African Science Academy Development Initiative

Click here to see the agenda for Thursday, November 16.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Conference Objectives Foster exchange of ideas on how the science academies might be used to support policymaking Provide participants with opportunities to network and develop/strengthen relationships (e.g., among policymakers and representatives of science academies, among representatives of science academies from different countries) Provide relevant input/insight for participants' work and interests Deepen participants' understanding of the process of evidence-based policymaking
8:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.	Late Registration (Registration on arrival on November 14, 2006)
8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.	Session I: Opening ceremony Session Facilitator: Vincent P.K. Titanji, InterAcademy Advisory Panel
	Session Objectives: To welcome conference participants and open the conference. To provide an overview of the major food security policy issues in Africa and the major policy frameworks relevant to food security, such as the Millennium Development Goals, the World Food Summit, African Regional Nutrition Strategy, and NEPAD Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. 5 min remarks Chair: Cameroon Policymaker - TBD (5 min) 10 min remarks Welcoming remarks: Government Delegate, City of Yaoundé, Republic of Cameroon - TBD (10 min) Professor Samuel Domngang, President, Cameroon Academy of Sciences (10min) Professor Michael Clegg, Foreign Secretary, U.S. National Academy of Sciences (10min) Overview of Key Policy Issues in Food Security in Africa 25 minute presentation Keynote Speaker 1: Dr. Isatou Jallow, Chief, Gender, Mother and Child Health Service, Policy Strategy and Programme Support Division, UN World Food Programme, Rome 15 min Questions for Keynote Speaker 5 min remarks Protocol officer from the Secretariat/MINRESI TBD 10 min remarks High-level Representative of the Republic of Cameroon TBD
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.	TEA/COFFEE BREAK
	Press Conference
10:30 a.m. - 12:50 p.m.	Session II: Methodology for Providing Evidence-Based Policy Advice and Case Studies
	Session Objectives: To provide concrete examples (from the US and from Cameroon) of formal, structured processes in which the best scientific evidence was used to inform a controversial food security policy. For US government representatives who have requested assistance from the US Academy to share why they requested the study and how they used the input. For committee members and academy staff who participated in the study to describe the process and outcomes of the analysis. 5 min remarks Session Chair: Fame Ndongo Jacaque, Cameroon Minister of Higher Education Facilitator: Professor Wieland Gevers, Academy of Science of South Africa 20 min presentations Case Study from Cameroon: Informing Policies to Iodize Salt Professor Daniel N. Lantum, Former Head, Dept of Public Health, Fac Med Biom Sciences, University of Yaoundé I; ICCID Regional Coordinator for Africa - Fortification Policy maker speaker Professor Jospeph Mbede, former Minister of Scientific and Technical Research, Cameroon Perspectives on Selected National Academies Reports on Food Security Issues 20 min presentations Speaker 1: Ms. Susanne Stoiber, Executive Officer, Institute of Medicine Speaker 2: Food policy research in the U.S. government Susan Offutt, Administrator, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Speaker 3: Food policy research in the U.S. government: A legislative branch perspective Mr. Henry Moore, Senior Managing Director, Public Law & Policy Strategies Group, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP and Former Staff Director, House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee 30 min Discussion
12:50 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.	Lunch: African Academies and Policymakers (by invitation)
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Session III: Roundtable Discussion: A Critical Review of the Food Security Policymaking Process in Africa: What are the Patterns of Decision Making and What are the Possible Points of Entry for African Science Academies?
	Session Objectives: To facilitate discussion among science academy leaders and policymakers on the key policy questions of food security in Africa and the possible points of entry for African science academies to inform these questions. To identify mutual needs of policymakers and academies such that a more productive bridge can be built between the two communities. Presentation followed by discussion Session Co-Chair 1: Hon. Wilberforce Kisamba-Mugerwa, Director, ISNAR Division, IFPRI, Addis Ababa; Fmr. Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Uganda Session Co-Chair 2: Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford, Professor of Health Service and Public Policy, New York University, Fmr. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, US Department of Health and Human Services Facilitator: Professor Stephen Agong, African Academy of Sciences 90 minute roudtable discussion All policymakers invited by academies Discussion Questions: What does your experience tell you about the feasibility of evidence-based advice in your country? What are the factors that support and the factors that constrain your ability to use evidence-based advice? How do social, electoral, ethical, cultural factors influence policy making? How should science be effectively packaged so that policymakers can use it?
