CALL FOR ABSTRACTS/SUMMARIES

Download the Call for Papers AAEW2021_Working Document

The Africa-Wide Agricultural Extension Week (AAEW) is sa continental event expected to bring together, over 600 participants from across Africa and globally to deliberate on strategic issues in agricultural extension and advisory services (AEAS) in Africa. Its purpose is to facilitate learning, sharing and processes for improving the use of knowledge, technologies and innovations by agricultural value chain actors to achieve their individual and national development goals. The African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) is organizing the 5^th AAEW2021 for which authors are invited to submit abstracts that have demonstrated innovative practices and lessons learnt towards Effective Agricultural Extension Systems for Sustainable Agripreneurship in Africa.

THE 5^TH AAEW 2021

 The 5^th AAEW 2021 will be hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) of the Republic of Uganda, in partnership with the Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (UFAAS) from 14-20 November 2021 at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, Kampala, Uganda. The context of the 5^th AAEW 2021 is grounded on several initiatives such as; the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, the African Union Commission’s 2063 Agenda, The Africa We Want, and the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015.

AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA

The African population is largely dependent on subsistence agriculture characterised by smallholders and low levels of productivity. Moreover, due to the rapidly increasing population, uncertain land tenure systems, lack of access to agricultural credit facilities, low quality inputs and continent wide emergencies like climate change, locusts and the COVID 19 pandemic, there is an increasing threat to food security and incomes from agriculture. The agricultural extension and advisory services that would address these challenges are not adequately accessible and remain largely unprofessional. World over, attention is shifting to the use of digital systems and high tech extension systems to increase productivity and efficiency. This calls for an innovative approach for transforming extension systems in order to address the challenges identified and also move the actors to participate in the new opportunities in agripreneurship, youth participation and agro-industrialization while ensuring sustainable environments. The Africa-Wide Agricultural Extension Week is routinely organized to collectively deliberate on potential remedies to effectively address agricultural extension issues.

To share lessons, knowledge, technologies and innovations for addressing the above challenges, the 5^th AAEW 2021 has been organized under the theme “Effective Agricultural Extension and Advisory Systems for Sustainable Agripreneurship in Africa”.

This theme has been broken into five sub-themes as detailed below:

1. Innovative AEAS approaches for resilient and practical actions
2. Towards professionalisation of AEAS systems in Africa: Where are we?
3. Agro-industrialisation in the context of trade regimes: Implications for AEAS
4. Harnessing agripreneurship opportunities for youth and women
5. AEAS resilience to pandemics and emergencies: Lessons across Africa

The 6-day AAEW 2021 event will comprise of; a plenary focussed on the keynote address and current landscape of extension and; breakaway sessions on a specified sub-theme and field visits. To this end, Authors are invited to submit abstracts for papers or posters responding to the theme and any of the five sub-themes above. Submissions should conform to “Guidelines to authors and presenters” in this call. Due to restrictions on travel and meetings arising from the CoVID-19 pandemic, the presentations will be both physical and virtual. A dedicated physical and virtual poster session/exhibitions will be organised where authors and presenters will share their research, innovations, case studies and success stories.

 GUIDELINES TO AUTHORS AND PRESENTERS

1. Submissions should be in English/French and will be accepted from academic institutions, civil society organizations/Non-Governmental Originations, farmers’ organizations, agro-industry experts, private sectors, individuals, representatives of women and youth groups and the wider public.
2. Abstracts and summaries for oral, poster, or other presentations should be sent through the online form https://bit.ly/callAAEW2021 and should not exceed 500 words.
3. The abstract or summary must clearly indicate (see online form) the title, sub-theme, author(s), institutional affiliation, contact details and the preferred mode of presentation; Oral (Physical, Virtual, recorded, video) or Poster. In addition, abstract should include brief background, statement of the problem, objectives, methodology, key findings, conclusion and recommendations.
4. Corrections to already submitted abstract can be done using the same form with your id before the end of submission deadlines
5. Accepted abstracts will be published in a book of abstracts, innovations/case stories and peer-reviewed proceedings.
6. Any enquiries can be made via email to aaew2021@afaas.net

OTHER GUIDELINES TO VIRTUAL PRESENTERS

1. Recorded or video presentations should take not more than 15 minutes.
2. Virtual presenters can use any of the following formats;
   • Video (mp4)
   • Slides (PowerPoint, pdf), can be embedded with sound
   • Poster (in pdf format) with a good combination of words, pictures and graphics. Presenters are requested to AVOID too much text on the poster
3. Virtual presenters are still required to REGISTER at least one author
4. Virtual presenter(s) must also REGISTER on the Whova Platform to do his/her presentation. Register here: afaas-africa.org/aaew
5. Virtual presenter MUST
   • participate in the presentation exercise with the e-platform trainers two weeks before the Extension week.
   • ensure the availability of a reliable and fast Internet
   • test audio-video equipment before the intervention
   • be present online 15 minutes before the scheduled presentation
   • select an appropriate environment for the presentation

IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES.