Bioversity International’s work in Africa
Scientific seminar: The importance of agrobiodiversity: its role for the future of agriculture in Africa
With the Patronage of the President of the Republic of Italy
WORLD ITALIAN LANGUAGE WEEK
“Research, discovery, Innovation: Italy, the Land of knowledge”
Cycle of Seminars with
Dr. Carlo Fadda
Senior Scientist at Bioversity International
(1) The importance of agrobiodiversity:
its role for the future of agriculture in Africa
At Italian Institute of Cultureon Thursday, 17th October 2013 at 7.00pm.
Free entry
Next two seminars:
2) 5.11.13 – Agrobiodiversity & climate change: how to adapt for changing climatic conditions.
3) Feb. 2014 – Food security and nutrition: what role for agrobiodiversity.
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Dr. Carlo Fadda is holding a series of 3 seminars between October and November, focusing on the work that Bioversity International does in Africa. The first seminar (17.10.13) will be an overall introduction of the challenges that smallholder farmers are facing in this century. The need to produce 70% more food between now and 2050 is causing serious concerns, particularly as it is now recognized that current approaches to food production are not sustainable and need to be re-discussed. What role can agricultural biodiversity have to addresses these challenges? Answering some of these questions will be the topic of the first seminar.
One key challenge is climate change which is affecting farmers’ livelihoods in several ways. Climate is becoming more unpredictable, warmer, extreme events such as drought or floods are increasing in frequency. What can be done to address this issue? What is Bioversity doing? This particular topic will be discussed in the second seminar (5.11.13) and will look at the role played by agricultural biodiversity to adapt the community of small-holder farmers to climate change.
Another important area that needs more attention is nutrition. In many parts of Africa children and pregnant women suffer from lack of micro-nutrients that are important for their health. Sometimes it’s not so much the amount of food but rather its quality. Malnutrition and the role agro-biodiversity can play to address it will be the subject of the third seminar (Feb. 2014).
Each seminar will last about 30 minutes and will be followed by 30 minutes debate.
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An Italian national, Dr. Carlo Fadda is currently Senior Scientist at Bioversity International based in Nairobi. He joined Bioversity International in 2004 where he has managed several projects aiming at the management of agricultural biodiversity in Vietnam (where he spent almost 3 years), China, Ecuador, Morocco, Kenya, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea among others. This experience has allowed him to understand the complexity of the conservation efforts and in general of the agricultural development, as well as understanding that science, policy and cultural issues play a very big role in the effectiveness of conservation efforts. After receiving his PhD in Evolutionary Biology and Zoology in 1998, Carlo worked in the field of international cooperation and development, including scientific and development cooperation. From 1998 to the end of 2003 he worked in Tanzania for Universities, NGOs, and the Italian Government. It is during this period that he understood the importance of combining conservation issues with the wellbeing of people and the requirement for new and innovative strategies to build a culture that recognizes the need to improve livelihoods of poor people and the importance of doing so without compromising the natural resources base on which those livelihoods are based.