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We are proud to continue building the movement — and expanding our global network — that advances horticultural science to meet international development needs. This increasingly critical field of “horticulture for development” recognizes the challenges and opportunities of fruits and vegetables to nourish a healthy, productive society.
In today’s newsletter, we link you to a new webinar series that we’re offering to support professionals working in horticulture for development, a treasure trove of materials from our “Colorful Harvest” conference, and a variety of informative articles and opportunities for you to use in your own career.
NEW WEBINARS: HORTICULTURE FOR DEVLEOPMENT PROFESSIONAL SERIES The Horticulture Innovation Lab is kicking off a series of nine webinars focused on professional development for researchers, students, practitioners, and others interested in the intersections between horticulture and international development.
Participants can select individual sessions to attend — or join all nine live webinars to earn a Horticulture for Development Professional Series certificate. Webinars are scheduled for Thursdays, starting at 11 a.m. EDT and will last approximately 90 minutes. The first webinar is scheduled for Thursday, July 25.
Topics include a combination of project management skills and horticulture topics related to international development contexts — including grant writing, value chain assessment, monitoring and evaluation, research methods, effective workshops, postharvest resources, gender strategies, and youth opportunities. Details here: http://bit.ly/2GaQTbH
CATCH UP WITH OUR DRY CHAIN WEBINAR A panel of five speakers provided a thorough introduction to the dry chain concept and how it can be implemented to protect the quality and safety of dried commodities in the Horticulture Innovation Lab’s most recent webinar. Find a video recording along with slide presentations and text summaries here: http://bit.ly/2YWJa8J
*** PROGRAM UPDATES ***
'COLORFUL HARVEST’ CONFERENCE MATERIALS AVAILABLE Presentations and summaries from the Horticulture Innovation Lab’s 2019 annual meeting events are available online, including materials from keynote speakers, panel presentations and technology flash talks: http://bit.ly/30ujAIe
HORTICULTURE INNOVATION LAB FEATURED IN COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE MAGAZINE Outlook magazine from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences featured Horticulture Innovation Lab management team members on the magazine cover, and in two feature articles inside: http://bit.ly/2SjHrI5
NC STATE ALUMNI ON HOW ‘TRELLIS’ EXPERIENCES GUIDED THEIR CAREERS Two alumni of North Carolina State University, both working in agricultural extension domestically, reflected on how their work on Trellis Fund projects in Nepal and Nicaragua influenced their careers: http://bit.ly/2xKrilc
INTERNS PARTNER WITH YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN GUINEA AT HORTICULTURE CENTER Five young professionals from the United States worked as interns in Guinea, helping support trainings and other activities led by young Guinean ‘AVENIR’ agents at a center established by the Horticulture Innovation Lab: http://bit.ly/2JsPm2P
MAKING THE CASE FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES The UC ANR Food Blog included a post about the many benefits of horticultural crops, including insights from a farmer in Uganda who works with the Horticulture Innovation Lab: http://bit.ly/2YPDuwU
*** OF INTEREST ***
NEW BOOK ON LOW-COST POSTHARVEST TOOLS The Postharvest Education Foundation has published a new book called “100 Under $100: Tools for Reducing Postharvest Losses” available online now: http://bit.ly/2YKi3xu
NEW FACT SHEET ON PLASTIC CRATES COMPARES TYPES, COSTS, BENEFITS To reduce postharvest losses in Rwanda, a team supported by the Horticulture Innovation Lab has been working to introduce plastic crates as a reusable tool to reduce damages to fresh produce. They shared this fact sheet about the benefits of using plastic crates: http://bit.ly/2G9fnSB
MATERIALS FROM GRANT STRATEGIES WORKSHOP AVAILABLE To support grassroots-based, in-country organizations who have received Trellis Fund grants in the past, the Horticulture Innovation Lab offered a fundraising and grant writing workshop to Trellis Fund Summit participants, as part of 2019 annual meeting events. A summary and slides are available: http://bit.ly/30ry1gg
USAID SUCCESS STORY ON RASPBERRY FARMERS In North Macedonia, farmers are switching to raspberries as a cash crop, with business and irrigation support from USAID: http://bit.ly/2JtTkbj
*** OPPORTUNITIES ***
NOMINATIONS: SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE IN AN INNOVATION LAB July 30 is the deadline to submit a nomination for the “BIFAD Award for Scientific Excellence in a Feed the Future Innovation Lab.” Senior researchers, research teams, and graduate researchers are eligible. More from the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development: http://bit.ly/2YN6QMp
ABSTRACTS: AGRICULTURE-NUTRITION PATHWAYS IN NEPAL July 25 is an extended deadline to submit abstracts for posters or presentations on research on agriculture-nutrition pathways, to be considered for the Nutrition Innovation Lab’s annual scientific symposium. The conference itself will be Dec. 10-12 in Nepal: http://bit.ly/2YN7v0l
GRANT: PROMOTING NUTRITION POLICY WITH USDA July 25 is the deadline to apply for a grant from USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) for up to $435,000 for promoting nutrition policy through workshops and seminars to policy makers: http://bit.ly/2XH4gpZ
STUDY: APPLY FOR IMPACT EVALUATION ON AGRICULTURE, WATER MANAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS July 31 is the final day for implementing organizations to apply for an “Evidence of Impact” study on a current intervention related to agriculture and water management supported through the Strengthening Capacity in Agriculture, Livelihoods and Environment (SCALE) initiative: http://bit.ly/2LdYpXr
NOMINATIONS: INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR FROM AIDF Aug. 1 is the deadline to nominate individuals and teams for the Innovator of the Year Award from the Aid and International Development Forum: http://bit.ly/2Lh1jee
GRANTS: BUILD CAPACITY IN FOOD, NUTRITION FROM ‘IDEAL’ Aug. 30 is the deadline for applications for $50,000 grants from the new Implementer-Led Design, Evidence, Analysis and Learning (IDEAL) small grants program. These grant awards can be used to develop tools, conduct topic-specific learning events, or fund practical field-level approaches that address capacity and knowledge gaps in food and nutrition security programming in emergency and development contexts: http://bit.ly/2JCtTmZ
*** THANK YOU FOR READING! We appreciate your partnership and dedication to horticulture for international development. Stay tuned for another newsletter next month. Until then, you can connect with us on Twitter @HortInnovLab, on Facebook.com/HortInnovLab, by email at horticulture@ucdavis.edu or on our website: http://horticulture.ucdavis.edu/.