Noragric Electronic Bulletin No. 1/06, April 2006
Evy JørgensenNORAGRIC ELECTRONIC BULLETIN
No. 1/06 April 2006
The Noragric Bulletin is produced three times a year and gives a summary of Noragric's activities during the intervals between each Bulletin, including new publications, seminars, and information on staff and visitors. The Bulletin is sent by e-mail to our networks and partners but is also available on the Noragric website, www.umb.no/noragric.
We hope you find the information in the Bulletin useful and we are always interested in suggestions for improvement or other comments. Please forward this Bulletin to contacts who may be interested in Noragric's activities. If you do not wish to receive the Bulletin by e-mail, or would prefer receiving notice by e-mail when a new issue is available on our website, please send an e-mail to the Editor.
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This issue of the Bulletin summarizes Noragric's activities since December 2005 and looks ahead until May/June 2006.
Editor: Joanna Boddens-Hosang, Communication Advisor Noragric/UMB
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Contents
News
Publications, articles, presentations
Workshops, meetings, seminars
Staff
Visitors
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News
Funding for PhD course
Noragric's PhD course in Development and Environment Studies has been through a process of review, and a new course will run from September 2006 with support from the Norwegian Research Council. Noragric's PhD programme currently has 19 students with three new students under recruitment.
Contact: N. Shanmugaratnam.
Global Environmental Change programme
A multi-partner project including Noragric, entitled "Education, Research and Training for Global Environmental Change and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the Western Balkans", has secured NOK 4.3 million from the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU) for the period 2006-2010. Contact: Bishal Sitaula
Review of SNV's programme in Kosovo and Macedonia
Noragric will participate in reviewing 5 agricultural projects coordinated by the Royal Norwegian Society for Development (SNV) in Kosovo and Macedonia during the period 2002-2006. The review is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Contact: Mensur Vegara
Student exchange with Wageningen University
Three Noragric staff of the Education programme travelled to the Netherlands in March to discuss possibilities of future exchange of Bachelor- and Master-level students with Wageningen University. Noragric's Bachelor students will be offered one semester in Wageningen, which is one of Europe's largest universities in the field of life sciences and natural resources. A similar arrangement has been worked out with the University of British Columbia, Canada, and others are being established with universities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Contact: Knut Nustad
Small grants from Freedom of Expression Foundation
Noragric has received NOK 50,000 from the Oslo-based Freedom of Expression Foundation, to be equally divided among five annual grants for Master students at Noragric. The grants are earmarked for students who target questions related to freedom of expression, human rights and democracy building, with a particular focus on developing countries. The overall objective of this non-profit foundation is to protect and promote freedom of expression in Norway, particularly by encouraging lively debate and use of the "free word". Deadline for applications is 1 May 2006. Contact: Kjell Esser
Tailor-made course on environment and development for MFA
Noragric has been asked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to plan a new course on environment and development for the Ministry's Competence Center (UKS). The course targets staff from the Ministry, embassies and NORAD, but will also be available for NGOs and other institutions. Relevant Norwegian institutions will contribute with lectures as the course addresses challenges and opportunities for implementation of the Ministry's new action plan for environment and development. The launch of the course is scheduled for early June 2006. Noragric contact: Thor S. Larsen.
Publications, articles, presentations at seminars
Since the full list of publications and presentations produced by Noragric staff is too long to include in this Bulletin, we refer readers to the Noragric website, Publications, and further to All Publications, Forskdok, http://www.umb.no/noragric/publications/default.htm The website also lists publications in the Noragric Reports and Working Papers series.
Workshops, meetings and seminars
Head of Department, Professor Ruth Haug, attended the General Assembly of the CGIAR in Morocco, 5-10 December. Professor Haug's role as scientific advisor to the CGIAR is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
In her capacity as member of the MFA's committee assessing civil society organisations as future partners in implementing Norwegian development cooperation under the framework of the White Paper (see Electronic Bulletin of November 2005), professor Haug travelled to Washington D.C. and New York from 23-28 January. Meetings were conducted at UN organisations, USAID, the World Bank and the Norwegian embassy in Washington DC. Discussions were held, amongst others, with Jan Egeland, UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, and Norwegian ambassador to the USA, Knut Vollebæk.
In February, professors Haug and Vedeld met with the Norwegian Minister of International Development, Erik Solheim, and took the opportunity to emphasize the role of agriculture in development cooperation. The minister took note of this! The minister also accepted an invitation to be one of the keynote speakers at Noragric's 20-year anniversary seminar on June 15 (see further information below).
As follow-up to the 16 November seminar on the earthquake in Pakistan at UMB, the first meeting of the university's Emergency Response Group (ERG) was held on 17 January. The ERG consists of representatives with relevant expertise from four university departments (Noragric, IMT, IPM, and ILP) and is coordinated by Ingrid Nyborg, Noragric. The group's mandate is to coordinate UMB's proficiency and, through its national and international networks, collaborate with (mostly local) institutions in situations when natural disasters occur, using local knowledge and skills. Initial discussions in Pakistan have been held with the Norwegian embassy about possible collaboration with Comsats University in Abbotabad, and with the IUCN office in Islamabad. A workshop is planned later in the spring to pinpoint the specific scientific areas that UMB is particularly adept to address. Contact: Ingrid Nyborg
On 20 February, professor Haug and Dr Randi Kaarhus were invited as resource persons to attend a meeting on formalisation of land rights organised by the Norwegian Forum for Environment and Development. Former Minister of International Development, Hilde Frafjord Johnsen, who is member of the High Level Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, informed about the Commission's activities. Randi Kaarhus is a member of the Forum working group on formalisation of land rights.
