Background and Objectives

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) confronts tremendous challenges. Human activity in the region has altered ecosystems, largely to meet demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has concluded that about 60 % of the “ecosystem services” are being degraded or used unsustainably. The crucial challenges are conservation of biodiversity, mitigation of climate change and the global shift towards bioenergy. Projected climatic changes for Africa suggest a future of scarce water, collapsing agricultural yields, encroaching desert and damaged coastal infrastructure.

It has long been perceived throughout the world, that Higher Education plays a critical role in preparing and providing the leadership to meet these challenges and to stimulate sustainable development. In SSA, Higher education in agriculture and natural resource management (NRM) in particular is well placed to contribute to this process.

Despite past investments by African governments in Higher Education, the hope that universities would provide solutions to Africa’s problems is yet to be realized. There has been an enormous loss through emigration of talented faculty to other continents. It is estimated that 23,000 qualified academic professionals emigrate from Africa each year in search of better working conditions. Many of these are in agriculture and natural resources—areas that are of crucial economic importance for most African countries. In addition to these challenges, it is also accepted that the current curricula, teaching & learning methods are unsuitable for achieving the objectives of agricultural education.

The general objective of the symposium is to establish mechanisms for tackling biodiversity conservation, mitigation of climate change and the global shift towards bio-energy with SSA tertiary agriculture and NRM institutions playing a central role. The specific objectives are to:

• Understand the climate change challenges for agriculture in SSA
• Mainstream climate change knowledge into agricultural education and
• Identify recommendations on effective policies, institutions and capacity

Expected Outputs

The major outputs are:

• Enhanced information sharing and strategies for tackling biodiversity conservation, mitigation of climate change and the global shift to bio-energy
• Strategies and advice for making agricultural and environmental education and research in Africa competitive
• Specific advice to African universities and governments on ways and means for recognizing and enhancing the role of agricultural and environmental education in national development.

Participants

Prospective participants must be persons involved in policy making, financing, managing or teaching at tertiary level in agriculture, forestry or NRM. Those involved in agricultural research and industry are also invited.

Symposium Sub-Themes

Papers are invited on the following four sub themes:

1. Conservation of biodiversity and sustainable agricultural production
   Agro biodiversity in food production is central to human existence. Spatial expansion of agriculture in SSA if uncontrolled can destroy biodiversity habitats, accelerate loss of environmental functions and and erode further the agricultural genetic resources essential for food security in the future. Papers are invited on how biodiversity can be managed more adaptively while promoting sustainable increases in agricultural productivity.
2. Coping with climate change and building the capacity to compete globally
   If greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, it is estimated that global temperature will probably rise by between 2 & 3 °C over the next 50 years leading to climate changes that will impact food production, health and the environment around the globe. Papers are invited under this sub-theme to share knowledge on how agricultural productivity can be maintained and/or improved while at the same time mitigating climate change. Papers can also include sharing innovative approaches that can empower the poor through agricultural knowledge.
3. Global shift towards Bio-energy production
   Projections indicate that bio-energy produced from biomass could meet up to 25 % of global energy demand by 2050. As a nearly carbon-neutral source of energy, most bio-energy systems can contribute to climate change mitigation by replacing fossil fuels and through the carbon sequestration of bio-energy plantations. As the shift to bio-energy raises concerns for food security, papers are invited that address these concerns as land and other productive resources are taken from food production.
4. Effective agricultural institutions
   As the mainstay of agricultural prosperity, Africa’s agricultural institutions must be strengthened to cope with local and external needs. This sub-theme is on how the tertiary agricultural institutions in SSA can develop and implement relevant policies and institutional arrangements that maximise on staff development and retention and the production of relevant graduates. Papers are invited to address how we can forestall brain drain, produce relevant graduates and make our institutions real “centres of excellence”.

Call for Abstracts, Posters and Full Papers

• Abstracts should be typed in Times New Roman, Font size 12 and should not be more than 300 words. All submissions should be in Microsoft Word.doc
• Posters should not be more than 1 m2 in size
• Papers should not be more than 15 pages.
• All papers should have Title; Name of author(s); Institutional affiliation; email address(es); abstract; key subject words (2-5); body of paper and references
• Accepted papers will be published in the Symposium proceedings and only selected papers will be published in a book.
• A copy of the symposium proceedings and the book will be sent to the authors upon publication

Submission and Review Process

• Submit abstracts via email to anafe07@chanco.unima.mw with copies to jnamangale@chanco.unima.mw, smakungwa@bunda.unima.mw, forestry@bunda.unima.mw, and schakeredza@africa-online.net
• Final papers must be sent via email attachment to the same addresses
• Copyright information: Submission of a paper to the Symposium indicates the author’s permission to publish the paper in written or electronic format for distribution without compensation to the author
• Confirmation of participation will be done after the abstracts are approved by the organising committee

Registration and Symposium Fees

The registration form is appended. Complete the form and send it to the organizers either electronically or by post. The registration fees per person will be:

• ANAFE member institutions + Local participants, US $100
• Non ANAFE member institutions + International participants, US $200, and
• Students free

The registration fee covers ground transport, reception, tea/coffee and snacks, book of abstracts and conference proceedings.

Accomodation

There are two lodges, one hotel and an Inn of very high standard in Zomba. Bed and Breakfast rates range between US$25 to US$ 105. See registration form for more details.

Travelling to Malawi

Visitors to Malawi should have a valid passport and visa and evidence of yellow fever vaccination. Flights should be booked to land at Chileka airport, Blantyre. Detailed information about travelling to Malawi can be accessed at http://www.uyaphi.com As travelling requirements can change at any time; visitors are advised to check with their nearest Malawian Embassy or High Commission well in advance of their travelling date.