ISHS Acta Horticulturae 218: XII African Symposium on Horticultural Crops
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
| Authors: | Dr. Kimani Waithaka, M. P.J.M. van Bommel, H. G.N. Mwicigi |
| Abstract:
The organizers of the ISHS Twelfth African Horticultural Symposium gratefully acknowledge the moral support from the personnel of their institutions: Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Horticultural Crops Development Authority and University of Nairobi College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences. They are also indebted to the Government of Kenya for allowing them to convene the Symposium. Acknowledgements are also extended to the international organizations including German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), International Development Research Centre of Canada (IDRC), International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) and Norad who sponsored some international and many local participants of the Symposium. Lastly, many thanks to the local companies including Kenya Canners Limited, Brooke Bond Kenya Limited, Kenya Horticultural Exporters Limited, Bayer East Africa Limited, Twiga Chemical Industries Limited, Kenya Wines Agencies Limited and Hoechst East Africa Limited for their support of the Symposium. On behalf of the organizing institutions: the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA) and the University of Nairobi, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, it is indeed a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to this ISHS-12th African Symposium on Horticultural Crops in Nairobi, Kenya. We feel very priviledged to host this Symposium on horticultural crops in Kenya at a time when horticultural industry, especially in production and marketing by small scale farmers is receiving great attention in this country. Kenya first hosted the 3rd African Horticultural Symposium in 1973 and we feel greatly honoured to be nominated by the ISHS - Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture to convene the 12th one. The decision to convene this symposium in Nairobi was reached when Kenya was voted to host the 12th African Horticultural Symposium during the last 10th Symposium held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 1984. We immediately formed the organizing committee with members from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA) and the University of Nairobi College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences. The cooperation of my colleagues from the organizing institutions was overwhelming as can be witnessed by the good organization and attendance of the symposium by both local and international participants. Holding the ISHS Symposia in Africa has been a significant step towards giving recognition of the importance of horticultural industry in developing countries. It is for this reason that ISHS considers a meeting of this kind as extremely valuable in promoting contacts between horticulturists from different countries in Africa and overseas. Such meetings also offer a unique opportunity for exchange of views and experiences between scientists with the hope to promote horticultural research and development. On behalf of the organizing committee, I wish to thank our Government for letting us undertake this honourable task of organizing this Symposium. The support from the organizing institutions is also greatly acknowledged. One of the major tasks of the Organizing Committee was to solicit for financial assistance to meet the day-to-day running expenses of the Symposium and to sponsor a number of local and international participants. I, therefore, wish to thank the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) through the Kenyan - German Agricultural Team who generously financed the lion's share of the Symposium's expenses. Acknowledgements are also extended to International Development Research Center of Canada (IDRC) and Norad through Royal Norwegian Embassy for sponsoring some local and international participants to the Symposium. The support of the Symposium by our local companies dealing with horticultural industry which include Kenya Canners Limited, Brooke Bond Kenya Limited, Kenya Horticultural Exporters Limited (KHE), Bayer East Africa Limited and Twiga Chemicals Industries Limited is greatly appreciated. Lastly, I wish to thank the members of the organizing committee and International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS) through its Secretary general Mr.
Van de Borg and Chairman of the ISHS - Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulturae, Prof.
