IAPPS NEWSLETTER

Number IV      Duben, 2005

IAC AD-HOC TASK FORCE ESTABLISHED

At the request of the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, the Inter Academy Council (IAC) conducted a study to develop a strategic plan to improve agricultural productivity and food security in Africa (IAPPS Newsletter I, January 2005). The study resulted in a report entitled "Realizing the promise and potential of African agriculture: Science and technology strategies for improving agricultural productivity and food security in Africa". For further information on the IAC and the report, see www.interacademycouncil.net.

The IAC intends to act as a catalyst to implement the report recommendations. For this purpose the IAC established an ad-hoc Task Force to follow-up the IAC Africa report recommendations. The members of the ad-hoc Task Force are:

• Mohamed Besri, Professor, Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, Morocco
• Louise Fresco, Assistant Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• Monty Jones, Executive Secretary, Forum for Agricultural Research (FARA) Ghana
• Wilberforce Kisamba-Mugerwa, Director, ISNAR Division International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Ethiopia
• Peter Matlon, Deputy Director for Food Security, Rockefeller Foundation, New York
• Bongiwe Njobe, Director General, Department of Agriculture, South Africa
• Rudy Rabbinge, Dean, Graduate Schools, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
• Jim Ryan, Visiting Fellow, Economics Division, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University

Prof; Rudy Rabbinge will be Chair of the Ad Hoc Task force, while Ms. Louise Fresco will act as Special Adviser.

The Ad Hoc Task force has been charged with the following tasks:

• Encourage international organizations and governments to take note of the report and to take action to implement the recommendations of the report that apply to them.
• Engage international and national agricultural research institutions, CGIAR and FARA in particular, to support research as proposed in the recommendations of the report.
• Assist in generating, both from private and public donor organizations, the financial resources needed to give effect to the report's recommendations.
• Promote and support the implementation of the report's pilot participatory science and technology institutional innovation programs

Prof. Mohamed Besri,
Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, Rabat, Morocco
m.besri@iav.ac.ma

IPM RESEARCH BRIEF NO.2

The IPM Research Brief series is part of the SP-IPM's strategy for promoting information exchange among stakeholders. Its purpose is to build public awareness and understanding of the benefits of integrated pest management and to encourage the full integration of this approach into mainstream agriculture.
The main targets of these briefs are agricultural research managers, policy makers, and the development partners with whom governments plan IPM inputs into agricultural and rural development activities. The briefs analyze the biological and ecological bases of IPM-related food insecurity issues of common concern across different agroecosystems and regions. They also synthesize research results and advise on opportunities for scaling up the benefits achieved in pilot studies.
The IPM Research Brief No. 2 addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by the great diversity of species that make up the living component of the soil-the so-called soil biota. Until relatively recently, much of the research on soil organisms concentrated on pest species, including weeds, plant pathogens, and various soil-dwelling vertebrates and invertebrates. While such species are clearly important, the roles played by other members of the soil community have been somewhat neglected.
Current research suggests that the soil biota is an important resource whose potential value in increasing the sustainability of agricultural systems is not yet fully appreciated. The aim of this brief is to increase public awareness of the principal groups of soil-dwelling organisms, their roles in agroecosystems, and how they can best be managed by farmers in the developing world. In addition to summarizing the current state of knowledge, the brief also outlines research needs and policy objectives that will help reinforce and support the advances already made.
This publication was prepared by the SP-IPM Secretariat in collaboration with Green Ink Publishing Services Ltd (UK). It is based on materials provided by researchers at CAB International, the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT), the Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) with Al-Manar University of Tripoli (Lebanon), and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Dr. Braima James
Coordinator, Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest Management (SP-IPM)
IITA, Cotonou, Benin
b.james@cgiar.org
www.spipm.cgiar.org

The IAPPS Newsletter is published by the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences and distributed in Crop Protection to members and other subscribers. Crop Protection, published by Elsevier, is the Official Journal of IAPPS. IAPPS Mission: to provide a global forum for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, integrating, and promoting plant protection concepts, technologies, and policies that are economically, environmentally, and socially acceptable. It seeks to provide a global umbrella for the plant protection sciences to facilitate and promote the application of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to a the world's crop and forest ecosystems. Membership Information: IAPPS has four classes of membership (individual, affiliate, associate, and corporate) which are described here. The IAPPS Newsletter welcomes news, letters, and other items of interest from individuals and organizations. Address correspondence and information to: Dr. Manuele Tamo, Editor IAPPS Newsletter Biological Control Center for Africa, IITA-Benin 08 B.P. 0932 Tri Postal, Cotonou, Republic of Benin E-mail: m.tamo@cgiar.org