The first African Share fair on Agricultural knowledge and rural developement officially began in Addis Ababa Ethiopia today with renewed calls for the continent to embrace information and knowledge sharing to help combat issues of climate change and food insecuirty.
The acting Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) regional coordinator for Eastern Africa Lamourdia Thiombiano said drastic effects of food insecurity and climate change can be easily tackled if knowledge sharing on local content is adopted.
He urged participants to set up strong and viable linkages/networks to ensure experiences and good practices that were exhibited in Rome last year are merged with this share fair for sustainability.
According to Lamourdia Africa should take advantage of its good and diverse culture in knowledge sharing to come up with sustainable programs that will see the continent produce enough food which in turn will reduce dependency syndrome.
Giving a key note address during the official opening of the share at the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, Lamourdia challenged African Governments to develop strong policies that will lay much emphasis on food production.
He said acceess to the continent's scientific knowledge especially in the fields of medicine, agriculture, climate change and technology can help create stronger social economic and technical infrastructure that are essential in the development process.
The FAO acting coordinator further appealed to scientists to adopt mechanisms that will see some of their successful findings reach the intended beneficiaries like small scale farmers in Africa who are considered to be the drivers of many developing economies.
