strong link with local government agencies. The term “landscape” came up several times during the exchange.

In its contribution, ICRAF highlighted the work that had begun 15 years ago in Lampung on conflict resolution in a coffee-dominated watershed that led to the Negotiation Support systems which forms the root of current integrated landscape interests.

TransformationsI nternal newsletter of the Wor ld Agroforest r y Centre

Vol 7 Issue 19 11/12/2014

I n t h i s i s s u e• Dialogue with new ministry of environment

and forestry in Indonesia

• Inauguration of training programme on research methods in agroforestry

• Beginning of a new era in agroforestry research in India

• Vacancy

• Centre in the media

• Grant news

• Pictorial

• Staff of the week

Bi-weekly

With the election of the new President of Indonesia Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, a new Cabinet recently took office. It includes a new ministry that combines the agendas of environment and forestry. The minister appointed to this docket, Dr. Siti Nurbaya, worked with ICRAF 15 years ago when she was at the Provincial Planning Office in Lampung Province. She obtained her bachelor’s and doctorate degrees from Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and her masters at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente in 1988.

To bring the new ministry up to speed on current issues, the Minister organized a three-day consultation with representatives from various institutes. Senior civil servants from both former ministries were also in attendance.

ICRAF and CIFOR were invited for a session with other international (bilateral and multilateral) agencies. Most of the discussions pointed towards the relevance of combining the two former ministries, that is, environment and forestry, to form an organization that will have a

Dialogue with new ministry of environment and forestry in IndonesiaBy Beria Leimona and Meine van Noordwijk

Government officials listen to some of the presentations

Dr. Siti Nurbaya makes her contribution

Dr. Siti Nurbaya was the first woman to hold the position of Secretary General of the Regional Representatives Council. She began her career in 1979 as an agricultural campaign specialist in the Lampung provincial government.

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An international training programme on research methods in agroforestry was inaugurated on 1-5 December 2014 in Jhansi. The event was jointly organized by ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research Institute (CAFRI) and ICRAF’s South Asia Programme.

During the workshop, Dr S K Dhyani, Director, CAFRI, emphasized the need to learn from the experiences of the Agroforestry Network programme successfully implemented for more than three decades in India and other countries. He introduced the salient points of the National Agroforestry Policy 2014 and efforts being made to implement the policy guidelines.

Dr Ajit, Principal Scientist, IASRI, New Delhi and National Resources highlighted the research that has been undertaken on agroforestry to mitigate climate change effects. In his presentation, Dr Richard Coe, Principal Scientist (Research Methods) at the World Agroforestry Centre

shared the need for researchers to understand how general principles of experimental design can be put into practice in agroforestry experiments, including participatory trials done with farmers.

The training programme aimed to help researchers design practical, valid and efficient agroforestry experiments that meet useful objectives. Researchers were introduced to some of the modern areas of experimentation, including multi-environment trials for understanding complex interactions with ecological and social factors.

Participants were drawn from some of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, namely Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Also present were scientists working under the Agroforestry Network from 16 State Agricultural Universities in India.

The event received extensive coverage in the local press.

Inauguration of training programme on research methods in agroforestry

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Since the inception of organized agroforestry research at global level, India has remained on the forefront, promoting this land management system. In 1983, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) launched an All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Agroforestry which was implemented in 20 centres located in 18 provinces across the country. This was followed by the establishment of a National Research Centre on Agroforestry in 1988 at Jhansi, U.P. In the past 26 years, the Centre has excelled in achieving its mandate and objectives. It also coordinated and managed one of the largest research network projects, the AICRP on Agroforestry, which currently works in 39 centres located throughout the country.

The National Research Centre on Agroforestry has developed a number of farmer-friendly agroforestry technologies and contributed to natural resource conservation at both national and international levels. In the past few years, the Centre has focused on mitigating climate change and its carbon sequestration potential, development of soil quality index and use of remote sensing and GIS technology in demarcating agroforestry areas at national level. Besides research activities, the Centre made a significant contribution in capacity building of farmers, researchers and policy makers.

ICRAF has also been actively involved in agroforestry research in India in the past decades. It contributed to HRD and provided support during the diagnostic and design survey conducted under AICRP on Agroforestry. The partnership between NRCAF and the World Agroforestry Centre has continued to grow, and in 2007 they worked together to produce and implement a joint workplan. The two institutions have worked on domestication, utilization and conservation of superior agroforestry germplasm, maximizing on-farm productivity of trees and agroforestry systems, developing the National Agroforestry Policy for India, and organizing the 3rd World Congress on Agroforestry. ICRAF and NRCAF

also worked closely in an ongoing capacity building programme for Indian and regional scientists on various aspects of agroforestry.

