[Federal Register: October 2, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 190)]
[Notices]
[Page 56045]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02oc07-17]
[[Page 56045]]
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AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Board for International Food and Agricultural Development; One
Hundred and Fifty-Second Meeting; Notice of Meeting
Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, notice is hereby
given of the one hundred and fifty-second meeting of the Board for
International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD). The meeting
will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on October 17, 2007 at the Des
Moines Marriott Downtown located at 700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa.
The meeting venue is in the Marriott Hotel's Iowa Ballroom, Salons A,
B, and C located on the second floor.
Dr. Robert Easter, Interim Chairman of BIFAD will open the meeting.
Dr. Easter is the Dean, College of Agriculture, Consumer and
Environment Sciences at the University of Illinois. Dean Easter was
elected by the Board to serve in this capacity upon the April 3, 2007
resignation of Mr. Peter McPherson, former USAID Administrator. The
business meeting will begin with a presentation of USAID's FY 2006
Title XII Report to Congress. It is expected that the Board will be
looking at ways to enhance Title XII input and collaboration on the
preparation of the FY 2007 report. Following the Title XII Report, the
Board will discuss operational and management issues concerning the
Strategic Partnership for Agricultural Research and Education (SPARE),
establishment of a new BIFAD sub-committee, USAID's revisions to the
ADS 216 (policy guidance) relative to Title XII implementation, SPARE
committee issues, and other actions.
Late in the morning the Board will shift its attention to ``Big
Picture'' thinking when it discusses ideas and plans for defining
BIFAD's Strategic Direction in 2008. Critical to this will be the role
of BIFAD in supporting USAID in collaboration with the U.S. university
network to address priority agricultural issues in the context of
transformational development. The Board will be re-visiting its earlier
resolution with regard to implementing recommendations advanced in the
special study conducted by former USAID Assistant Administrator Richard
E. Bissell entitled: ``Implementation of Title XII: Report to the BIFAD
(June 2006)''. It is expected that the Board will re-affirm its
commitment to advancing the recommendations made in the Bissell Report.
Following the executive luncheon, which is closed to the public,
the Board will continue its discussion on defining the Board's action
agenda for 2008. The Board will be entertaining comments from the
audience on identification of critical priorities for international
agriculture. It is the Board's intention to formulate several key
recommendations which can be presented to the USAID Administrator.
Incorporated into the afternoon deliberations will be discussion on
several special initiatives including: facilitation of a Conference of
Deans of Agriculture; conducting a study on ``Defining a Title XII
Activity''; and ideas related to formulating a new Center of Excellence
for Technology Adaptation in Africa with possible links to the new U.S.
military command AFRICOM.
After a mid-afternoon break the Board meeting shifts to several
policy oriented presentations. First, Catherine Bertini, Professor of
Public Administration, Maxwell School, Syracuse University will present
a report on: ``U.S. Funding for Higher Education in sub-Saharan Africa:
A Case Study.'' Then in keeping with the theme of the World Food Prize
symposium, there will be two papers presented on implications of
Biofuels to development in Africa. These presentations, with open
public discussion, will be given by Dr. Kenneth Cassman, Professor,
Agronomy & Horticulture, University of Nebraska and Dr. Youba Sokona,
executive secretary, Sahara & Sahel Observatory, Tunis, Tunisia.
The Board meeting is free and open to the public. Discussion and
comments from the audience are especially welcome. Those wishing to
attend the meeting or obtain additional information about BIFAD should
contact Dr. Ronald S. Senykoff, the Designated Federal Officer for
BIFAD. Write him in care of the U.S. Agency for International
Development, Ronald Reagan Building, Office of Agriculture, Bureau for
Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Room 2.11-085, Washington, DC 20523-2110 or telephone him at (202) 712-
0218 or fax (202) 216-3010.
Ronald S. Senykoff,
USAID Designated Federal Officer for BIFAD, Office of Agriculture and
Food Security, Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture & Trade, U.S.
Agency for International Development.
[FR Doc. E7-19396 Filed 10-1-07; 8:45 am]
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