Project on Strengthening Capacity for Safe Biotechnology Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Project on Strengthening Capacity for Safe Biotechnology Management in Sub-Saharan Africa (SABIMA) is a project of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), led by Walter Alhassan. From the FARA Website:
 * "The project on Strengthening Capacity for Safe Biotechnology Management in sub-Saharan Africa (SABIMA) is the first of a series of projects to be launched by FARA under its African Biotechnology Biosafety Policy Platform (ABBPP) designed for capacity strengthening in biotechnology and biosafety in Africa.


 * "The SABIMA Project is a 3-year initiative (2009-2011) managed by FARA and run by the national agricultural research systems (NARS) of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda.


 * "The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) provides stewardship expertise and advice, as well as funding for capacity-building.


 * "SABIMA covers:
 * A train-the-trainer component in biotechnology stewardship. The stewardship capacity strengthening component comprises the largest portion of the Project.
 * Information gathering and dissemination on the status of biotechnology in the project countries and elsewhere in Africa.
 * Awareness creation and advocacy for issues of biotechnology and its stewardship.


 * "Under a train-the-trainer initiative, focal persons and their deputies receive training in biotechnology stewardship and are thus equipped to train others within their countries. To further assist them in their training, FARA has uploaded the necessary stewardship course materials onto its website. These materials include the comprehensive lecture notes in PDF format as well as Power Point presentations (PPPs) and lecture notes. The PPPs allow access for modification by trainers as need be."

Contact Information

 * Email: walhassan@fara-africa.org.

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme
 * New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
 * African Union
 * Monty Jones
 * USAID Promotion of Agricultural Biotechnology
 * U.S. State Department Promotion of Agricultural Biotechnology
 * GMO Policies by Country
 * Walter Alhassan
 * Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
 * West Africa Communicators of Biotechnology

SABIMA Course Material

 * Trainer's Syllabus
 * Introduction
 * Stewardship in Biotechnology
 * Introducing Stewardship in an Organisation
 * Incident Response
 * Training and Communication
 * Verification and Audits

External Articles

 * "Biotechnology crucial to global food security – Prof. Alhassan, Ghana Business News, February 28, 2012.