The African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) held its first Africa Wide Agricultural Extension Week in Gaborone Botswana, in August 2013, which brought together over 300 delegates from more than forty countries within and outside Africa. The delegates underscored the fact that Africa faced key challenges in agricultural productivity, because farmers did not get optimal value for their efforts and from their land potential. Some of the key factors causing this include, among others, the policy environment, capacities, delivery systems, approaches and tools like information and communication technology (ICT) – hence the theme of this second Extension Week.
The 2nd AFAAS Agricultural Extension Week will take place from 12-16 October 2015, in Hilton Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme: “Reinvigorating Extension Services for Market-led Agriculture within the Context of the Malabo Declaration”. The event shall focus on the following sub themes: i) Policies and institutional arrangements and support systems, ii) Resourcing agricultural extension (financing and investment); iii) Capacity development in agricultural extension for enhancing resilience of livelihoods and production systems to risks; and, iv) Approaches and ICTs for knowledge management in agricultural extension. The event is expected to bring together agricultural extension and advisory services practitioners and other agricultural value chain actors across and outside Africa. AFAAS will also hold its Fifth General Assembly during this period.
The participants shall be drawn from within and outside Africa. The event targets extension practitioners from public, private and civil society organizations, policy makers, research and development community, academia and the Development Partners, Farmers and representatives of farmers’ organizations and commodity associations.