Hungry Planet - Episode 14

Another interesting episode of Hungry planet, where the UN Agencies FAO, WFP and IFAD take us to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Working Session by the Mauritius Breadfruit Sector Consortium, 28th March 2012

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The Mauritius Breadfruit Sector Consortium organized a working session on the 28th March 2012 at the Food and Agricultural Research Council (FARC), Reduit. This working session was a follow-up to the Partnership Inception Workshop organised by the consortium on 9th and 10th February 2012 in the framework of the PAEPARD project, which is facilitating collaboration in the multi-stakeholder partnership. The participants of the working session were comprised of representatives from the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU), the University of Mauritius (UoM), Conserverie Sarjua Ltee, the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security, the Food and Agricultural Research Council and the APEXHOM (Professional Association of Producers / Exporters of Horticultural Products from Mauritius). 

The objective of the working session was to use the questions generated from the last workshop as guidelines to identify research areas/ research themes along the value-chain, with potential for research and development in the local context (Mauritius). This is explained further in the following slide-show:

Along the Breadfruit value-chain, 11 themes were identified (from its origin to marketing and consumer preferences), and there were unanswered questions that cropped up during the previous workshop. Participants were provided a copy of these questions which they could use as guidelines, and the floor was open for discussion on where we have areas of interest for Research and Development under each theme. Each research theme or research area that was proposed by the participants was discussed and added under their respective headings. After this exercise, a series of research and also development themes was generated (horizontally in picture below), which were then classified in 6 components (input supply, farm production, post harvest treatment, logistics, processing, marketing) of the value chain (vertically in picture below)

Classification of the Research/Development themes along the value-chain

By the end of the working session, 10 Research and Development themes were generated which would be used for the next workshop, whose objectives would be to formulate research questions under the identified themes and conceptualise & develop project proposals.

World Water Day in Mauritius

The World Water Day is celebrated annually on the 22nd March since 1993 as a means of focusing attention on the importance of fresh water and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. This Global event is coordinated by the Food and  Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the theme for this year's World Water Day is "Water and Food Security", where the focus is to draw attention to the linkages that exist between water and food security. 

More on World Water Day HERE and on the World Water Day Video:



World Water Day in Mauritius
On the Occasion of the World Water Day 2012, the Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities in collaboration with the Central Water Authority (CWA) and the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre organized a 3-day exhibition on water and food security from 20th to 22nd March 2012 at the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre. In this context other activities were also organized, including a workshop on the theme "Water and Food Security", conducted tours at the CWA water treatment plants and two competitions targeting primary and secondary students.

Opening Ceremony 
The Official opening ceremony of the event was held on the 22nd March from 09:30 to 10:30 at the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre, Bell Village. The guests present on the occasion were the Chairperson of the Central Water Board, the UNDP Resident Representative in Mauritius, the Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research & Technology, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy & Public Utilities, the Minister of Environment and sustainable Development, representatives from different organizations and students from secondary schools and the University of Mauritius.

From the speech by the different guest speakers, the message that was conveyed to the audience was that there is a linkage between water and food security, and agricultural production taking up maximum amount of water (up to 70% globally and 43% in Mauritius), which requires proper water management. Moreover, being a Small Island Developing State, Mauritius is facing challenges like climate change and over the past years, our rainfall pattern has changed. We have recently experienced a drought from October to January and our reservoirs are still not filled to capacity. Without water, there cannot be food production and without food, we cannot survive. In the coming years, we will have to feed more people as a result of a growing population and what is needed are actions from each one of us should contribute to conserve water. Some of these actions on how to save water HERE.

The UNDP resident representative, Mrs. Leyla Tegmoreddy highlighted that in Mauritius, 99.6% of the population have access to water. In agriculture, we should see how food losses can be reduced along the value-chain (post-harvest, transport, storage, etc.). The Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research & Technology, Dr. the Hon. Rajesh Jeetah laid emphasis upon small actions that we can take to conserve water (closing the tap while brushing our teeth) and on education, which he believes is the key to solve this problem as proper education will enable each one of us to take actions. On the other hand, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy & Public Utilities, Dr. the Hon. Rashid Beebeejaun encouraged youths present at the ceremony to go back to the soil and start cultivating crops like coriander and other herbs, and to encourage people around us to do so. 

