In SciDev:The African Science, Technology and Innovation Endowment Fund (ASTIEF), along with the African Science to Business Challenge (ABSC)...aim to motivate inventors and innovators and spur on the development of sustainable industries and enterprises for the continent..."The work of the fund will be to help translate scientific research and ideas into micro entrepreneurship to spur socioeconomic growth on the continent,"-Aida Opoku-Mensah (of UNECA)Sanoussi Diakite covered earlier expresses doubts:"UNECA must avoid being steeped in the bureaucracy and inefficiency which he said characterise such initiatives in Africa."While:Oye Ibidapo-Obe, president of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences, hailed the move as the first fund in Africa in which even the private sector will be called...
In WorldWatch:In Zambia, sorghum—a drought resistant cereal that thrives in the country— was considered a “poor man’s crop” in the past, often shunned by small-scale farmers for the more commercially viable maize. But an article in the June issue of Farming Matters explains how a Zambian brewery with a new brand of beer is changing the way small-scale farmers think about sorghum...[continue reading]Related articles by ZemantaThe Robustness of Traditional Crops...
From 5-7 July 2010, ILRI and IKM Emergent hosted a learning and exchange workshop in Nairobi on research communication. Participants came from research and development organizations in East and Southern Africa. The wiki from the workshop shows the work of the participants.The end session included a review by participants of the opportunities and threats provided and posed by social media for research communicators:The opportunities:we can better manage our e-resourcessocial media add interactivity to our work (it helps 'spread our wings')social media facilitate easy, cheap, speedy finding, sharing and connecting of credible informationwith social media, we can reac new audiences in real timesocial media increase the visibility of us and our institutionswith social media, it is easier to...
Find out more about this workshop organized by Bioversity Inetrnational and CAS-IP. Presentations, background materials ... all available for all.More articles on open access ......
ICAR 2009/10 Seminar Series: Researching asylum seekers, refugees and migrants- Slideshows are available for some of the seminars.One-Day Workshop on The Meaning and Practice of Immigration Detention: Perspectives from Legal, Social, and Political Theory, University of Oxford, 21 May 2010- Presentations/papers have been posted; see also the podcast page for audio versions of the event.Regional Workshop on Protecting and Promoting Rights in Natural Disasters in South-East Asia: Prevention and Response, 14-15 May 2010- Report of the workshop is now available.Rights in Exile: Global Perspectives on Legal Assistance for Refugees and IDPs, 21 June 2010- Use the navigation menu on the left to access a recording of the conference; there are also photos (such as the one displayed on the right)...
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Open Source House covered earlier has announced their winning entry, designed by Lisbon-based Blaanc in collaboration with Architect João Caeiro. Treehugger reports:Emerging Ghana is a plan for an eco-affordable single family house for the emerging middle class of Ghana. The design recently won first place in the international design competition Open Source House, a non-profit organization that aims to provide better, more sustainable housing in low-income countries. Emerging Ghana is modular single-family home design to be built with local materials, local labor, and with all the best sustainable design strategies you can imagine, all for a low cost of about $12,500 USD. More...
Research into development issues is not an end in itself. If knowledge created by researchers is shared and debated publicly, it is more likely to be adopted by policymakers and practitioners. Too many research reports sit on library shelves gathering dust. Today there is growing recognition of the importance of communicating research findings. The 2008 Research Strategy of the UK's Department...
Five Mphil/Phd students from HOORC, have just come back from a 2 week workshop at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. The workshop also drew students Mozambique, Uganda and South Africa. It was aimed at introducing RISE graduate students to the major conventions governing academic research dissertation writing and to provide these students with strategies for successfully negotiating their way...
Spore highlights the growing appetite for dry beans:Cultivation of haricot beans, which originated in the Andes mountains, has taken a strong hold in the upland regions of Central and Eastern Africa. The Great Lakes region (Burundi, eastern DR Congo and Rwanda) holds the world record for consumption of these legumes: an annual 50 to 60 kg of dry beans per person. But haricot beans feature on the menu in many other ACP countries too, including Cape Verde and Nigeria. They are also popular in the Caribbean, where they are sometimes accompanied by maize or rice. Haricot beans are often called 'the poor man's meat' due to their high value protein content supplied by essential amino acids (22 to 24%)...[continue reading]While 234next reports on a new cowpea varieties IT89KD-288 and...
Africa Studies Quarterly reported that researchers in Zimbabwe had determined that:Lack of suitable storage facilities among smallholder farmers continues to expose farmers to intermittent food shocks. Farmers are thus making use of locally available preservation methods, derived from indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), to improve storability of sweet potatoesAt the conclusion of their research they contended: Image by NatalieMaynor via FlickrThe socio-economic value of indigenous knowledge cannot be under estimated. The results of this study point to soil banks as the most effective in terms of maintaining the quality of the stored crop and reducing water loss. However, use of grass and ash are also valuable methods but could be associated with loss in quality judging by the incidence of...
At TED India, Anil Gupta founder of the Honey Bee Network covered earlier on seeking,finding and nurturing innovation where you least expect it. A road map of sorts on how better to do it in Africa:...
Two upcoming events will focus on detention:"The Theory and Practice of Immigration Detention Workshop: Perspectives from Legal, Political, and Social Theory," University of Oxford, 21 May 2010 [info]- Four panels will discuss legal approaches, political theory, conditions of immigration detention, and citizenship and government technologies. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Refugee Studies Centre, COMPAS, and St. Antony's College."Detention of Vulnerable Asylum Seekers and Irregular Migrants in the European Union," Brussels, 8 June 2010 [info]- Coordinated by JRS Europe and partner NGOs. The meeting will discuss research undertaken by the DEVAS project into the impact of detention and the development of a tool to assess vulnerability in detention.Latest news in the UK:"Asylum children...
This report provides an introduction to the patterns of research activity across Africa by analysing and comparing:•Research performance by region – north, central and south•Fields of research and top performing nations in each•Comparing output of published papers with GDP•Level of collaboration within Africa and with countries outside the continentIn conclusion, the authors ascertain that the...
Advances in Nursing Science, vol. 33. no. 2 (April/June 2010) [contents]- Focus is on immigrants and refugees. Includes "Narratives of 'Dissonance' and 'Repositioning' Through the Lens of Critical Humanism: Exploring the Influences on Immigrants' and Refugees' Health and Well-being" and "Somali Bantu Refugees in Southwest Idaho: Assessment Using Participatory Research."Fahamu Refugee e-Newsletter (April 2010) [full-text]- Reports news, information and resources.Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 2 (May 2010) [contents]- Mix of articles including "Enhancing Enforcement of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Using Indicators: A Focus on the Right to Education in the ICESCR" and "Advancing the Rights of Non-Citizens in Canada: A Human Rights Approach to Migrant Rights."International...
El nuevo sitio web de la iniciativa global Coherencia en la información para la investigación agraria para el desarrollo (CIARD) fue lanzado por sus principales socios durante el XIII Congreso Mundial de IAALD en Montpellier.CIARD es un movimiento que busca la coherencia y colaboración en la información y comunicación de la investigación agraria y reúne a instituciones y personas que desean hacer que los productos de la investigación agraria de dominio público sean verdaderamente accesibles a todos. El Manifiesto de CIARD y otras herramientas proporcionan un marco de políticas y prácticas para que quienes poseen y producen información y conocimientos puedan compartir sus productos mundialmente y de modo más eficaz.El sitio web ofrece una plataforma virtual para la...
At the XIIIth World Congress of IAALD held in Montpellier, the new website of the global initiative on Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD)was launched by the principal partners. CIARD is a movement for coherence and collaboration in agricultural research information and communication that brings together institutions and people who want to make agricultural research outputs in the public domain truly accessible to all.The CIARD Manifesto www.ciard.net/ciard-manifesto and other tools provide a framework of policy and practices for those holding and creating information and knowledge to share their outputs globally and more efficiently.The web site provides a virtual platform for institutions to participate in CIARD activities, evaluate their...
Innovation from the Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster:Apart from farming seaweed using the traditional off-bottom method,ZaSCI has adopted a new technique of farming seaweed-the deep water floating systems to farm the higher priced seaweed - cottonii. This is to combat the problem of seaweed die-off and to increase seaweed production.via...
From the IITA video channel:"...Chris Okonkwo in a training video which shows step by step how to propagate yam through...
21st Century Aid: Recognising success and tackling failure (Oxfam, April 2010) [text]Forced Migration Research and Policy: Overview of current trends and future directions (RSC, April 2010) [text]"Humanitarian State Building: The Experience of Steering Committees in Southern Lebanon," Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (3 May 2010) [text]Improving Asylum Procedures - Comparative Analysis and Recommendations for Law and Practice: Key Gender Related Findings and Recommendations (UNHCR, March 2010) [text]Not displaced, out-of-place: Education of IDP Children in Georgia (NRC, April 2010) [text]Public health equity in refugee and other displaced persons settings (UNHCR, April 2010) [text]"Refugees in Burma, Malaysia and Thailand: Rescue for Rohingya," World Today, vol. 66, no. 5 (May 2010)...
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“I Want to Help My Own People”: State Control and Civil Society in Burma after Cyclone Nargis (Human Rights Watch, April 2010) [text]Locked Up But Not Forgotten: Opening Access to Family & Community in the Immigration Detention System (NYU School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic et al., April 2010) [text via NYT] - See related NYT article.Migrant Smuggling Issue Papers (UNODC, April 2010) [access]- Two titles currently available.Non-written Languages and Refugee Research (Andrew Rasmussen's blog, April 2010) [text]Position paper on the return of separated children to reception houses in countries of origin (Defence for Children-ECPAT & UNICEF, April 2010) [text]Report to the Italian Government on the visit to Italy carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of...
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Following on from this earlier listing, here are some additional upcoming events and opportunities:Refugee Contribution to British Life, UCL Bloomsbury Theatre, 12 May 2010 [info]- Lecture by the Archbishop of Canterbury; register by 5 May 2010.COI Training, Blended Learning Course, 25 May -18 June 2010 [info]- E-training course, which includes a face-to-face meeting in Vienna, 24 June 2010; register by 10 May 2010.Boundaries, borders and belonging: a workshop to explore migration, citizenship and global development, University of Leeds, 11 May 2010 [info]- "This workshop on migration and citizenship aims to facilitate an exchange of ideas and networking between researchers from multiple disciplinary perspectives."Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture 2010, "The complexity of powerlessness:...
In Montpellier today, CGIAR centers attending the IAALD Congress announced a new colaboration with Google Books.CGBooks (http://books.cgiar.org), a collaborative effort involving CGIAR Information Managers, Web Managers and Google staff, has effectively expanded the reach of CGIAR research, simply by making publications instantly searchable over the Internet....
Development in Practice, vol. 20, no. 3 (2010) [contents]- Mix of articles including two book reviews on the humanitarian world and Sergio Vieira de Mello, respectively.Disaster Prevention and Management, vol. 19, no. 2 (2010) [contents]- Mix of articles including "Disasters and 'responsibility to protect' – should nations force aid on others?".Field Exchange, no. 38 (April 2010) [full-text]- Mix of field and research reports on nutrition issues; includes "Review of NGO engagement with the humanitarian reform process" and "Review of tools developed by the Global Nutrition Cluster" and an Agency Profile of UNHCR.Refugee Research Network E-Newsletter, vol. 1, no. 1 (Spring 2010) [full-text]Women's Asylum News, no. 91 (April 2010) [full-text via Refworld]- Lead article is "Rape and sexual...
IAALD is one of the first institutional partners to contribute full text content to the 'Global Agricultural Research Archive' of CAB International. The pilot database currently contains over 2,700 full text records.The archive contains the full text of papers presented at the IAALD 2008 World Congress in Japan. IN the near future, we plan to add papers from the 2010 congress and perhaps the digital archives of the IAALD Quarterly Bulletin.Outgoing IAALD President Peter Ballantyne is "really pleased that IAALD is part of this new initiative. It is a concrete demonstration of our commitment to CIARD and the principle of making our information openly accessible."View the archive / more on CIARD / posts on open access / open access RSS feed...
Image via WikipediaAll the more reason for a Maker philosophy,in Africa Report:Africa needs more scientists. But it is this focus on research for research’s sake that is crippling the standard of teaching at African universities and stalling real advances that can tackle some of the most urgent development challenges.
My food scientist was doing some excellent work – researching better and more nutritious ways for women to ground cassava into flour for gari for example. But it sounds like his priorities are being set not by the farmers he’s trying to help, but by the cycle of research he’s tied into.More hereRelated articles by ZemantaAfrica's Research Output Dominated By Three Nations, According to Thomson Reuters Study...
ICAR has decided to allow open access to its research journals online for the benefit of students, researchers and farmers for free nationally and internationally. The journals namely, Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Indian Journal of Animal Sciences are published monthly by ICAR. The journals are accessible from the ICAR website from March 2010 onwards....
The BBC reports:The Rwanda 'Biodiesel Express' runs entirely on oil plants, animal fats and even used cooking oil from restaurants..."Using 100% biodiesel reduces carbon monoxide emissions by 48%," says Jean Baptiste Nduwayezu, head of the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IRST)...researchers estimate that 225,000 hectares of oil plants - such as avocado, moringa and jatropha - would be needed to supply the whole of Rwanda with bio-diesel.More herevia Innovation...
On the 'biodiversity commons' mailing list: David Duthie (UNEP/DGEF) writes: "A global biological commons in genetic resources was implemented in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) through a system of international nurseries with a breeding hub, free sharing of germplasm, collaboration in information collection, the development of human resources, and an international collaborative network. The success of an open-source system such as that implemented by CGIAR depends primarily on key people and leadership. Derek Byerlee and Jesse Dublin share these insights in Crop improvement in the CGIAR as a global success story of open access and international collaboration published in The International Journal of the Commons.Open-source collaboration includes (i)...
...and still tracking forced migration information!What exactly do I track?In blog posts, I report on links to:- the full-text of recently published reports, working papers, journal articles, books, and other publications (see publications)- new issues of journals relevant to forced migration (see periodicals)- information on upcoming events and opportunities (see events)- multimedia, like videos, podcasts, and photo collections (see audiovisual and photographs)- new web sites and online research tools (see websites)In the sidebar, I list references to:- new articles that appear in other disciplinary journals- new law review articles and legal papers- new books and book chapters(note: these are non-full-text; links above go to bookmarked lists in Delicious)If there is another type of...
New Issues:Intervention: International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial Work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict, vol. 7, no. 3 (Nov. 2009) [contents]- Special issue on "Combining qualitative and quantitative research methods to support psychosocial and mental health programmes in complex emergencies."Intervention: International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial Work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict, vol. 8, no. 1 (March 2010) [contents]- Mix of articles.Migration Letters, vol. 7, no. 1 (April 2010) [contents]- Special issue on "Research Methods in Ethnic and Migration Studies"; includes "Forced migration and psychosocial health: meaning-making through autobiographical narratives in the UK."Refugee Participation Network Archive [access]- Predecessor to Forced...