Category: Networking

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Bunfight to feed Africa

The African Green Revolution conference will be held in Oslo from 29 August to 1 September. The Can Africa Feed Itself? conference will be held Oslo from 6 June to 8 June. What a shame there is no overlap; so neither side is likely to hear directly what the other is saying. Which would I rather be at?

At one:

As a conference participant, you can expect an environment of cross-disciplinary dialogue with abundant opportunity for personal interaction with colleagues and participants.

At the other:

There are different views among the speakers and the organizers of the conference on many of the issues approached. Exciting discussions will take place.

Tough call. Really. If you’re going to either — and especially if you’re going to both — we’d love to hear your impressions.

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A good life grown on coconuts

The latest update from COGENT — the International Coconut Genetic Resources Network — is online in the Coconut Google Group. It traces some of the activities of the Kamnoedtone family in Thailand, who have used coconut diversity to improve their lives considerably. The Google group is billed as an “Information exchange for the coconut palm Cocos nucifera” and COGENT is just one of many users. Apologies for my error earlier.

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Online conference for you

Markus Schmidt has invited any readers of this blog to take part in an e-conference on neglected and underutilized species in Asia. The day job prevents me from taking part, but I’m sure it will be pretty interesting, and some colleagues may well be there. I hope we’ll be able to link to the outcomes. Here’s the message from Markus:

Until April 17 2007 the European research project “Agrofolio” hosts an e-conference on Neglected and Underutilized Species NUS in selected southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) and China. During the e-conference we will discuss our preliminary list of NUS in Asian countries and the role of developed countries ( e.g. Europe, North America, Japan) in their possible support or unintented hindering (e.g. trade barriers) for sustainable use of NUS in Asian countries.

You can participate by registering for free at www.agrofolio.eu/forum/, or send an email to e.conference@agrofolio.eu.

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PestNet

Yesterday’s post about Google and Yahoo Groups reminded me that I had planned to mention PestNet in this forum at some stage. “PestNet is an email network that helps people in the Pacific and South East Asia obtain rapid advice and information on plant protection, including quarantine.” The way it works is that you just send in your query by email, preferably with some photos attached, and, after moderation by dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers, your question is posted to all PestNet members (via a Yahoo Group). You can ask for help in identifying a pest or symptoms, or for advice on how to deal with a particular problem, anything to do with plant protection (which is interpreted pretty broadly). If anyone has an answer – and there are hundreds of PestNet members, so the chances are good that someone somewhere will know something that will be of help – they write back, and you’re hopefully on your way to a solution. I believe there is a similar service, which is completely free by the way, for the Caribbean and plans for something in Africa. I think it’s a really wonderful way of sharing knowledge in a very focused way. I wonder if something similar would be useful in plant genetic resources?

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Coconut information exchange

Google Groups and Yahoo Groups are really useful tools for networking and exchanging information on specific topics. There’s a Google Group on coconut which is really active and lively, and definitely worth keeping an eye on – and indeed joining – if you’re into things Cocos. All the more so as there’s a new addition to the information available, in the form of what promises to be a regular update from COGENT, the International Coconut Genetic Resources Network, on its poverty reduction activities. You can see the first newsletter here. Among various Yahoo Groups on coconut subjects there is the “People and Coconuts” group, which is described as being for people with “interesting coconut conundrums requiring answers.”