H.D. Tindall for their continuous support during the organization of this Symposium. It gives me great pleasure to represent the International Society for Horticultural Science on this occasion of the convening of the 12th African Horticultural Symposium here in Nairobi. First of all, I have been asked to convey to you the greetings from the President, the Secretary General of ISHS and the Chairman of the ISHS Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture, Prof. Tindall and their good wishes for a most successful meeting. Prof. Tindall had hoped to attend the symposium but has other commitments which he could not avoid. The general objective of the ISHS is to promote all branches of horticulture by improving international collaboration in the study of scientific and technical horticultural problems. This is achieved through the ISHS Council, formed by representatives of the member countries and assisted by an Executive Committee composed of the Chairmen of the four Sections and nine Commissions. Country membership is in several categories and I hope that representatives of countries who are not yet members, will raise the question of membership with their Governments when they return to their own countries. Besides country membership, our Society knows also affiliated membership which is open to institutes and other organizations. The main strength of the Society, however, comes from the 2 500 individual members of which many are active in working groups, commissions and sections. Information concerning individual, affiliated or country membership will be given by me during the breaks and after the sessions. Important activities of the ISHS are the organization of symposia and a congress once in four years. The next Congress, the XXIInd will be held in Davis, California, U.S.A. Publications form another activity of ISHS. At your disposal are:
and finally, I mention the Congress abstracts. I would like to end this review of our work by conveying the sincere thanks of Prof. Tindall and our Society to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the Horticultural Crops Development Authority and the University of Nairobi for organizing this symposium here in Nairobi. I would also like to thank the Germany Agency for Technical Cooperation (G.T.Z.) and F.A.O. and other donor agents for the generous support they have given to enable the organizing committee to organize this symposium. In addition to the outstanding organization done by Dr. Kimani Waithaka, the members of his staff also deserve the thanks of the Society. The participants of the symposium will no doubt benefit considerably from all these dedicated efforts during the sessions of the meeting. I hope that the efforts our Society is making, through the work of the Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulturae, will be continued in the future, accompanied by an increasing level of support from existing and new members in the tropical regions of the world. On behalf of the Secretary General, Mr. Van der Borg and Prof. Tindall, I wish you all a very pleasant and successful meeting. Thank you. On behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Kenya, I warmly welcome you all to Kenya to attend this 12th African Horticultural Symposium. We, in Kenya, feel greatly honoured to covene this Symposium and to have the participation of many distinguished national and international horticulturists. I think my Kenya colleagues will agree with me that the Symposium is being held at the most appropriate time of the year to show our horticultural potential in both domestic and foreign markets. It is also a great pleasure both for the International Society for Horticultural Science of which Kenya is a member and the Kenyan organizers to see that most of the invited foreign and local participants are already present at this official opening. Horticultural is an important subsector of the agricultural industry all over the world and it is increasingly becoming so in Kenya. This is because of the increasing demand for horticultural produce and products in both local and foreign markets. It has made substantial contribution in food production and has developed into an important earner of foreign exchange in Kenya. It has also provided additional employment opportunities for the rapidly growing labour force. Inspite of a number of constraints in the export sector, the horticulture industry in Kenya has acquired a very high status next to coffee and tea in our country's economy. In 1984, Kenya exported nearly 31.300 tonnes of fresh vegetables, fruits and cut-flowers valued at K£ 21 million as compared to only 3.000 tonnes valued at K£ 0 3 million in 1970. A major problem facing many developing nations of the world is how to increase food production for their fast expanding populations. This problem can be solved by introducing high yielding and pest and drought resistant crops through research. As I read from your circular, the theme of this Symposium is 'Research developments in production and marketing of horticultural crops in the tropics and subtropics'. Horticultural research in Kenya corresponds with some of our long range development goals of agricultural research as follows:
We, in Kenya, through my Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, are fortunate to have established national horticultural stations, aimed at research on horticultural crops to meet the above mentioned goals. In addition to that, we have established a horticultural section in the Ministry Headquarter to coordinate the national horticultural extension services and an authority, Horticultural Crops Development Authority which helps in implementing the recommendations released by research stations. Mr. Chairman, for those institutions to function effectively, they require trained manpower in horticulture and this is one of the main constraints in horticultural production in developing countries. Growing, handling and marketing of horticultural crops is a complicated and expensive venture which requires expertise and capital. Such requirements are usually lacking in many developing countries, and it is for this reason that holding such a Symposia in such countries helps in promoting contacts between scientists from various countries in Africa and abroad. Such meetings will also communicate to us the new developments in horticultural production, technology and marketing through research results to be presented during the symposium. Such informations will then be passed on the farmers with the objective of improving their plant materials and cultural practices for higher yields and better quality produce. In addition to such symposia, I call for more training in horticulture at the diploma and university degree levels to bridge the gap between the farmer and the extension service. For instance, Kenya is famous for its outdoor growing of cut-flowers such as carnations, statice, Alstroemeria, and Mollucela for domestic and foreign markets. However, research and extension expertise in the field of floriculture still remains scanty. I would like to thank the International Society for Horticultural Science for sponsoring this Symposium. Acknowledgements are also extended to the Symposium organizers who have worked very hard to make this meeting a success. I also thank the GTZ who has financed the lion's share of this Symposium. With those remarks, I now have the pleasure in declaring the 12th African Horticultural Symposium officially open. | |
