BvAT Executive Director Visits GIZ in Eschborn for Enhanced Collaboration.

BvAT team at IED Afrique in Dakar

 

Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT) continues to be one of the key actors in advancing agroecology-based initiatives in Africa. Through the current Ecological Organic Agriculture initiative (EOA-I) for Africa supported by the Swiss Agency for Development (SDC) and the Knowledge Hub for Eastern Africa as part of the Knowledge Centre for Organic Agriculture (KCOA) supported by GIZ, BvAT is contributing to alleviating poverty and improving the livelihoods of rural communities in Africa through disseminating relevant agricultural information and knowledge, capacity strengthening of institutions involved and supporting like-minded organizations to scale up the efforts. Through this, BvAT hopes to realize a food-secure African continent with healthy people living in a healthy environment.

 

Dr. David Amudavi met with several GIZ officers to discuss how its efforts of scaling up agroecology initiatives in Africa by bringing on board other development agencies and partners could be supported. He first held discussions regarding the proposed CIM expert with Ms. Dorith von Behaim, Project Manager for Knowledge Centre for Organic Agriculture in Africa (KCOA); Mr. Florian Peloschek, Digital Knowledge Platform and Market Development Advisor – KCOA Project and Mr. Ulrich Lepel (Project manager of PeOPLE). Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM)  is supported by GIZ for Strengthening Human Resources Capacities at Operational Partners in Agriculture, Rural Development and Food Security (PeOPLE).This initiative aims to have partner organizations achieve improved personnel capacities for cooperation with partners of German DC in the field of transformation of agricultural and food systems. Integrated experts are  specialists from Germany and other EU member states who put their skills and experience to effective use in key positions in developing countries and emerging economies. The integrated experts work directly for an employer in the country of assignment on a local contract and are subsequently integrated into the local structures. BvAT will benefit from such a professional attached to it for a period of two years to support capacity needed to scale up agroecology based initiatives in Africa through development of new partnerships and resource mobilization. The next steps by BvAT and GIZ CIM will lead to this collaboration taking effect from June 2023.

Later David met with Ms. Ingrid Prem, Head of Project (Sector Project Rural Development & Project Sustainable Agriculture, SV LE), Ms. Dorothee Baum and Mr. Charlie Mosshamer from Sector Project Rural Development (SV LE). Ingrid shared brief updates on discussions with other development partners including SDC regarding tracking progress of agroecology and synergies, cooperation in the area of Peer-to-Peer project that was implemented by Biovision Foundation of Switzerland in collaboration with colleagues from the Millennium Institute and colleagues from IFOAM, the Food Policy Forum for Exchange led by Biovision Foundation, IFOAM – Organics International and the Millennium Institute, with support from FAO and financed by SDC and BMZ through GIZ conducted in Uganda, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso. Kenya has shown interest to be part of it. 

The discussion touched on new programmes coming up to support scale up of agroecology in Africa. They expressed optimism for opportunities in supporting Multi-stakeholder Platform for EOA/Agroecology in Africa. With the strong nexus with AU’s CAADP provide for collaboration. The discussion also touched on how the Ukraine-Russia war is pushing agroecology markets. The team expressed interest in the MSP concept BvAT is developing on behalf of the EOA Continental Steering Committee. 

Compiled by:
Ms. Venancia Wambua, EOA-I in Africa, Project Manager