The Africa Regional coordinator of the Community Biodiversity Development Conservation (CBDC) programme is due in the country later on Tuesday ahead of next week's farmers' conference.

This has been disclosed by CBDC national coordinator, Mr. Makhathe Moahloli, who said, Mr. Patrick Kasasa's visit paves way for a larger CBDC delegation made up of representatives from around the world.

The impact of climate change on agriculture and adaptation strategies is among issues expected to dominate proceedings at the two-day farmers technical conference at Semonkong from Wednesday next week.

The conference will bring together members of the Katleho-'Moho Association (KMA), and is also expected to scrutinise wide-ranging issues such as the impact of international agricultural agreements and biotechnology on traditional farming systems, as well as indigenous knowledge systems in agriculture.

Mr. Moahloli says the conference is a farmer-based and driven initiative to encourage bottom-up approach, enhance networking and partnership.

'It will also look into access and exchange agro-biodiversity, information and experiences, discussions and meaningful dialogues to feed into the national, regional and international policies.

The Katleho-'Moho Association is a non-profit-making NGO dedicated to sustainable agriculture, agro-biodiversity conservation and capacity. Established in 2001 and registered two years later, it has a network of institutions and close partnerships with key technocrats.

The association has five main programmes, namely community biodiversity development conservation, integrated community-based eco-tourism, climate change adaptation, policy capacity development and water and sanitation.

The CBDC is a programme that addresses issues related to production of quality seeds and food security, agro-biodiversity conservation, gender issues, soil fertility and water management, nutrition and health. It has been implemented for the past eight years by various partners who are
geographically located in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Source: LENA 04/09/07