Invitation for Danish Development Research Networks General Assembly
The 11th Annual General Assembly of DDRN will be held on Thursday 11 February 2016, 17:00-18:00.
Members are encouraged to stand for election to the new working DDRN board. To stand for election for the board or for more information please write to info.ddrn@gmail.com.
The draft Agenda for the GA:
- Election of chairperson and secretary
- Approval of the agenda
- Report by the board
- Presentation of accounts
- Proposals received to be discussed and /or presented
- Presentation of working agenda for the forthcoming year
- Presentation of budget proposal for the forthcoming year
- Election of board members, substitutes, treasurers and auditors
- Any other business
Please take note of the following deadlines:
21 January, 2016: Deadline for proposals for the agenda to be discussed at the GA.
28 January, 2016: Deadline for registering for the General Assembly with DDRN's student assistant via e-mail (info.ddrn@gmail.com). Final agenda is available here.
Kindly note that the General Assembly will be preceded at 16:00-17:00 at the same venue by the seminar:
“Preserving African Food Microorganisms for Green Growth” – a DANIDA-funded research project about how to obtain a sustainable West African food production
Speaker: Moses Mengu, Director, International Centre, Danish Technological Institute (DTI).
The aim of the project is to turn the food sector in West Africa into a driver of sustainable growth, improve food security, create new business opportunities, ensure job generation, alleviate poverty and create stronger linkages between relevant stakeholders. The major part of West African foods are fermented (i.e. foods produced by the activity of microorganisms) and do play a predominant role in the diet of West Africans. Fermented foods have many advantages; they are produced from local crops, at reduced energy cost, they are nutritious and generally free from pathogens, they have a long shelf life and can be stored unrefrigerated. They are mainly produced and sold by women and constitute an important source of family income. Globalization and urbanization however challenge the traditional food culture and thereby the livelihood of many families.
To preserve these valuable foods it is important to up-scale from household to semi-industrial scale, control these otherwise spontaneous fermentation by adding starter cultures, introduce quality control systems, increase the productivity and quality in the production chain, improve marketability by developing business models and implement sustainable packaging technologies and ways of distribution. West African microorganisms are unique and an important natural biological resource well-suited to the West African climate and crops. To obtain a sustainable West African food production it is therefore important to preserve the inherent microbiota of West African fermented foods.
The project will isolate and scientifically characterize these microorganisms, establish national bio-banks in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin, develop technologies for production and distribution of starter cultures to SMEs, create new market opportunities through up-scaling from house-hold to semi-industrial scale, upgrade specific indigenous foods to convenience food – produced and packaged to fulfil the needs of an urbanized population.
Source: http://drp.dfcentre.com/project/preserving-african-food-microorganisms-green-growth
Please note that DDRN is not able to refund members' travels for participating in the GA.