Full details can be found here:
https://www.araa.org/en/opportunities/selection-field-projects-agroecological-transition-west-africa-innovation-scale

French:

Lancement de l’Appel à Projets pour la Transition Agroécologique en Afrique de l’Ouest

À la suite de la consultation organisée en mars dernier, le lancement officiel de l’Appel à Projets intitulé « Sélection de projets de terrain pour une Transition Agroécologique en Afrique de l’Ouest : De l’Innovation à la Mise à l’Échelle » est désormais effectif.
Cet appel vise à identifier et soutenir des projets concrets qui favorisent la transition agroécologique dans la région.

Toutes les informations sont disponibles ici :
https://www.araa.org/fr/opportunites/selection-de-projets-de-terrain-pour-une-transition-agroecologique-en-afrique-de

Portugues:

Lançamento da Convocatória de Projetos para a Transição Agroecológica na África Ocidental

Na sequência da consulta realizada em março passado, foi oficialmente lançada a Convocatória de Projetos intitulada «Seleção de Projetos de Campo para uma Transição Agroecológica na África Ocidental: Da Inovação à Expansão».
O objetivo é identificar e apoiar iniciativas concretas que promovam a transição agroecológica na região.

Todas as informações estão disponíveis aqui:
https://www.araa.org/pt/oportunidades/selecao-de-projectos-de-campo-para-uma-transicao-agroecologica-na-africa-ocidental-da

This upcoming webinar, hosted by EvalforEarth and ALNAP, will explore how evaluation can be a tool for system transformation in response to the growing climate and environmental crises.

Rather than reinforcing the status quo, evaluation has the potential to support meaningful shifts—moving from hindsight to foresight, from top-down approaches to community-led processes, and from fragmented evidence to holistic, just, and value-driven learning.

The session will:

• Examine how evaluation can support systems change, with a focus on power dynamics, local knowledge, and critical competencies needed in the current context.

• Highlight practical entry points for applying systems thinking in evaluations of environmental and climate initiatives.

Speakers include:

• Dr. Ian Goldman | President, International Evaluation Academy; Advisor on Evaluation and Evidence Systems, CLEAR Pakistan and Central Asia/Anglophone Africa

• Stefano D’Errico | Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, IIED

• Sarah Gharbi | Research Fellow, ALNAP

• Dr. Stephanie Diepeveen | Senior Lecturer, King’s College London

Register here
Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with leading voices in the evaluation field and deepen your understanding of how evaluation can contribute to systemic change.

This course is designed for government officials, policymakers, and anyone interested in learning about agroecology. It covers key principles and practices, along with practical case studies from Africa, to show how agroecology can enhance ecosystem health, improve farm resilience, and contribute to social and economic sustainability. It also explores the challenges and solutions for scaling agroecology at community, national, and regional levels.

The course consists of four lessons, each taking 45-70 minutes to complete. Upon successful completion, participants will receive a digital certificate.

See here for more info! 

• Perspective Briefs: Key takeaways from the four DeSIRA CONNECT Days, providing insights into emerging trends and discussions around agricultural development.
• Learning Briefs: Practical lessons and experiences drawn from DeSIRA projects across the globe, sharing knowledge on what has worked and what hasn’t in various contexts.
• Stories of Change: Real-world examples of innovation in action, told through the voices of those who are driving change in agricultural practices and policies.
• Synthesis Briefs & Notes: Concise summaries of critical findings, designed to support decision-making and inform future strategies for agricultural innovation.

This hub is not just a repository of information—it’s a space for learning, dialogue, and collaboration. We encourage you to explore the diverse collection, gain new insights, and engage with the ongoing conversation around shaping more inclusive and sustainable agricultural systems.

Check it out here

For the full and original blog, please see here

By Vuong Tuyet Nhung, Communications Officer in Vietnam

 

From January 14 to 16, 2025, the EcoFoodSystems project proudly participated in the DeSIRA Connect Days: Asia and the Pacific, hosted in Hanoi, Vietnam. This event, part of the European Union’s Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) initiative, served as a platform to exchange lessons learned from project implementation and identify critical factors to sustain and scale innovation trajectories.

The DeSIRA Connect Days event showcased the institutional strengthening potential of its projects by bringing together diverse stakeholders, including research organizations, farmer-led initiatives, policymakers, civil society organizations, and the private sector. Key activities included a project fair for showcasing initiatives, thematic workshops for inter-project learning, and stakeholder round tables to drive ongoing innovation efforts.

At the project fair, Hoang The Ky, a Vietnamese researcher with the EcoFoodSystems project, highlighted the project’s objectives, key stakeholders, research priorities, and partnership-based approach. Ky underscored the project’s alignment with the event’s central themes:

“Our EcoFoodSystems project aligns closely with several key themes emphasized at this event. Firstly, our project fosters collaboration with local farmers and communities to advance sustainable food systems innovations. Secondly, by exploring agricultural practices and market linkages, EcoFoodSystems contributes to discussions on how food systems can drive innovation and ecological transitions. Lastly, the project aims to inform policymaking by building partnerships across regions, aligning with sessions on scaling innovation, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and policy development. This event provides an invaluable opportunity to share insights, learn from other DESIRA initiative projects, and work together to enhance efforts toward more sustainable food systems in the Hanoi city region.”

