Fairfood International is an international non-profit campaign and lobby organisation, which encourages the food and beverage industry to make its supply chains more sustainable. In this way Fairfood contributes to the fight against global hunger and poverty.
More info on: http://www.fairfood.org/over-ons/vacatures/project-leader-brand-owners/
dinsdag 28 april 2009
zaterdag 25 april 2009
From our Italian correspondent in Uganda
hi all,welcome to the Pearl of Africa. where I'm right now, outside world is secured by the white shade of the mosquito net. nothing can pass through. nothing but music from the neighborhood. drums, chants. sunday here is an happy day. it's God's day.
since i've landed in Kampala -ten days ago- my life is spelled by warm and dusty days. everyone the same. slow. regular. here there's no winter, no spring. sun rises at six and at six regularly disappear down in a lake, or behind a mountain far away west.
with sunset comes the rain, held by the wind. the early gusts breaks sultriness, forecast a wet relief from the heat. wind blows and roads became empty, first drops comes. rain catches only the few that can't posticipate their duties. only who hasn't got enough time to stop under a shelter, and safely watch roads become streams and streams become rivers. it's a matter of minutes, sometimes hours. everyday, at sunset. they call it rainy season.
since two days I'm in Lira town, north part of the country. here I will stay for the next 4 months. somebody told me that being at home means being able to move around without a map. if so, well, I'm already home!
the town rises along the only main road of the region, and is the furthest point of it. beyond only paths and dirt roads. mango, banana and avocado trees. the highest place is the fourth floor of one of the rare cement buildings downtown, and the three-floors twin blocks of a well-known hotel really deserve their high-sounding name of 'towers'.
national currency is the shilling, and you need almost 2500 of them to buy a euro. with fourteenhundred shillings you can taste a 'chapati' -traditional flat bread- and a big glass of insipid mango juice. for two thousand you can extra-size it with a sausage.
everything flows according to precise and undefined rithms. like the african step. slow but steady. sure to get there but nobody knows exactly when. smiles and elegance are endemic here, just like malaria. nobody hassle you, neither wants something. but if you give nobody says no.
i hope this introduction has arouse some curiosity in you, or maybe nostalgia. and i hope you wouldn't mind to receive, now and then, the continuation of this story.
cheers filippo
woensdag 22 april 2009
Application for EMA President and Vice-President
Dear EMA members,
this is to inform you that all EMA members are encouraged to apply for positions of EMA President and Vice President.
Deadline for the President candidacy is April 26th, 2009; deadline for Vice-president nominations is May 3, 2009.
To find out more about the Call for applications for the position of EMA President, please click here: http://www.em-a.eu/home/news/article/ema-elections-of-president.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6&cHash=e4000a91d0
To get more details on the Call for applications for the position of EMA Vice-President, please follow this link: http://www.em-a.eu/home/news/article/call-for-applications-ema-vice-president.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6&cHash=34352f678b
We hope for your active participation.
Sincerely,EMA Steering Committee
this is to inform you that all EMA members are encouraged to apply for positions of EMA President and Vice President.
Deadline for the President candidacy is April 26th, 2009; deadline for Vice-president nominations is May 3, 2009.
To find out more about the Call for applications for the position of EMA President, please click here: http://www.em-a.eu/home/news/article/ema-elections-of-president.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6&cHash=e4000a91d0
To get more details on the Call for applications for the position of EMA Vice-President, please follow this link: http://www.em-a.eu/home/news/article/call-for-applications-ema-vice-president.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6&cHash=34352f678b
We hope for your active participation.
Sincerely,EMA Steering Committee
woensdag 15 april 2009
News from Madrid
Hello dear fellows, I hope you are all doing great!We have already finished our course work in Madrid and most of our international colleagues have already returned to their home countries. We were 23 students from 13 different countries in Madrid´s International Master Course in Rural Local Development (1 Argentinean, 2 Bolivians, 2 Brazilians, 2 Chileans, 1 Colombian, 2 Ecuadorians, 3 Spanish, 1 USA, 1 Honduran, 1 Mexican, 2 Nicaraguans, 4 Peruvians and 1 Puerto Rican). At the moment, only the Agris Mundus students and those who are working on their Doctorates have remained.