There was also the prize giving ceremony to the winners of the drawing and project competitions  launched in the context of the World Water Day. 

Exhibition on Food and Water Security
Various organizations participated in the exhibition on Food and Water Security, namely the Central Water Authority (CWA), the Mauritius Meteorological Station, the Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities, the Irrigation Authority, the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life, the Agricultural Research and Extension (AREU), and the Faculty of Agriculture of University of Mauritius (FOA).

In general, there were interesting information that were present on the different posters, leaflets  and exhibits, but there are some exhibits in particular that caught my attention:

• Rain water harvesting model by the Central Water Authority

Rain water harvesting model for households

As shown in the picture, a gutter is connected to the roof of the house and the rain water collected is stored in a tank. This water can be used for doing domestic works, irrigating the lawn or washing the car.

• Rain water harvesting model by the agricultural Research and Extension Unit

Rain water harvesting model for agriculture

This model has the same concept from the previous one, but adapted for agricultural purposes. Rain water can be harvested from roof of houses or greenhouses. The water is collected in the same way in the tank, but this one also has a drip irrigation system connected in it, where the water can be used for irrigation.

• Other Exhibits by the Faculty of Agriculture

a) Treating waste water using phyto-remediation plants

Phyto-remediation plants to treat waste water

b) Hydroponic system for efficient use of water

Hydroponic System

c) Use of lysimeter for efficient use of water

Lysimeter for monitoring of water losses

d) Re-forestation concept to attract rainfall and fill our reservoirs

Re-forestation model

e) Aquaponic system to rear aquatic animals and grow crops at the same time

Aquaponic model

f) Aeroponic system for efficient use of water and nutrients

Aeroponic model

g) Use of Edible seaweeds to remove nitrate from lagoon

Use of edible seaweeds model

h) Use of river water for prawn farming

The model for use of river water for prawn farming

I have learned a lot today in this exhibition and was really impressed by the work done by the students of the Faculty of Agriculture. You guys have lots of talent and kudos for this awesome work! Let's act now and contribute in conserving water!

More pictures of the event in the slide-show below:

UN Secretary-General message on Youth 21 Initiative

What is Youth 21?

The Youth 21 initiative supports the youths in taking leadership roles in the 21st century. The first time when youths came forward and demanded that world leaders listen to them was 20 years ago at the World Earth Summit in Rio. 

According to the UN Habitat, it has been 14 years since the first Ministers conference was held in Portugal, whereby the Braga Youth Declaration Called for the better representation of youth globally. 

On the 25th January 2012, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced that youth will be the focus for the next 5 years and he was going to appoint a Special Advisor on Youth. 

The UNDP and UN-Habitat, with the financial support from the Government of Norway are presently hosting a 4-Day meeting from 15th to 18th March, with the objective to better understand and advocate for the engagement of youth in governance.

More on the Youth 21 Initiative HERE.

The video below shows the message of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon on the Youth 21 Initiative, where he recognises the importance of including youth in our programmes and policies. He also encourages governments to include young people in their work and in all UN work.

I think that there have been a lot of emphasis laid upon the inclusion of youths in governance and policy making etc., but still there are so many policies on youths that exist but they are not being implemented. Will the appointment of the Special Advisor on Youth help in solving this problem? Will the government from different countries take action and include youth in important decisions that will impact them? Will different category of youth (urban youth, rural youth, unemployed youth,  youth in different sectors etc.) be considered separately? How will this become a reality at National Level? 

YoBloCo Awards Results: My first Award

After waiting for quite a long time, today the results of the YoBloCo Awards have finally been announced and this Blog (Nawsheen's World) is the first prize winner for Individual category [Yayyyyy!!]. The Results for both individual and institutional category can be viewed HERE.

Having been one of the 15 finalists for the Individual Category, I believed that this blog had the chance to be in the 3 best ones, but in my mind the first prize was out of question since the blog  of some other participants were very good. When I saw the results, I could actually hear my heartbeats and was speechless for a while [hard to explain these emotions]. This was followed by a flashback of how it all happened...

