i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i
i i i i i i i i i
News
i i i i i i i i i i
Clifford Spencer An African chapter
J
une sees a very significant event in global aquaculture. For the first time ever the World Aquaculture Society is holding its conference on the continent of Africa. Thus establishing an African chapter with the aim of all 55 African countries being represented in its visiting audience. World Aquaculture 2017 will be held in Cape Town with involvement from countries throughout the African continent as well as that of many countries from around the world. Aquaculture is rapidly growing in Africa and increasingly being integrated into the continent’s food systems and therefore this is an excellent time for the world aquaculture community to focus on Africa. The event will be attended by the current serving President of the African Union (AU), President Alpha Conde. The President of Guinea and who was recently designated “Political Champion” for Africa’s Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa’s Natural Resources Governance and Food Security programme will also attend. The African Union is globally by far the largest of the existing continental unions in terms of both land mass and population and includes all African countries and is made up of both political and administrative bodies. It’s landmass can contain the entirety of the USA, all of China, India, as well as Japan and pretty much all of Europe as well — all combined and its surface area is similar to the surface area of the moon!!! The highest decision-making organ of the African Union is the Assembly, made up of all the Heads of State or government of member states of the AU. The AU also has a representative body, the Pan-African Parliament, which consists of 265 members elected by the national parliaments of the AU member states. Other political institutions of the AU include the Executive Council, made up of foreign ministers, the Permanent Representatives Committee, made up of the ambassadors to the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia of AU member states and the Economic, Social, and Cultural Council, a civil society consultative body. AwF based in the UK will be exhibiting at the event and for anyone attending please call in at Booth 61, a corner booth near the Abstracts section for a warm welcome and a discussion on the charities budding African projects and general aims and objectives on the African continent. At the same time the National Aquaculture Centre based at the Humber Seafood Institute on Grimsby’s Europarc, and which is co-owned by AwF in the UK, is producing a review of African aquaculture planned to be made available to conference goers. This review has been commissioned by New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), an agency of the African Union. I also have just gratefully received the message below from Michael New OBE the AwF Founder and who is Patron of AwF our UK Charitable Incorporated Organisation: “Within my final column in the World Aquaculture Society Magazine in 1998 as the Society’s President I stated that one
of my ambitions for the Society was to see it organise its first international meeting in Africa. This dream comes true this year at the end of June in Cape Town. An additional pleasure for me is to hear that the charity that I founded in 2003-2004 (Aquaculture without Frontiers - AwF) is exhibiting at the Cape Town conference and intends to play a significant role in helping to alleviate poverty and increase the supply of nutritious high protein food through small-scale aquaculture in Africa. Because of my background in Asia, most of our early AwF work was carried out in that region. However, we were also able to conduct some initial activities in Africa, including: Through the generosity of Nutreco and the European Aquaculture Society, providing a student volunteer from Wageningen University to examine the potential of aquaculture in the area of Lake Naivasha, Kenya. Assisting the Holy Women Group to scale up fish farming to mitigate poverty among smallholders in Homa Bay County, Kenya. In cooperation with the WorldFish Center, sustaining famine mitigation through integrated aquaculture-agriculture in Traditional Authority Mavwere in Michinji District, Malawi. Conducting a number of farmer-to-farmer training programmes with the University of Arizona in Kenya and South Africa. I am delighted to hear from the Chairman of AwF (UK) that “AwF activities in Africa are expected to expand in future. As a Past President of WAS and the Patron of AwF (UK) I hope to meet you in South Africa next month.” Indeed in relation to Michael’s comments we are now embarking on a series of new projects. These range from plans to offer micro finance to existing Nigerian smallholder catfish producers to developing Ethiopian and Eritrean aquaculture from a zero base. We are very excited to be involved in these prospects, which will be considerably strengthened, by my position of Goodwill Ambassador of the African Union with special responsibility for New Partnership for Africa’s Development. We very much look forward to meetings in Cape town and also hearing from volunteers interested to assist in our various charitable activities. Whether you are a Cape Town visitor or not please feel free to contact us on; www.aquaculturewithoutfrontiers.org.uk We can use all the enthusiasm and help that work of this kind deserves.
Currently Mr Spencer leads the Global Biotechnology Transfer Foundation (GBTF), which is dedicated to promoting the potential for biotechnology to support sustainable, long-term, socio-economic development. He is also Chairman of Trustees for Aquaculture without Frontiers UK.
10 | June 2017 - International Aquafeed