It has been a very intense experience in which we have learned and shared many things. We started the Master in September with very interesting and engaging discussions through an online platform. Afterwards, from October to February we attended classes in the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. During this period we had to prepare a final project that we all presented in the third and fourth week of March. The Agris Mundus students have the opportunity to improve their final project between April and June to then be presented in its final version at the end of June.
Congratulations to all those who have already obtained the Master in Rural Local Development!! And good luck to the rest of the Agris Mundus Students!!
Un abrazo a tod@s,
Borja
zondag 12 april 2009
Agris Mundus students in a professional situation in Senegal !
From the 24th of March till the 3rd of April 2009, some of the Agris Mundus students following the option “Public policies, markets and institutions (EcoDev)” in Montpellier, France, have had the opportunity to apply their theoretical formation in “project evaluation” to a case study in Senegal. Berdi, Ineke, Juan Carlos, Jairo and me (Handuo and Kimlong couldn’t get the visa at time unfortunately!) joined 12 other students to a study trip of 10 days in Fatick, a city in one of the poorest regions of Senegal.
The Senegalese consultancy group “GERAD” (Groupe d’Etude et de Recherche et d’Aide à la Décision, http://www.geradsn.org/accueil2.php) has commissioned our school to conduct the evaluation of its project PDIF, which created a regional solidarity fund to allow micro credits to women. It was a really interesting and hard exercise to evaluate a project which started 5 years ago and to gather so many stakeholders around local development issues: women groups, women unions, mutual insurance companies, regional and local councils, state technical services, etc.
For me, the best souvenir is the exchange with the 2 Senegalese working in the project, Lamine, sociologist and Cheick, financial assistant of the project that accompanied us all along the trip, sharing their experience and being so helpful and kind with us. The other good souvenir is the really warm welcome of all the women that we interviewed.
This kind of study trip is really important for students to become aware of the practical use of the theory learned during the classes but also of the real issues of development in the field. One important thing to remember from this trip: even though NGOs prefer to rely on expatriates to manage their projects, local competences exist and are the most adapted to find solutions to development issues in their country, as showed by the quality of the projects realized by this Senegalese consultancy group GERAD.
The Senegalese consultancy group “GERAD” (Groupe d’Etude et de Recherche et d’Aide à la Décision, http://www.geradsn.org/accueil2.php) has commissioned our school to conduct the evaluation of its project PDIF, which created a regional solidarity fund to allow micro credits to women. It was a really interesting and hard exercise to evaluate a project which started 5 years ago and to gather so many stakeholders around local development issues: women groups, women unions, mutual insurance companies, regional and local councils, state technical services, etc.For me, the best souvenir is the exchange with the 2 Senegalese working in the project, Lamine, sociologist and Cheick, financial assistant of the project that accompanied us all along the trip, sharing their experience and being so helpful and kind with us. The other good souvenir is the really warm welcome of all the women that we interviewed.
This kind of study trip is really important for students to become aware of the practical use of the theory learned during the classes but also of the real issues of development in the field. One important thing to remember from this trip: even though NGOs prefer to rely on expatriates to manage their projects, local competences exist and are the most adapted to find solutions to development issues in their country, as showed by the quality of the projects realized by this Senegalese consultancy group GERAD.
Julie MAYANS, France
REPORT FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE ERASMUS MUNDUS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE 2009, BUDAPEST.
Justice TAMBO, Batch 3 student from Ghana in the agricultural development track, attended and presented a paper on the Erasmus Mundus conference on Climate Change in Budapest.
Below you can read about his experiences and find some pictures from his stay in Budapest.
Below you can read about his experiences and find some pictures from his stay in Budapest.
REPORT FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE ERASMUS MUNDUS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE 2009, BUDAPEST.
The conference was organised by the Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association (EMA), a network for students and alumni of all Erasmus Mundus Masters Course (EMMC). This first Erasmus Mundus conference on the theme “Higher Education and Climate Change” took place on 26th – 27th February 2009 at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary.
The purpose of the conference was to bring together experts and Erasmus Mundus students and alumni from a wide spectrum of disciplines to exchange views and experiences on issues related to problems of climate change and also establish an Erasmus Mundus Forum on Climate Change-an informal communication to continue the dialogue among interested members of the EMA and its partners.