3:30 p.m. - 4:00p.m.	TEA/COFFEE BREAK
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.	Session IV: Controversies and Solutions: The Role of Science Academies in Informing Food Security Policy-making in Africa
	Session IV (Part 1-5) Objectives: To highlight current controversial areas in public policy where the rigor of an academy's advisory processes should add unique value for decision making across a variety of areas related to food security, nutrition, agricultural productivity, resource management, markets, and trade. To demonstrate through discussion and examples the multidisciplinary nature of these controversies and the reasons why science academies, through their ability to convene a nation's leading scientists from across disciplines, can yield advice that is uniquely credible to support national policy development. Part 1: Nutrition and Health: A Focus on HIV Session Chair: Hon. Urbain Olanguena Awono, Minister of Health, Cameroon, Cameroon Minister of Public Health Facilitator: Professor Benson B. A. Estambale, Kenya National Academy of Science 20 min speaker Nutrition and HIV Professor Barry Mendelow, Professor of Pathology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Chair, Academy of Science of South Africa Consensus Study on Nutritional Influences on Human Immunity, With Special Reference to Tuberculosis and HIV Infection Policymaker: Dr. Mary Shawa, Permanent Secretary, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS, Office of the President, Government of Malawi 15 min Q&A 30 min general discussion
5:30 p.m.	Adjourn
Thursday, November 16, 2006
8:30 a.m. - 9:54 a.m.	Session IV: Opportunities for Science Academies to Inform Food Security Policymaking in Africa
	Part 2: Agricultural Productivity: A Focus on Biotechnology and African Agriculture Session Chair: Professor Yaye Kane Gassama Dia, Minister of Health and Medical Prevention Senegal Facilitator: Professor Johnathan Ayertey, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences 20 min presentations Biotechnology and African Agriculture Wynand J. van der Walt, Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) Policymaker speaker: Strategic approach of a biotechnology for agricultural production and development in Africa Dr. Samuel Nzietchueng, Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation, Cameroon; Member, NEPAD/AU High-Level Panel on Agricultural Biotechnology 30 min discussion
9:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.	Part 3: Agricultural and Natural Resource Management: Keys to Sustainable Agricultural Production Session Chair: Professor Patrick Ngoddy, University of Nigeria Facilitator: Dr. Ousmane Kane, Academy of Science and Technology of Senegal 20 min presentations The critical role of water management in the socio-economic development of Cameroon Professor Mathias Fonteh, University of Dschang (invited) Policy maker speaker: Hon. Wilberforce Kisamba-Mugerwa, IFPRI Africa Office, Addis Ababa and Fmr. Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Uganda 30 minutes discussion
11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.	TEA/COFFEE BREAK
11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.	Part 4: Food Emergencies and Safety Net Programs Session Chair: Professor Robin Crewe, Academy of Science of South Africa Facilitator: Mr. Franklin Muyonjo, Uganda National Academy of Sciences 20 min presentations Speaker: TBD Policy maker speaker Community based safety-nets and strategies to reduce vulnerability to drought, crop losses and market crises Dr. A. Namanga Ngongi, Former Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program 30 min discussion
12:45 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.	Lunch break: African Academies and Policymakers
1:45 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.	Session V: Opportunities for Academies to Inform Policies that Strengthen the Capacity of Food Security Institutions
	Session Objectives: To illustrate how science academies might inform policies to strengthen the education, research, training, extension, and technology commercialization functions of food security institutions. Session Chair: Mr. Jean Nkuete, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Facilitator: Dr. Jacob Olongida Ole Miaron Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries 10 min presentations Potential Contribution of Academies of Science to Building African Capacity for Food Security Policy Research, Formulation and Implementation Willas Oluoch-Kosura, Director of the Collaborative Master of Science. Programme in Agricultural and Applied Economics in Eastern and Southern Africa (CMAAE). Professor Adipala Ekwamu, Coordinator for Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zimbabwe (RUFORUM) Dr. Catherine Woteki, Former Under Secretary of Food Safety, USDA; Former Acting Under Secretary, Research Education, and Economics, USDA; M&M Mars Company Dr. Joseph K. Mukiibi, Director General (retired), National Agricultural Research Organization, Kampala. 20 min discussion
2:50 p.m. - 3:05 p.m.	Evaluation
3:05 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.	TEA/COFFEE BREAK
3:35 p.m. - 4:40 p.m.	Session VI: Roundtable Discussion with Science Academy Leaders and Policymakers
	Session Objectives: To illustrate the value of academies in helping government to prioritize interventions and investments across sectors (e.g., education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, investment in export crops vs. subsistence crops, smallholder agricultural production vs. industry) to optimize food security outcomes. Session Co-Chair 1: Dr. Mary Shawa, Permanent Secretary, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS, Office of the President, Government of Malawi Session Co-Chair 2: Hon. Patrick Amuriat Oboi, MP, Uganda Parliamentary Committee on Science & Technology 1hr and 5 min facilitated discussion Roundtable Disscuasants: Invited African policymakers
4:40 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.	Session VII: Closing Session
	Session Chair: Mme. Madeleine Tchuente, Cameroon Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation Facilitator: Professor Gabriel Ogunmola, Nigerian Academy of Science Highlights of the Meeting - Conference Report (In English, and French) Professor Vincent P.K. Titanji, Chair of InterAcademy Advisory Panel Member of the Senegalese Delegation - TBD 5 min presentations President of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences Professor Samuel Domngang Representative of the US National Academies Dr. Enriqueta Bond, President, Burroughs-Wellcome Fund and Chair, Board of African Science Academy Development Initiative Representative of the Academy of Science and Technology of Senegal: Announcement of Conference Theme for 2007 TBD Minister for Scientific Research and Innovation, Cameroon