I started blogging in 2010, where I was sharing my thoughts, posting songs and random agriculture-related videos which I liked. Then, in March 2011, I was among the 30 youths who participated in the Youth Exchange and Training Workshop on Web 2.0 for Agricultural and Rural Development held in Accra, Ghana, within the framework of the ARDYIS project by CTA. After this experience I understood the importance of ICTs in Agriculture, and started to experiment different Web 2.0 tools in my daily activities and also wrote more on Agriculture. 

On the announcement of the Yobloco Awards, I decided to participate and got more serious about my blog. The objective was to share maximum information I can on Agriculture, youth leadership and ICTs. In this process I was always curious and doing my best to make the blog as innovative as I can. Blogging gradually became my hobby and I always look around me to see what I can write about. This just went on for months and I enjoyed it (and still enjoying) so much!

This is my first Award in Agriculture and words cannot describe my happiness. Through this blog, I believe that Agriculture can be made attractive to other youths like me and by sharing my experiences, they would be able to see what it is like being in the agricultural sector, for one cannot understand agriculture until he/she gets involved in it. Also, the information which is shared may be useful to people in Agriculture (Mauritius and other countries as well). Since the launch of the YoBloCo Awards, the page views of the blog have increased, I have got many emails which show the interest of people in agriculture and innovations in this sector, and opportunities and challenges faced by youths in Agriculture have also been highlighted. Moreover, the YoBloCo gave me the opportunity to know some of the youth  participants (virtually) and we have been sharing experiences, information and opportunities in Agriculture among ourselves. 

My heartiest congratulations to the other winners and all participants of the competition! According to me, each blog that has been submitted in each category has something special in it, and whether it has been selected or not, the youths should continue updating their blogs since there are so many advantages of having a blog.

Thanks to all the people who have voted for my blog and those who have always supported me (especially my family, friends and colleagues). Special thanks to CTA which is doing a lot for youths in Agriculture through the ARDYIS project.

Last, but not the least, today Mauritius is celebrating its 44th Independence Day and I'm very proud to be Mauritian! :)

Happy International Women's Day!

Today we are celebrating the International Women's Day and I would like to share 2 videos  which show the different roles that women are playing and their contribution in the society. We see that in many countries there is gender inequality and women do not have access to many facilities and hence are not able to contribute to the economy. Women should be empowered, for they have the potential to make a change in our society!

The video below is an interesting one on women in Agriculture:

AIESEC: An organization for youth and run by youth over the world

It's been one and a half year since I joined AIESEC, the world's largest youth leadership development organization in the world. I believe that it's not only for me, but anyone who joins the organization does not really understand what it is about until they get a very good AIESEC Experience (For example, having led a team of people of different backgrounds and strived to achieve a common goal). AIESEC is all about volunteering and being an AIESECer makes you a change agent with strong AIESEC values. AIESECers have meetings everyday, they attend and participate in National and International Conferences, Youth to Business Forums and other events. Through different training sessions and experiences, they get to know themselves (self-awareness) and others, know what they want in life and what they are doing about it. When they have figured it out, they start taking up challenges, grab all opportunities, learn how to manage their time, how to be a leader and manage projects and teams, ask for feedbacks and keep improving themselves, work hard, and enjoy what they are doing. AIESECers can be like crazy young people dancing on the streets and at the same time they manage to be professional and attend corporate meetings. Being a member of an international organization also gives AIESECers the opportunity to have a network of friends and colleagues over the world, whom they meet in their own country or during an AIESEC internship or experience in any of the 110 AIESEC countries. 

But all these do not happen just by joining the organization. Members are exposed to many opportunities (mainly team member and team leader positions). It is up to them to grab the opportunities and start their experience. The growth of AIESEC members depends on them only; the way they are working (pro-active, taking initiatives etc.), the choices and decisions they are making. AIESECers with experience are known to be faster than others in their career and tend to be entrepreneurs, because they are innovators and it is hard for them to have a routine job and not directly making a change. However, despite being a great and one of the best organizations in the world, all members have to leave it at a certain point in time. By the end of the day, what the members get out of AIESEC is not a title of President or Vice-President, but the AIESEC Experience, during which they have acquired leadership skills and have been exposed to an environment that is very similar to the corporate world. 