It started with a welcome session and plenary session delivered by selected keynote speakers who are distinguished professors from various EMMCs. Among the key note speakers were Dianna Urge-Vorsatz, a professor at CEU and Director of the Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Policy (3CSEP) and a member of the IPCC; Alice Newton, a professor at the University of Algarve, Portugal and Paavo Pelkonen, a professor and vice dean of faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Joensuu, Finland. They presented on various issues linking the EM programmes, higher education and climate change.
Then the conference was divided into four breakout sessions, each focusing on 1) agricultural, ecology, forestry and climate change, 2) energy, technological progress and climate change, 3) public policy and legal response to climate change, and 4) socio-cultural and economic aspects of climate change. I joined the agricultural ecology, forestry and climate change session. There were five presentations in each session for the first day. There was debriefing from each section for all participants to know the presentations for the day.
A social event – dinner and a boat tour on the Danube River was organized on the evening of the first day. This was the best dinner I have ever had. Having a dinner in a boat which was moving across a river dividing Buda and Pest was superb. The dinner offered a great opportunity to interact with other participants and created a platform for networking.
The presentations by EMA members continued on the second day. I was unlucky to be the first presenter for my section after a night of dinner but it went very well. I presented on the topic: Addressing the climate change challenge; what can sustainable agriculture do? It focused on the impacts of climate change on agriculture (both positive and negative) and how sustainable agriculture can help to solve the negative aspect through mitigation and adaptation. There were five presentations in each session.
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There were many interesting presentations delivered by the keynote speakers as well as the EMA members: from the far-reaching implications of the changing climate (its causes and impacts), to the available options that our world may have in order to respond to mitigating and adapting to a changing climate.
We had the debriefing and a take home message from each section. The main conclusions from the agricultural, ecology, forestry and climate change section include:
1. Both agriculture and forestry are vulnerable but can contribute to mitigation.
2. Mitigation and adaptation have to go hand in hand
3. Education is needed to change the mindset of people about climate change
4. Look for solutions from a local level to a global level
5. Re-visit biotechnology
6. Research into solutions
7. Seek multi-sectoral solutions
The conference ended with the establishment of the Erasmus Mundus Climate Change Forum – a communication and networking platform set up for interested EMA members to enhance their life-long networking and interpersonal connections that can lead to a positive collective response to the climate change issue from the EMA community. An Ad Hoc Task Force was set up to facilitate further development and progress of the forum.
The various presentations from EMA members from different disciplines proved that the wide spectrum of disciplines covered by the EM programme can offer a unique multidisciplinary approach to tackling complex issues of climate change. The conference also served as one of the best means to gather EMA members and strengthen the EMA network.
I was very glad for the opportunity to participate in the conference because it offered me the opportunity to make new friends, network and learn a lot. Most of the participants (about 99%) at the conference were alumni and alumnae of various EMMC`s hence I was very lucky to be part of the few students who had the opportunity to attend the conference. I realised from interaction with the participants that all Erasmus Mundus students have a great future after graduation as almost all of the alumni/alumnae are pursuing PhD or working in reputable organizations across the world. I also found that people are not aware of Agris Mundus programme hence there is a need for more promotion of Agris Mundus. I believe we are on course through the creation of the website and participating in various EMA activities.
I will like to urge you all to get involve in EMA. Just log on to http://www.em-a.eu/ register to be a member and also keep updating yourselves with EMA issues and together we can make EMA a better association. By the way please don´t forget to contribute your quota to the debate on climate change and always remember the Chinese proverb that states that ”the person who does not worry about the future will shortly have worries about the present”. I will inform you all if there is any new development on the Erasmus Mundus Climate Change Forum.
I would like to thank the Danish Development Research Network (DDRN) for the opportunity to participate in the first Erasmus Mundus Conference through the covering of my travel expenses.
By: Justice Akpene Tambo
Faculty of Life Sciences,
University of Copenhagen.
12th April, 2009.
The conference was organised by the Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association (EMA), a network for students and alumni of all Erasmus Mundus Masters Course (EMMC). This first Erasmus Mundus conference on the theme “Higher Education and Climate Change” took place on 26th – 27th February 2009 at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary.
