Friday 10 October 2008

International Banana Conference 2008


5 - 9 October. Mombasa, Kenya. Conference organised by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture ( IITA), Bio Diversity, the Forum for Agricultural Research ( FARA), the International Society for Horticultural Science ( ISHS) and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).

The four-day international conference brought together growers, scientists, entrepreneurs and policy makers from around the world to organise the launch of an ambitious 10-year effort aimed at transforming what is now largely a subsistence crop into a major cash-earner for African’s poor rural farmers. The researchers discussing numerous ways of production and earning power of a crop which currently feeds more than 100 million Africans but whose potential is yet to be tapped. The project is sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation among others.

References:
Researcher pushes for modern ways of growing bananas Business Daily Africa - 8 okt 2008