | | The participation in the discussion forum is from now on subject to registration. Anyone may view and read the messages posted on a forum, but registration is required for posting and replying to messages.
The registration is quick, easy, secure, and confidential, and also protects the board from spammers.
The registration URL is: http://www.ifoam.org/forum_php/profile.php?mode=register.
You can also access the main forum page directly at
http://www.ifoam.org/forum_php/viewforum.php?f=1 and reach the registration URL there by clicking on the "Register" button.
The public forum has been set up to enable African organic stakeholders and others interested in the topic of Organic Agriculture in Africa to exchange views and experiences, get to know each other through the Internet and perhaps start identifying possible areas of cooperation for future actions.
We are now discussing about “Local marketing for organic products in Africa” and “Food security and the new Green Revolution in Africa”.
The next discussion topic will be “Organic soil fertility management in Africa”.
All are invited to participate in the discussion forum at http://www.ifoam.org/forum_php/viewforum.php?f=1.
| | | | | 3. Link to the UNEP-UNCTAD/CBTF webpage available on the African section of the IFOAM Website
| | | The Africa section of the IFOAM website is now providing a link to the UNEP-UNCTAD/CBTF webpage.
To access the link, please visit the Africa webpage at http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/around_world/aosc_pages/current_projects.html.
By enhancing synergies between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Capacity Building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF) aims to strengthen the capacities of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to effectively address trade-environment-development issues (e.g. UNEP-UNCTAD/CBTF project Promoting Production and Trading Opportunities for Organic Agricultural Products in East Africa). This project is implemented in close collaboration with IFOAM through the OSEA Project.
| | | | | 4. East Africa Organic Conference
| | | The East Africa Organic Conference will be held from May 28 - June 1 2007 in
Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania.
The International Federation of Organic Movements (IFOAM), the UNEP-UNCTAD/CBTF, the Tanzanian Organic Agriculture Movement (TOAM) and the Export Promotion of Organic Products from Africa (EPOPA) Programme are organizing the conference in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and International Trade Centre (ITC).
Day 1 and 2 of the conference are open to all interested colleagues.
Participation in the conference during the last 3 days is subject to invitation by the organizing committee.
For more information, please visit the IFOAM Africa Office webpage (http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/around_world/africa.html).
To register for the open events, please contact the organizing committee (osea@grolink.se).
| | | | | 5. East African Standards committee recommended the East African Organic Standard (EAOS) final draft | | | At its March 2007 meeting in Arusha, the East African Standards Committee recommended the East African Community Secretariat to:
- Forward the EAOS final draft to the Council of Ministers for approval
- Convene an inter technical meeting for experts to put in place a work plan on regulations at the end of April 2007.
For more information, please contact Leonard Mtama (lm@TanCert.org),
TanCert Manager.
The purpose of the development of the East African Standards was the need for harmonizing requirements governing quality of organic products and services in East Africa. It is envisaged that through harmonized standards, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged within the Community will be removed.
The EAOS final draft and other related documents are available on the IFOAM website at
http://www.ifoam.org/partners/projects/osea.html.
| | | | | 6. IFOAM attended the Political Dialogue on the EU-Africa Strategy with Louis Michel and contributed to the public consultation for a joint EU-Africa strategy | | | In March, IFOAM attend the Political Dialogue on the EU-Africa Strategy with Mr. Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. Based on the experiences made in this meeting, IFOAM decided to contribute to the Public consultation for a joint EU-Africa Strategy. IFOAM submitted a paper focusing on Organic Agriculture in Africa from a developmental perspective.
To read IFOAM's contribution, please go to
http://europafrica.org/2007/04/12/contribution-by-the-international-federation-
of-organic-agriculture-movements-ifoam/.
You can also find the contribution in the list of contributions by organizations (key development issues) at
http://europafrica.org/2007/02/01/contributions-to-the-consultation/.
The European Union and the African Union have thus decided to strengthen the ties linking both continents by developing a co-owned “joint strategy” that reflects the needs and aspirations of the peoples of Africa and Europe.
This year, AU and EU institutions will hold a public debate that will mobilize and document ideas and suggestions from civil society, other official bodies, parliamentarians, etc. in order to elaborate in a participative manner a joint EU-Africa Strategy.
For more information, please see http://europafrica.org/2007/01/01/about-the-eu-africa-consultation-web-site/ .
| | | | | 7. Forum for Food Sovereignty – Declaration of Nyeleni
| | | The Forum for Food Sovereignty was held from February 23 to 27 in Selingue, Mali. More than 500 representatives from more than 80 countries, including peasant, consumer and environmental organizations, urban movements and rural workers gathered together in the village of Nyeleni in Selingue, Mali to strengthen a global movement for food sovereignty. As a result of the forum, the Declaration of Nyeleni was signed. The declaration is mainly based on the concept of food sovereignty, in particular the right of all peoples, nations and states to define their own food and producing systems. The right of all peoples to defend their territories from the actions of transnational corporations and the fight against the privatization of food, land, water, seeds, livestock and the natural heritage are prominently mentioned in the declaration.
To read the full declaration, please see http://www.foodnews.ca/.
| | | | | 8. Public Forum: Green Revolution - Who’s Revolution? | | | Over 600 people attended in March 2007 a public forum in Ottawa, Canada concerning the plans of the Bill & Melinda Gates and Rockefeller Foundations to bring a “Green Revolution” to Africa. Central to evening was the simple question – “Will industrial agriculture and genetic engineering benefit African farmers?
Officials from the Gates Foundation were invited, but they declined to attend.
To read the full forum report, please see http://www.foodnews.ca/ or contact James Kuhns (foodnews@web.ca), managing editor of Foodnews.
| | | | | 9. Upcoming organic agriculture-related events
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Events in Africa
Organic Chain Development, Participative Networking Workshop
May 24-25 2007
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Participation in this event is subject to invitation by the organizing committee.
For more information, please visit the Agro Eco website (http://www.agroeco.nl).
East Africa Organic Conference
May 28-June 1 2007
Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania
For more information, please visit the IFOAM Africa Office webpage (http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/around_world/africa.html).
National Organic workshop
July 3-4 2007
Antananarivo, Madagascar
For more information, please see http://www.madabio.info/workshop.htm.
Organic Work Camp
July 21-August 11 2007
Kpalimé, Togo
For more information, please contact Simon Anoumou Todzro (cfape_eco@yahoo.fr) and Kossi Dackey (cgpaorg@yahoo.fr) in Togo or Rosi Lehmann (kiamaya@web.de) in Germany.
Fiermada (Rural Economy International Fair)
August 1-5 2007
Antananarivo, Madagascar
For more information, please contact Rajaonarison Andrianjaka (njakar@gmail.com).
Other events
International Conference on Organic Agriculture and Food Security
May 3-5 2007
Rome, Italy
For more information visit the FAO website on Organic Agriculture (www.fao.org/organicag) or contact Nadia Scialabba (nadia.scialabba@fao.org).
Conference Norway: Can Africa feed itself?
Poverty, Agriculture and Environment – Challenges for Africa
June 6-8 2007
Oslo, Norway
For more information, please see http://www.canafricafeeditself.no/Landbrukskonferanse/English/.
1st IFOAM Conference on Marketing of Organic and Regional Values
August 26-28 2007
Schwäbisch Hall, Germany
For more information, please visit the IFOAM website at
http://www.ifoam.org/events/ifoam_conferences/regional_values_2007.html.
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