After 26 years of successful research and development activities on agroforestry, ICAR has elevated the status of the NRCAF to a Central Agroforestry Research Institute (CAFRI). In his congratulatory message, Dr. S. Ayyappan, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) noted, “The Centre’s significant research and services for agroforestry has been well recognized hence, ICAR has decided to transform it into the Central Agroforestry Research Institute.” The newly declared institute will expand its activities in some of the upcoming researches like estimation of environment and ecosystem services, mapping of agroforestry through geoinformatics techniques, developing tree-signatures of important agroforestry species, increasing water use efficiency of agroforestry systems, agroforestry for biofuel and bioenergy and livelihood options through agroforestry.

With the elevation of NRCAF into a Central Agroforestry Research Institute, the partnership with ICRAF is expected to grow even stronger. “This is a fantastic and well deserved recognition for all your and others efforts to raise the profile and impact of agroforestry in India. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) takes this opportunity to congratulate you and ICAR, and to pledge our support for continued collaboration and engagement,” noted Tony Simons, Director General of ICRAF in a congratulatory note to Dr. Shiv Kumar Dhyani, Director of the Central Agroforestry Research Institute.

ICRAF’s Regional Director for South Asia, Dr. Javed Rizvi visited the newly created CAFRI to congratulate the scientists, and to assure them of an even stronger collaboration between the two institutions.

Beginning of a new era in agroforestry research in IndiaBy Javed Rizvi

Position Job Category Duty Station Closing Date

Project Manager – ESAf Nationally Recruited Nairobi 5th January 2015

NRCAF staff and partners celebrate the institution’s upgrade to CAFRI

For more information go to http://worldagroforestry.org/working-for-icraf/vacancies

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T H E C E N T R E I N T H E M E D I A

• How mobile technology makes business easier for African farmers

• ICRAF publishes World Congress on Agroforestry abstracts

• Soil fertility decline in Sub-Saharan Africa may worsen

• Sub-Saharan Africa’s soil fertility decline prompts climate adaptation project

• International Training Programme on Research Methods in Agroforestry inaugurated at ICAR- CAFRI, Jhansi

• Ethiopia: Sub-Saharan Africa faces decline in soil fertility

• Rwanda: New bid to promote agroforestry

• Carbon Colonialism: How the fight against climate change is displacing Africans

• Soil fertility decline in Sub-Saharan Africa prompts climate adaptation project

• Carbon Colonialism: How the fight against climate change is displacing Africans

• Outside a national park, agroforestry helping to save forests inside the park

• South African actor, poet and musician Ndoni Khanyile is set to shine on the global arena with her new show on Al Jazeera

• Sub-Saharan Africa face decline in soil fertility

• Chalice takes on roots of poverty

• Africa’s soil deteriorating - study

G R A N T N E W S

GMIS Grant Ref: IRLD-1126

Grant Title: Enhancing Integrated Watershed Management with Climate-Smart Agriculture in Geregera Watershed, Ethiopia

Donor: Irish Aid

Amount (approx. US$): 308,400.00

Start Date: 01 Jul 2014

End Date: 31 Dec 2015

Project Leader: Kiros Hadgu

GMIS Grant Ref: ILRI-1127

Grant Title: A Support Hub for Evidence-Based Decision-Making: Piloting a Co-learning and Decision-Making Process for Achieving Resilient Impacts at Scale in the Horn of Africa and Assessing Resilience in the Horn of Africa - An Applied Information Economics Approach

Donor: International Livestock Research Institute

Amount (approx. US$): 309,912.00

Start Date: 07 Oct 2014

End Date: 31 Dec 2014

Project Leader: Constance Neely

GMIS Grant Ref: USAD-1128

Grant Title: Scaling Up Resilience-Smart Agroforestry Technologies for Improved Market Access, Food and Nutritional Security in Mali

Donor: United States Agency for International Development

Amount (approx. US$): 1,960,000.00

Start Date: 01 Oct 2014

End Date: 30 Sep 2015

Project Leaders: Antoine Kalinganire and Zacharie Tchoundjeu

GMIS Grant Ref: NRIZ-112

Grant Title: Optimisation of Pesticidal Plants: Technology Innovation, Outreach and Networks (OPTIONs)

Donor: Natural Resources Institute

Amount (approx. US$): 108,598.82

Start Date: 01 Jul 2014

End Date: 30 Jun 2015

Project Leaders: Daniel Ofori and Ramni Harmanjeet

GMIS Grant Ref: IBRD-1130

Grant Title: Taking to Scale Tree-Based Ecosystem Approaches that Enhance Food Security, Improve Resilience to Climate Change and Sequester Carbon in Malawi

Donor: World Bank

Amount (approx. US$): 125,990.00

Start Date: 02 Sep 2014

End Date: 31 Jul 2015

Project Leaders: Godfrey Kundlande and Isaac Nyoka

 