Dr Ingrid Nyborg travelled to Eritrea early March to present a paper at a workshop on "Innovative Agricultural Approaches of Promoting Food Security in Eritrea: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities for Growth', held by the Association of Eritreans in Agricultural Sciences (AEAS), and supported in part by the Drylands Coordination Group (DCG). The paper introduced innovative ways of thinking about organising and conducting farmer-focused research, with case studies from Farmer Field Schools in Southeast Asia, Integrated Plant Nutrition Management (IPNM) in Mali (DCG), on-farm research under the TARP II programme at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, and planned DCG activities in Eritrea.
A round-table conference was organised by NORAD and Noragric on 7 April with guest speaker Dr Brian Child, University of Florida, who gave a keynote presentation on "Management of Natural Resources and Good Governance". The seminar focused on the Norwegian government's action plan for environment in development cooperation, and in particular the link to sustainable management of natural resources in the fight against poverty. Participants from NORAD, MFA and several invited organisations discussed how to put into practice the good intentions brought forward by international conventions and Norwegian strategies. Contact: Thor S. Larsen
Together with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, U.K., Noragric will host a one-day roundtable seminar on "How development research reinvents itself to offer significantly greater support to those seeking just and sustainable development" on 21 April. The roundtable is one of a series of 20-30 taking place throughout the world to coincide with IDS' 40th anniversary (and in this case, co-celebrating Noragric's 20th anniversary * see below). The seminar will address successes and failures of development research over the past 40 years; who the agenda-setters in a future development knowledge generation sector might be (NGOs? The Global South?); and which research methods, processes, technologies and partnerships will be best suited to development knowledge generation over the next 10-20 years. Contact: Ruth Haug/Klaus Jarstad
Noragric will celebrate its 20th anniversary on 15-16 June! The event will consist of a 2-day seminar under the theme "Environment and development studies * the way ahead" and will include external guest speakers and panel participants. A celebratory dinner for staff and invitees is planned for the 15th. All the events will be held on the UMB campus and are upon invitation. Contact: Klaus Jarstad.
Staff
PhD candidate Darley Jose Kjosavik (India) successfully defended her thesis on 3 December 2005. The title of her thesis was "In the Intersection of Class and Indigeneity: The Political Economy of Indigenous People's Development in Kerala, India".
PhD candidate Dismas Mwaseba (Tanzania) defended his thesis on 16 December 2005. The title of the thesis was "Impact of Agricultural Research: A Study of On-Farm Development Effects of Agricultural Research in the Southern Highlands and Eastern Zones of Tanzania". Dismas' study was funded by the Norwegian Sate Educational Loan Fund and by the TARP II project.
Dr Cassandra Bergstrøm became UMB's Coordinator for the Health and Development research programme that was launched on 19 January. UMB has three health-related programmes: Food and Health; Nature, Health and Quality of Life; and Health and Development. All three programmes are inter-disciplinary and will include all UMB departments. The "Health and Development" programme will be centred at Noragric. There is a high level of interest and expertise at UMB in the inter-relation between poverty and health, as well as to the importance of sanitation and water, and issues of food safety and environmental risk.
Visitors
After a one-year sabbatical at Noragric, Dr Mitiku Haile from Mekelle University, Ethiopia, returned to Mekelle. During his stay, Dr Mitiku wrote a textbook on "New Approaches to Sustainable Land Management" for agricultural students in Ethiopia.
From 23-24 January, Pro Vice Chancellor Leonard A. Kamwanja, University of Malawi, visited UMB to sign the formal agreement on institutional collaboration between the two universities, and to discuss details about various ongoing projects between Noragric and other UMB departments with Bunda College of Agriculture.
The ambassador of the Republic of Sudan to Norway, Dr M.A. Eltom, visited UMB on 7 February and met with rector Knut Hove and professor Haug. The ambassador expressed his interest in Noragric/UMB's competence about the challenges his country faces regarding internal displacement and access to natural resources.
Noragric hosted two visitors from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, in March. One was Dr. Keshab Awasthi, Associate Professor at the Department of Watershed Management and Environment Sciences, Institute of Forestry. Dr Awasthi visited UMB through the EU-funded Himalayan Degradation Project and spent time writing scientific papers on land use change and the effects on soil erosion and soil quality. The other was Professor M. K. Balla who is involved in the NUFU project on "Education, Research and Training for Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in Watersheds in Nepal". Contact: Bishal Sitaula
On 6 April, Dr Stephen Hall, Director General of the World Fish Center, Malaysia, visited Noragric/UMB and gave a presentation on "The wicked problem of managing small scale fisheries in the developing world". The visit included meetings with UMB's Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, AKVAFORSK and the Aquaculture Protein Center.
Dr Lyla Mehta, Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, U.K. will be spending four months at Noragric as guest researcher during her sabbatical starting mid-May. Among others, she will participate in the IDS/Noragric roundtable seminar on 21 April (see above).
Updated: 31.05.06
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Department of International Environment and Development Studies
- Noragric
Phone: +47 64 96 52 00
Fax: +47 64 96 52 01
E-mail: noragric@umb.no
Postal address:
Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
P.O. Box 5003
NO-1432 Aas
Norway
Visiting/delivery address:
Universitetstunet 1 (Tivoli)
NO-1432 Ås
Phone: +47 64 96 52 00
Fax: +47 64 96 52 01
E-mail: noragric@umb.no
Postal address:
Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
P.O. Box 5003
NO-1432 Aas
Norway
Visiting/delivery address:
Universitetstunet 1 (Tivoli)
NO-1432 Ås