Location  

Key Issues Discussed

The ACF Chairman was part of a Study Visit organised by Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the context of South to South Cooperation to exchange experiences and lessons on the way forward on the way forward for improving performance in the agricultural sector. It was learnt that the framework established for stakeholder in Zambia was lacking in both Ghana and Uganda. In addition, it was learnt that the Ministry of Agriculture in both Ghana and Uganda had clearly identified their core functions and hived other functions to the private sector and councils.

Visit to Mali, March 2001

The ACF Secretariat was part of a Study Visit to Bamako, Mali. The main aim of the mission  was to study the institutional set-up of the market information system in Mali and how it works in a regional context, and see which key aspects could be replicated in Zambia.

Visit to Ghana, April, 2001

The ACF Secretariat was part of an Observer Mission to Accra, Ghana to a workshop on strengthening the delivery of agricultural production support and financial services  (PSAFS) in West Africa. The purpose of the Mission was to assess the impact of the Programme in West Africa and determine the best approach to extend the programme to Zambia

Visit to Ghana, November, 2001

The ACF Secretariat attended a meeting in Accra, Ghana under the theme, Sector-wide Approaches: Do they really help the Poor? The workshop highlighted the need for sector wide approaches to prove their impact on poverty reduction. An important lesson learnt from this Forum was that in order to fit into the national strategy the programmes need to relate to measures and indicators as set by the Country's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

Visit to South Africa, December, 2001

The ACF Secretariat attended a seminar at Elsenberg College of Agriculture, Western Cape in South Africa. The theme of the Seminar was on Excellence in Agricultural Education. One of the important lessons was that key principles guiding an appropriate agricultural education system should include an emphasis on Outcome-based education, curriculum flexibility, and dynamism, and student-centred learning.