GMIS Grant Ref: WCFZ-1131

Grant Title: WCF Echoes - Zongokro, Akpouekro and M’brakro

Donor: World Cocoa Foundation

Amount (approx. US$): 285,346.00

Start Date: 14 Jun 2014

End Date: 14 Dec 2014

Project Leader: Zacharie Tchoundjeu

For more information visit Contracts & Grants Office

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African Plant Breeding Academy I Session III, 1-11 December 2014

Dr. Rita Mumm, Desire Pokou, Ivory Coast and Busiso Mavankeni, Zimbabwe

Dr. Rita Mumm moderates the training

The students in a session

The students listen to Dr. Rale Gjuric

Michael Barnor, Ghana, Daniel Adewale, Nigeria and Abdou Ibrahim, Niger

The students pose for a photoThe trainers pose for a photo

P I C T O R I A L

Dr. Iago Hale lectures on cluster analysis

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Elvis Weullow, Deputy Lab Manager lead the visitors through the Soil and Plant Spectral Diagnostics Lab

Geoinformatics training,1-4 December 2014

Robin Chacha, Senior Lab Technician explains how the X-ray diffraction works

Dickens Ateku, Senior Lab Technician explains how soil samples are prepared for IR analysis

Participants take down notes during the trainingMuhammad Ahmad, Geoportal Developer leads a training session

Elvis Weullow, Deputy Lab Manager and Hezekiah Nyandika, taking visitors through TXRF application on soil and plant analysis

Participants pose for a group photoDr. J. M. S. Tomar and Dr. G. M. Devagiri

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Official opening of the AOCC Genomic Laboratory, 10 December 2014

Prof. Diran Makinde, Dr. Rita Mumm, Dr. Howard Yana Shapiro, Dr. Ramni Jamnadass and Dr. Marcin Kouri

Samuel Kipruto explains the working of the machines to Dr. Howard Yana Shapiro, Mars Inc

Prof. Diran Makinde, Dr. Howard Yana Shapiro and Dr. Marcin Kouri cutting the ribbon

The AOCC Steering Committee

The AOCC Steering Committee hold discussions in the new lab

The Director General, Tony Simons and Dr Allen Van DeynzeThe AfPBA students with Dr. Howard Yana Shapiro, Mars Inc in the AOCC lab

The African Orphan Crop Steering Committee gets entertained

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African Orphan Crops Consortium Steering Committee Meeting, 10 December 2014

Committee members listen in

Prof. Diran Makinde, Director, African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE), Dr. Allen Van Deynze and Ramni Jamnadass share a light moment

The committee members pose for a group photo

Dr. Howard Yana Shapiro, MARS Inc leads a section of the meeting

Innocent Mugeni, Mia Tiljander, Agrifood Research, Finland and Riika Keskinen, Geological Survey of Finland loading samples

Finnish visitors train at the Soil and Plant Spectral Diagnostics Lab, 2 December 2014

Mia Tiljander and Riika Keskinen putting samples in the centrifuge

Riika Keskinen syphoning clay fractioning samples

Mia Tiljander and Riika Keskinen putting samples in the oven for drying

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Transformations is the bi-weekly newsletter of the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi

Compiled and edited by: Daisy Ouya & Betty RabarDesign/Layout: Tabitha ObaraProof reading: Betty RabarDistribution: Hellen KiaragoE-mail: Icraf-transformations@cgiar.orgWebsite: www.worldagroforestry.org

© 2014 Copyright and Fair Use ICRAF holds the copyright to its publications and web pages but encourages fair use, without alteration, of these materials for non-commercial purposes. Proper citation is required in all instances. Information owned by other providers and requiring permission is marked as such. Website links provided by our site will have their own policies that must be honoured. The information provided by ICRAF is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate although we do not guarantee the information nor are we liable for any damages arising from its use. ICRAF maintains a database of users, but this information is not distributed and is used only to measure the usefulness of our information. Without restriction, please add a link to our website: http://www.worldagroforestry.org on your website.

Staf

f Mem

ber

Submitting a story for Transformations Bi-Weekly? Please email to ICRAF-Transformations@cgiar.org, cc h.kiarago@cgiar.org by Tuesday 2.30pm; or reserve space by Monday 2.30 pm. We look forward to receiving your submissions. Transformations Bi-weekly is distributed every two weeks. Thank you.

Name: Martin Reyes-Acevedo

Title: Spatial Research Associate

Station/region: Peru, Latin America

Years at ICRAF: 1 year

Favourite sport: Volleyball

Favourite book or magazine: La Ciudad y los Perros by Mario Vargas Llosa

Favourite music: 1980s alternative rock, new wave, indie

Hobbies: Travelling, yoga, painting

My favourite tree is queñoal (Polylepis sp.) because of its multiple very thin reddish/brownish layers which protect the stem from drying. The tree also plays an important role in the storage of water in upper basins, and in fixing soil nutrients

Staff of the week

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