São Paulo – This Tuesday (2) the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (Embrapa) will present in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a successful experience of agricultural exchange between Brazil and countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. The initiative is called Platform of Agricultural Innovation – Market Place (MKTPlace) and it’s a digital platform through which projects that disseminate agricultural knowledge are developed.
It will be presented in the United Nations Global South-South Development (GSSD), which started on Monday (October, 31) and runs through Thursday (3) with the goal to promote successful cooperation activities between emerging countries to solve challenges linked to development.
Embrapa researchers will present the initiative along with representatives from other agencies involved, such as the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA AfriCenter).
According to Luciano Nass, responsible for MKTPlace’s project monitoring and assessment, the presentation will cover how the project was created, how it works and which are its results. The goal is for the project to be seen as a cooperation model for other regions in the world, according to Nass. It was one of the 15 experiences selected for the exhibition. The book “Agricultural Innovation Marketplace: South-South Cooperation Beyond Theory”, which describes the platform’s activities, will also be launched during the event.
The MKTPlace is a platform through which researchers from the three regions involved get in touch to carry on with the development of joint projects. When it started, in 2010, it included only Brazil and Africa. In 2012 it was expanded to include other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Calls for entries are issued and projects then apply for support. Experts from different countries can find international partners with shared interests online to work on their ideas. However, all the projects need to always have the supervision of an Embrapa professional.
Those selected will get to work together for two years with a USD 80,000 budget. The researchers are ranked and support is granted according to this rank. The number of projects selected for funding varies according to the resources available, said Nass. The researcher also said that apart from research, the platform also includes projects on technology transfer, genetic material exchange and training. The key is for the projects to generate development in the nations involved.
To this day, 82 projects have been funded. The resources come from donor partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the British Department for International Development (DFID), the Ifad, the World Bank, etc.
Recently, another initiative, called Marketplace – Building on the Successes (M-BoSs), was launched to offer a follow-up on projects developed on Market Place. “This is so that successful Market Place projects can expand to reach the market and producers”, said Nass. These projects then receive between USD 300,000 and USD 700,000 and can be developed under a three-year term. The first call for the program was already issued and entries have already been received, said Nass.
The MKTPlace also has a Steering Committee, formed by Embrapa, Fara and IICA, and an Advisory Committee, which includes, among others, the Bill & Melinda Foundation, Ifad, Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), DFID, and World Bank. In Dubai, the platform will be presented by the researchers Francisco Reifschneider, Paulo Eduardo de Melo and Paulo de Camargo Duarte, from Embrapa; Jorge Hernán Chiriboga Pareja, from IICA; Oluwole Fatunbi, from FARA; Kristofer Hamel, from IFAD; and Margaret Karembu, from ISAAA AfriCenter.
The GSSD Expo is organized by the United Nations and involves more than 25 organizations from the private sector and civil society and 100 UN member states. The meeting is taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
