Announcement: Climate-Smart Agriculture Conference

We are pleased to circulate this announcement for the Climate-Smart Agriculture 2015 Global Science Conference, 16-18 March 2015, Montpellier, France.

Climate smart agriculture is a way to achieve short and long term agricultural development priorities in the face of climate change and serve as an integrator to other development priorities. It seeks to support countries and other actors in securing the necessary policy, technical and financial conditions to enable them to:

– Sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes in order to meet national food security and development goals
– Build resilience and the capacity of agricultural and food systems to adapt to climate change;
– Seek opportunities to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases and increase carbon sequestration.

Submit abstracts by 30 November 2014. Early bird registration by 31 December 2014.

Opportunity: International course on Integrated Seed Sector Development

We are pleased to circulate this announcement from Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation on their International course on Integrated Seed Sector Development, Wageningen, the Netherlands, 18 May – 5 June 2015.

Fellowships available – apply before 21 October 2014.

Creating vibrant, market oriented and pluralistic seed sectors
Seed is an essential input for crop production. Access of farmers to affordable quality seed of superior varieties is key in increasing agricultural production and productivity. Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) recognizes that farmers obtain their seed from different sources or systems, and builds programmes upon a diversity of seed systems. ISSD programmes strengthen farmer and community based seed systems, businesses operating at local and national level, but also engage in partnerships with international companies producing seed or providing seed related services. In addition ISSD works on institutional bottlenecks and strengthens seed sector governance. Supporting the development of a vibrant and pluralistic seed sector can substantially contribute to increasing food security and prosperity in developing countries.

Opportunity: International PhD Programme in Agrobiodiversity, Italy

The Institute of Life Sciences at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa, Italy (SSSA) announces its International PhD Programme in Agrobiodiversity, in collaboration with the Italian National Academy of Sciences and funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MiUR).
The Course aims to contribute to the enhancement of human resource capacity in the utilisation and management of biodiversity in agricultural and natural systems, to improve the sustainability of agriculture and the conservation of genetic resources and agroecosystem (bio)diversity for the well-being of present and future generations.
Six scholarships are available to motivated students from any country. Applications from developing countries are particularly welcome. The application must include description of a research project that the candidate would like to carry out during the three-year period of the PhD. Examples of research themes are indicated in the Call for Applications. English will be the one and only language for all activities envisaged in the PhD Programme.

Further information on the Programme, the Call and the Online Application Form can be found at http://www.sssup.it/agrobiodiversity. The deadline for receipt of applications is 5 September 2014. The Programme starts on 3 November 2014.

The Course has two curricula:
(A) Plant Genetic Resources (for further inquiries about possible research themes  contact Prof. Enrico Pè, m.pe@sssup.it).
(B) Functional Biodiversity in Agroecosystems (for further inquiries about possible research themes contact Prof. Paolo Bàrberi, barberi@sssup.it for topics related to Agroecology or Dr Francesco Licausi, f.licausi@sssup.it for topics related to Crop Physiology).

For general information,  contact info-phdlifesciences@sssup.it

Notification from Treaty Secretariat – Call for proposals 2014

The Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture have announced on their web site:

Call for Proposals 2014: Benefit-sharing Fund

Any governmental or non-governmental organization, including farmers and farmers’ organizations, genebanks and research institutions, as well as regional and international organizations, based in eligible countries that are Contracting Parties to the International Treaty, may apply for grants under the Third Call for Proposal of the Benefit-sharing Fund. Deadline is 5 May 2014, 24:00 Rome time.

Notification available in English –  French –  Spanish –  Arabic

Follow the link in the notification letters for the full text of the call and submission form.

Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights Training Opportunity

Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights (GRIP) is an advanced international training programme financed by Sida.The programme aims to enhance managerial and technical skills in the field of IP, contribute to processes of change and development in the participants’ organizations and provide guidance in the policy formation of IP and innovation systems.

The next GRIP programme will be carried out in Sweden in May 2013 with a follow up seminar in a participanting country in November 2013. [Download brochure and application form].  The closing date for applications is 15 January 2013.

Fellowship on Practice and Policy on Commons

If you are interested in attending the forthcoming IASC2013 14th Global Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons on the “Commoners and the Changing Commons: Livelihoods, Environmental Security, and Shared Knowledge” (see our recent post) you may also be interested in the Prof. Elinor Ostrom International Fellowship on Practice and Policy on Commons which could cover your participation and presentation at the conference.

Deadline for application is 31 October 2012.  Apologies for the short notice.

Training course on PGR strategies and policies

The international training course “Contemporary approaches to genetic resources conservation and use” provides state-of the art insight into various PGR management strategies and relevant policies.   The course is devoted to analyzing PGR and their impact on their conservation and sustainable use. It aims to support policy makers and other stakeholders in the implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

The course is organized by Wageningen University, 15 April – 3 May 2013. The deadline for applications is 15 March 2013.  See course website.

Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship call for applications

Bioversity International announces its call for applications for the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowships.  Two Fellowships, for up to US$ 20,000 each, will be available for 2013 to carry out research from 3 to 12 months on a wide range of themes related to the conservation and use of plant genetic resources in developing countries.

One of the themes is “Policy research in support of implementation of the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture“.  The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture entered into force in 2004. Parties to the Treaty are committed to creating a common pool of genetic resources to support agricultural research, plant breeding and training. Countries need to implement combinations of polices, laws and administrative guidelines to become fully active participants in the common pool. The effective implementation of the Treaty at the national level requires a comprehensive collection and assessment of baseline information about plant genetic resources conservation and use in each country and protracted engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. National policy makers can use those inputs to identify options for implementing the Treaty, including for example how community-based plant genetic resource management initiatives can be involved more directly in the implementation of the Treaty. Such work may be addressed by studies that 1) improve understanding of the role that such initiatives play in the conservation and provision of germplasm of all kinds or 2) improve understanding of how community gene/seed banks initiatives may complement national and international gene-banks.

Other themes focus on :

• Use of agrobiodiversity as an instrument for climate change adaptation
• Research to enhance the conservation of genetic resources of a tree species important to the livelihoods of the rural poor
• Sustainable diets for improved nutrition and health
• Gene discovery in crop wild relatives
• Facilitating better use of genebank materials
• Researching neglected and underutilized species for food and nutrition security
• Applying economics to agrobiodiversity conservation, sustainable use and policy analysis
• Management of Musa diseases through a better understanding of specific host-pathogen interactions and co-evolution.

Applications may be submitted in English, French or Spanish by 11 November 2012.
Download the Call, Application Form and Guidelines