The Bio-Innovate Program Management Office (PMO) traveled to Kigali, Rwanda for a three-day project monitoring and evaluation exercise from 31 May–2 June 2012 to review the progress of project consortium 2 on ‘enhancing food security through improved seed systems of appropriate varieties of cassava, potato and sweet potato resilient to climate change in eastern Africa’.
The Bio-Innovate Program will organize a three-day training workshop on results-based project and financial management on 29-31 March 2012, at ILRI campus, Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop is an experience-sharing and consultative meeting on project management, monitoring, review and reporting in addition to financial management.
The Bio-resources Innovations Network for Eastern Africa Development (Bio-Innovate) Program is a newly established multidisciplinary competitive funding mechanism, for biosciences and product oriented innovation activities in eastern Africa, through the bioresources innovation fund, supporting applications for regional, multi-disciplinary innovation projects in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
In response to the Second Call for Concept Notes on ‘Innovation Incubation and Promotion of Targeted Value Chains and Bio-resources Innovation Policy and Sustainability Analysis in Eastern Africa’, the Bio-Innovate Program received a total of 21 Concept Notes from applicants from the six Bio-Innovate Program participating countries of Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
On 1-3 August 2012, the implementing partners for project consortium 1 on ‘Delivering new sorghum and finger millet innovations for food security and improving livelihoods in eastern Africa’ held its monitoring and review meeting in Eldoret, Kenya to discuss the overall progress, achievements and related challenges in the course of the implementation of the consortium project as well as on how best the project consortium team can utilize the remaining time and resources to execute the planned project activities.
The Bio-Innovate Program held a two-day meeting with the project consortium 3 on ‘value added bean technologies for enhancing food security, nutrition, income and resilience to cope with climate change and variability challenges in eastern Africa’ at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) complex in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 27-28 June 2012.
On 26 June 2012, the Bio-Innovate Program Management Team (PMT) met with high-level officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) during its monitoring and review mission of the Program supported projects in Ethiopia to discuss the Program progress in general and ongoing implementation of projects in Ethiopia.
The Bio-Innovate Program Management Team (PMT) had a three-day extensive visit of Bio-Innovate consortia project run by Makerere University Kampala (MAK) on 12-15 July 2012.
BioInnovate is a new multidisciplinary competitive funding mechanism for biosciences and product orientated innovation activities in Eastern Africa. BioInnovate will run a Competitive Grants Scheme (CGS) targeted at research in four thematic areas chosen to support the AU/NEPAD agenda for science, technology and agriculture:
