Venue: Kigali, RWANDA

Date:  26-27 October 2021

Introduction

The Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB) is a partnership

platform that contributes to creation of an enabling environment for biotechnology

research, development, and deployment for the benefit of smallholder farmers in Africa.

Through enhancement of knowledge and awareness on agricultural biotechnology,

OFAB builds understanding of the technology and contributes to informing decision

making. Established by AATF in 2006, OFAB operates in 7 countries - Kenya, Uganda,

Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. The OFAB key stakeholders

include policy makers, the media, farmers, biosafety regulators, scientists, industry, and

consumers. In the third phase of the project, OFAB plans to expand its outreach into

Rwanda, Mozambique, and Malawi.

OFAB Chapter Launch 27 October 2021

The launch of the OFAB Chapter in Kigali, Rwanda will provide opportunity to introduce

the forum to the media and the public, unveil a platform from which various stakeholders

including scientists, policy makers, media, farmers, private sector, academia etc can

effectively engage on matters biotechnology and offer an opportunity to strengthen

collaboration between AATF and the Government of Rwanda in exploring other

agriculture related investments that could be undertaken jointly.

General Objective: To facilitate a conducive environment for a sustainable and thriving

Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) Chapter in Rwanda.

Specific Objective

The Launch of the OFAB Chapter in Kigali, Rwanda aims to achieve the following:

1. Raise awareness on the Open forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB)

Chapter in Rwanda.

2. Ignite and sustain a conversation on the role of STI and biotechnology in particular

in the transformation of agriculture in Africa.

3. Close the information gap on agricultural biotechnology and consequently

demystify its attendant myths, misconceptions, and propaganda on the

technology.

4. Galvanize stakeholder coordination and support for agricultural biotechnology in

Rwanda.

Activities

The OFAB Launch event, will be characterized by a series of activities to support delivery

of general and specific objectives. The activities will include pre, during and post event

activities such as joint press releases by AATF and Government of Rwanda, Joint Press

Conferences before and after the launch, breakfast meeting with the Private Sector CEOs,

Meetings with Government National Research Centres, Departments and Ministries,

Speeches by high-level Guest of Honour, and Seeing is Believing (SIB) to biotechnology

research sites in Rwanda among others.

Outcomes

- Contribute to building a strong support community of agricultural biotechnology

in Rwanda.

- Raised visibility and awareness of AATF and OFAB among the biotechnology

stakeholders in Rwanda.

- Enhanced partnerships through networking and collaboration between scientists,

policy makers and farmers.

Proposal Review Workshop 26 October 2021

The workshop is meant to provide the opportunity to review the specific interventions

identified in 2019 to see if they are still relevant and to update with any new relevant

intervention areas. Roles and responsibilities will be allocated to complete the drafted

proposal, an action plan drawn up to complete the proposal and identified steps to see

how to implement the program and fund it.

Outputs:

• Agreed short-terms, medium-term and long-term interventions areas

• Action plan with timelines and roles and responsibilities to complete the

program/proposal

• Recommendations of how to start implementing the proposal