Every AIESECer understands the organization in his/her own way and the above is my understanding of AIESEC and what I got out of it. Today I am applying all that I have learned from AIESEC in Agriculture which is helping me in making a change. I strongly encourage all youths who want to develop their leadership skills to join AIESEC and lead the change.

The video below shows the expansion of the AIESEC network since 1948:

FANRPAN Country Case Studies on Current and Emerging Youth Policies and Initiatives with a Special focus on links to Agriculture

The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) Node Common Visioning Workshop was held on 27th February to 2nd March 2012 at the White Sands Hotel and Resort in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Alongside with this workshop which was meant for the node coordinators from the 16 FANRPAN country nodes with the Regional Secretariat, youth consultants working on case studies on current and emerging youth policies and initiatives with a special focus on links to Agriculture were to participate in the case study review meeting. The announcement of these case studies was made during the Regional Dialogue in September 2011, where the theme was "Advocating for the active engagement of the youth in the Agricultural Value-chain". These case studies are coordinated by FANRPAN and supported by CTA. The countries in which the case-studies are being carried out are Malawi, Mauritius, South-Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It was a 5-day workshop for the node coordinators, while the case-study review meeting for the youth consultants were on Day 2 and Day 3.

Day 2 - Presentation of case study by youth consultants
The first half of Day 2 was comprised of some presentations on the different projects being run by FANRPAN, followed by the presentations by the node coordinators, giving updates on the situation in their respective countries. These presentations gave the young consultants present at the workshop an over-view on the work being done by FANRPAN and on the present situation of the different nodes in the 16 Southern African countries. The second part of Day 2 was dedicated to the presentations on the case-studies being carried out by the young consultants. Each consultant had 15 minutes to present their work being done so far regarding current and emerging policies on youth and agriculture, their perception on agriculture, the incentives being provided to youth in agriculture and the opportunities that exist (or may exist) for them in this sector. After their presentation, the node coordinators were given the opportunity to ask them questions on their case studies, or give comments and suggestions on how the case study can be improved. This gave the youths the chance to interact with the experienced node coordinators and they were very helpful in providing valuable information on where to concentrate more or how the work can be improved in general. One of the youth consultants was not present on Day 2 and was supposed to present his work on the following day. 

Me and the other youth consultants from South-Africa and Malawi

Day 3 - Discussion on case study and way forward
Day 3 started with the presentation of the last case study from Swaziland. After his presentation, the consultant was exposed to questions and comments from the floor like the previous day. Following this presentation, the node coordinators were subjected to a training session, and on the other hand, a review on the case study was conducted in parallel with the youth consultants from the 6 Southern African countries by the coordinator of the project from FANRPAN. Each point in the case study was discussed in detail,  and the consultants highlighted the challenges that they faced while conducting their respective case studies and examples from the different case studies showed that despite the difference in country size, population, contribution of Agriculture in the country's GDP etc., there were lots of similarities when it came to policies on youth and agriculture, their implementation and incentives being given to youths in agriculture. The consultants were highly encouraged by the CEO of FANRPAN, Dr. Sibanda to make use of Web 2.0 tools like Facebook and Twitter to reach young people and get their perception on agriculture, taking into consideration the current changes in this sector (like the CAADP, G20 and other changes at the National Level). By the end of the day, it was agreed that the consultants now needed to work as a team, share information and ideas on the case studies, rather than competing with each other. The consultants also discussed on how they will be working together in the future as a team, taking into consideration the distance as each one will be working in his/her respective country. A communication means and other ground rules were set and agreed by all.

This meeting was beneficial and is a new initiative that was very much appreciated by the youths as each consultant comes from a different country and background and despite these facts, this case study has brought them all together to achieve a common goal. They would be learning from each other and share their knowledge and ideas. The aim of this new team is to strive for excellence and come up with the best possible case-studies that would be revealed in a single report during the FANRPAN Regional Dialogue in September 2012, in Tanzania. 

Below is a brief profile of the consultants working on the case-studies: