The SCAP planning Workshop, Ouagadougou, May 23-25, 2006
Introduction Workshop on SCAP (Smallholder Conservation Agriculture Promotion) in Western and Central Africa, Ouagadougou, 23-25 May 2006.
IFAD (Western and Central Africa Division) is organizing in collaboration with the Government of Burkina Faso (Through PDRD a project planning workshop on Smallholder conservation agriculture Promotion (SCAP - refer to the project presentation) in Western and Central Africa, to be held during 23-25 May, in Ouagadougou. The final project document (scheduled to be submitted to IFAD in June) will be shaped by workshop outcomes as well as the already-approved project concept note. One objective of the workshop is to resolve specific issues on project implementation.
The workshop program is organized as follows:
- Day one will feature a field visit to the IFAD PDRD project, located in the central plains of Burkina Faso. During this field visit, workshop participants will have the opportunity to interact with farmers who, over past years, have already adopted some soil and water conservation practices. This may provide insights into the social dynamics involved, and the extent to which attractive soil and water conservation practices have been identified and adopted. The visit should also provide insights into how participatory action research activities can fit into the framework of IFAD investment projects.
- Days two and three will be spent in Ouagadougou. The intent is to use this time to gather together all elements needed for the construction of SCAP. For this reason, the sessions will be as dynamic and participatory as possible. During these days, further information will be provided on relevant field activities carried out by FIDA projects - and by other stakeholders - in SCAP coverage areas in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger. At the same time, further information will be shared with regard to:
- Lessons learned during the world conservation agriculture congress (Nairobi, 2005).
- Experiences with conservation agriculture in eastern and southern Africa.
- Progress in research related to conservation agriculture within international institutions, e.g., ICRAF, CIRAD, and ICRISAT.
- Information/ opinions from country organizations in the SCAP area of coverage. After the conclusion of this event, workshop organizers will remain behind for one more day to synthesize information emerging from the workshop, and to incorporate them into an advanced draft of the SCAP proposal.
Workshop participants will include:
- SCAP project organizers from IFAD, ACT, CIRAD and ICRAF.
- Persons in charge of the four relevant IFAD investment projects as well as representatives of other IFAD projects that may at some future date become interested in the theme of conservation agriculture.
- Professionals from many disciplines (technicians, researchers, engineers, sociologists, economists, etc.) working in the area of conservation agriculture, soil and water conservation, or innovation systems. Some of these will come from eastern and southern Africa.
- Representatives of African research and development institutions (largely from Burkina Faso) who have a stake in the success of conservation agriculture.
- Representatives of funding and development support organizations.
For more information on this Workshop, please contact at Rome, Mr Florent Maraux (f.maraux@ifad.org), and in Burkina Faso, M. Julien Lompo (julienlompo@yahoo.fr) Coordinator, Sustainable Rural Development Project www.pdrd.org
