2nd African Organic Conference, May 2 -4 2012, Lusaka Zambia

Call for papers - First Announcement

Deadline for submission of Abstracts: 31 January 2012

Dear Colleagues,
The organic conference (AOC) slated for 2 – 4 May 2012 in Lusaka is the second African Organic Conference (AOC2) whose objective is to report and further promote mainstreaming of organic agriculture in African Government policies, in African intergovernmental organizations as well as among development partners. The objectives of the conference are to:

Objectives of the conference

 The overall objective is to report and further promote mainstreaming of organic agriculture in African Government policies, in African intergovernmental organizations as well as among development partners. In this regard, the conference will provide evidence-based information on the benefits of organic agriculture and its contributions to the challenges and needs in Africa. It will

 1.    present successful small-scale organic agriculture projects and case studies in organic production including biodiversity and seed production, livestock, climate mitigation, demonstrating impacts on food security ;

 2.    present successful organic agriculture projects and case studies in marketing and trade of organic products, including how organic guarantee systems can be shaped to be supportive of both local, regional and external trade;

 3.    highlight successful initiatives and case studies in public policy, research and sector development.

 Based on this it will propose ways ahead for organic agriculture to reach its full potential and contribute substantially to the African Agriculture and development agenda.   

 
 Overall outline

 29 April – 1 May, pre-conference tours

 1 May Side meetings and events

 2 May Press conference, inauguration of exhibition and pre-meetings

 2 May Opening ceremony in the evening

 3 May Conference and exhibition

 4 May Conference, exhibition and official closing

 5 May Side meetings and events