Deans Participate in BASIC Workshop in Addis Ababa, September 06 - 09, 2004

The workshop was attended by 60 participants comprised of Vice Chancellors, Deans and Professors from all regions of Africa who were joined by high level representatives from the Commission of the African Union, CTA, the New Partnership for Africa´s Development (NEPAD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), Northern academia, African research institutions, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centres, Africa´s development partners and other FARA stakeholders in agricultural development. The Workshop considered a draft BASIC proposal and concluded that with suggested changes and improvements the proposal would constitute a new approach to strengthening Africa´s capacity to build the capacity required for agricultural development. Deans were pleased to participate in the process and CTA looks forward to continued collaboration with FARA as it seeks to mobilize support for improving tertiary education in agriculture in Africa and ensuring that there is an adequate pool of skilled agricultural scientists and dedicated researchers who can contribute to transforming the agricultural sector.The workshop on Building Africa´s Science and Institutional Capacity (BASIC) was convened by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), hosted by the Commission of the African Union and made possible by funding from the government of Nor