Another significant contribution was made by Duong Thu Hang, Good Food for Cities (GF4C) programme officer at Rikolto, who participated in Panel 3 of the event, exploring food systems as catalysts for innovation. The panel delved into the trade, processing, and consumption of agricultural produce, examining their economic and social dimensions to identify pathways for scaling DeSIRA innovations. In particular, Hang shared insights on promoting consumer access to healthy food in wet markets and schools in city regions.

She noted: “I think what the EcoFoodSystems Project and the overall DeSIRA programme emphasise is diversity. Embracing diversity in actors, key themes, and perspectives. People from different backgrounds and sectors come together to discuss shared topics related to health, agriculture, environment, diets, gender, equity, and more. The EcoFoodSystems project can contribute meaningfully to DeSIRA, moving closer to the goal of transitioning towards sustainable, affordable, and healthier diets in city regions.”

The EcoFoodSystems project, funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) under the DeSIRA Initiative (Grant Ref: FOOD/2021/428-851), is managed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) through a grant agreement with the University of Galway. The project is implemented in collaboration with Rikolto (Vietnam) and Wageningen University and Research(WUR), with support from the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS) and the Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA).

The DeSIRA Connect Days event offered a dynamic platform for the EcoFoodSystems project to connect with other projects and food systems stakeholders, share knowledge, and explore opportunities to scale innovative solutions for more sustainable food systems in Vietnam and beyond.

English translation

This morning, a training workshop on ”  Collective Action and NUS  ” was launched in the PSUT videoconference room of Joseph KI-ZERBO University. This training, which is organized as part of the SUSTLIVES project ( https://www.sustlives.eu ), will bring together for 3 days about forty students, researchers, teacher-researchers, farmers’ organizations, NGOs and CSOs working in the agricultural field, experts in biodiversity conservation, etc. and will raise awareness of the need for collective action on the conservation and enhancement of NUS, especially in the context of climate change.

The training program will also see the participation of members of the SUSTLIVES project from Joseph Ki-Zerbo University (Burkina Faso), the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and Afrique Verte Burkina.

Several training modules will be covered and will cover various aspects such as:

• (i) role of collective organizations for the inclusive transformation of the rural world; 
• (ii) collective organizations, empowerment and transformative action; 
• (iii) how to build/support/create more powerful and effective producer organisations; 
• (iv) participatory methods to assess producer organizations and strengthen collective objectives and goals;
• Others

On the last day of the training, a field trip will take place in  Koubri  and will offer participants the opportunity to discuss with the leaders of the Watinoma Association on the issue of promoting NUS in Burkina Faso.

English translation:

The national workshop on the theme “From practice to innovation: Extension and agricultural advice for relevant innovations for the benefit of family farms in Madagascar”

The national workshop on the theme “From practice to innovation: Extension and agricultural advice for relevant innovations for the benefit of family farms in Madagascar” was held in Ambatobe on January 16, 2025, bringing together nearly 50 participants. Organized in collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MINAE), the MAKIS project and the ProSilience project (GIZ), this event aimed to enrich and promote the National Strategy for Extension and Agricultural Advice (SNVCA).

The main objective of the workshop was to inform participants about the content of the SNVCA, recently technically validated at the MINAE level and awaiting approval. It was also a question of sharing the achievements of the MAKIS projects and the ProSilience action (GIZ) which could enrich the activities planned in the SNVCA. In particular, the diversity of factors that influence the adoption of agricultural innovations and the place of agricultural advice and extension to improve the advice and extension systems.

The preliminary results of the MAKIS project were presented and showed that the needs in extension and agricultural advice must diversify to meet the new challenges and areas of activity that are emerging (organic farming, digitalization of certain services, inclusion, etc.). These changes imply an evolution of the profiles of extension and advice agents, via revised training courses, particularly for agricultural advice. Furthermore, agricultural advice will not be able to cover all the support needs necessary for the development of agricultural innovations; other types of support must be provided (such as access to markets, resources, institutional support, networking, capacity building, etc.). Thus, complementarities must be built with local and regional structures (whether public, private, mixed, associative or cooperative) to complete the offer of services to producers.

The presentation of the ProSol project focused on the role of relay farmers and the prospects for their recognition and local mobilization (via certification). Relay farmers have a key role to play in the dynamics of agricultural innovation and contribute to circulating and perpetuating new agricultural practices tested.

The group work that followed these presentations aimed to enrich three of the strategic axes of the SNVCA: (i) strengthening the agricultural extension and advisory system, (ii) improving service offerings (in two distinct sub-themes), (iii) promoting the integration of research and innovation results into agricultural advisory systems.

The recommendations from this workshop will contribute to the effective implementation of the SNVCA. They will strengthen synergies between stakeholders and ensure better adaptation of extension systems to the real needs of family farms.

This workshop illustrates an important step in the vision of supporting agricultural innovation in Madagascar. The MAKIS project continues to play a key role in these dynamics, contributing to strategic discussions related to agricultural innovations, and articulating its actions on the challenges and opportunities identified during this event.

English translation:

Last week, a rice husk gasification power plant was commissioned on the site of the pilot SME DB Foods, as well as staff training in its use and management. Several tests were carried out in preparation for the next rice processing season, which will begin in June 2025. This bioenergy equipment will make it possible to recover agro-food residues from rice processing to meet the electricity needs of the rice mill.