The purpose of the conference was to bring together experts and Erasmus Mundus students and alumni from a wide spectrum of disciplines to exchange views and experiences on issues related to problems of climate change and also establish an Erasmus Mundus Forum on Climate Change-an informal communication to continue the dialogue among interested members of the EMA and its partners.
It started with a welcome session and plenary session delivered by selected keynote speakers who are distinguished professors from various EMMCs. Among the key note speakers were Dianna Urge-Vorsatz, a professor at CEU and Director of the Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Policy (3CSEP) and a member of the IPCC; Alice Newton, a professor at the University of Algarve, Portugal and Paavo Pelkonen, a professor and vice dean of faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Joensuu, Finland. They presented on various issues linking the EM programmes, higher education and climate change.
Then the conference was divided into four breakout sessions, each focusing on 1) agricultural, ecology, forestry and climate change, 2) energy, technological progress and climate change, 3) public policy and legal response to climate change, and 4) socio-cultural and economic aspects of climate change. I joined the agricultural ecology, forestry and climate change session. There were five presentations in each session for the first day. There was debriefing from each section for all participants to know the presentations for the day.
A social event – dinner and a boat tour on the Danube River was organized on the evening of the first day. This was the best dinner I have ever had. Having a dinner in a boat which was moving across a river dividing Buda and Pest was superb. The dinner offered a great opportunity to interact with other participants and created a platform for networking.
The presentations by EMA members continued on the second day. I was unlucky to be the first presenter for my section after a night of dinner but it went very well. I presented on the topic: Addressing the climate change challenge; what can sustainable agriculture do? It focused on the impacts of climate change on agriculture (both positive and negative) and how sustainable agriculture can help to solve the negative aspect through mitigation and adaptation. There were five presentations in each session.
There were many interesting presentations delivered by the keynote speakers as well as the EMA members: from the far-reaching implications of the changing climate (its causes and impacts), to the available options that our world may have in order to respond to mitigating and adapting to a changing climate.
We had the debriefing and a take home message from each section. The main conclusions from the agricultural, ecology, forestry and climate change section include:
1. Both agriculture and forestry are vulnerable but can contribute to mitigation.
2. Mitigation and adaptation have to go hand in hand
3. Education is needed to change the mindset of people about climate change
4. Look for solutions from a local level to a global level
5. Re-visit biotechnology
6. Research into solutions
7. Seek multi-sectoral solutions
The conference ended with the establishment of the Erasmus Mundus Climate Change Forum – a communication and networking platform set up for interested EMA members to enhance their life-long networking and interpersonal connections that can lead to a positive collective response to the climate change issue from the EMA community. An Ad Hoc Task Force was set up to facilitate further development and progress of the forum.
The various presentations from EMA members from different disciplines proved that the wide spectrum of disciplines covered by the EM programme can offer a unique multidisciplinary approach to tackling complex issues of climate change. The conference also served as one of the best means to gather EMA members and strengthen the EMA network.
I was very glad for the opportunity to participate in the conference because it offered me the opportunity to make new friends, network and learn a lot. Most of the participants (about 99%) at the conference were alumni and alumnae of various EMMC`s hence I was very lucky to be part of the few students who had the opportunity to attend the conference. I realised from interaction with the participants that all Erasmus Mundus students have a great future after graduation as almost all of the alumni/alumnae are pursuing PhD or working in reputable organizations across the world. I also found that people are not aware of Agris Mundus programme hence there is a need for more promotion of Agris Mundus. I believe we are on course through the creation of the website and participating in various EMA activities.
I will like to urge you all to get involve in EMA. Just log on to http://www.em-a.eu/ register to be a member and also keep updating yourselves with EMA issues and together we can make EMA a better association. By the way please don´t forget to contribute your quota to the debate on climate change and always remember the Chinese proverb that states that ”the person who does not worry about the future will shortly have worries about the present”. I will inform you all if there is any new development on the Erasmus Mundus Climate Change Forum.
I would like to thank the Danish Development Research Network (DDRN) for the opportunity to participate in the first Erasmus Mundus Conference through the covering of my travel expenses.
By: Justice Akpene Tambo
Faculty of Life Sciences,
University of Copenhagen.
12th April, 2009.
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