Introduction
This is the second and final announcement and call for papers for the forthcoming international workshop on animal traction and conservation agriculture.

The critical role, availability and farmers’ accessibility to knowledge, appropriate implements and machinery in the adoption of conservation agriculture has made it necessary to expand on the main theme of the workshop. The workshop will now have two main themes:

Modernising agriculture through improved animal traction and rural transport services
and
Enhancing supply of conservation agriculture knowledge and equipment for increased adoption of conservation farming in Africa

Both themes are meant to ultimately contribute to the realisation, in terms of widespread farm level adoption, of the new culture of farming, i.e. modernising farming in response to current and future natural and socio-economic dictates.

Background
The use of animals mainly cattle and donkeys as a source of farm power is still extensive in Africa and can only be expected to spread further and get more intensive. Over 25% of cultivated land in Africa is worked with animal traction. With farming in Africa still largely smallholder in character (small plot sizes, numerous in number and priority on subsistence), and the economics of it unable to sustain tractor power input, animal power remains the life-line to food security and reduction of poverty for many communities and indeed countries. Animal power is also a critical resource in transport with many social and economic benefits.

In the face of the general stagnation or declining agricultural performance in Africa, attributed to degradation in the natural resource base – soil and water, it is imperative that we have to re-think the way we farm. A radical revolution is a must and conservation agriculture would be the way. In the application of conservation agriculture, draft animal power will find a new role. Time is now to discard the thinking that animal traction is the plough and is tillage (conventional tillage). We are challenged in this workshop to revolutionise the idea of draft animal use and let it be a stand-alone and valuable input and indeed the source of motivation to apply and adopt widely, the principles of conservation farming.

Various experiences in Africa indicate that tractor and other farm power sources have and will continue to have an important role in the performance and development of agriculture and indeed the economies in most countries. The workshop will therefore also look into hand and tractor power tools and equipment appropriate in Conservation Agriculture applications.

Successful introduction and consequent adoption of Conservation Agriculture depends upon the availability of suitable and appropriate equipment in the country and the financial and physical accessibility of farmers to this equipment. While the theory of CA is quickly advancing even in Africa and a wealth of information is already available, the actual introduction of CA into smallholder farming practices is lagging behind. One important reason for this is the lack or inaccessibility of equipment. For now, major challenges are in equipment for direct-seeding, weeding or herbicide application and cover crop/mulch management.

For the host country, Uganda, the workshop also comes at the right moment as the country moves into a national programme under the theme “poverty eradication through modernisation of Agriculture”. It is expected that the workshop and its international representation will contribute to the refinement of the programme and identification of appropriate strategies and activities, focusing on Animal Traction and Conservation Agriculture.   For more information visit the web-pages shown on the first page under the various organisers' contacts.

Convenors
The Uganda Network for Animal Traction and Conservation Agriculture (UNATCA) in collaboration with the Animal Traction Network for Eastern and Southern Africa (ATNESA), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Africa Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)

Dates and Venue
The workshop will be held from Saturday 19^th to Saturday 25^th May, 2002.  
The venue will be Sunset Hotel and Conference Centre in Jinja, Uganda.  Jinja is a resort and tourist town at the source of the River Nile on Lake Victoria.

The joint UNATCA, ATNESA, FAO, ACT, GTZ Organising Committee has great pleasure in extending invitation to all promoters and practitioners of animal traction, conservation agriculture and transport services world-wide, to participate in this important and exciting workshop.

This special international workshop is expected to be of value and beneficial to a host of persons and institutions – government, NGOs, private sector and community based organisations – involved or with interest in the development and application of AT and CA in general and CA implements in particular for Africa. These include researchers, trainers, manufacturers, farmers, artisans, consultants, rural transport enthusiasts, representatives of beneficiaries and extension agents, gender awareness promoters, financing institutions, civic and political leaders, policy makers, donor agents, environmentalists and others.

Workshop Objective
Develop Animal Traction and Conservation Agriculture Strategies for Modernizing Agriculture through Multi-Sectoral Interaction and Experience Sharing.

Workshop Procedure
The workshop will bring together practitioners, regional and international specialists involved in research, rural development, training and extension for Animal Traction and Conservation Agriculture (AT and CA).  Backed by equipment manufacturers, and other input dealers, the gathering will assess the current situation, review progress and plan to meet future challenges.

During several days of intense interaction and activity participatory methods will be used to encourage information exchange, stimulating critical discussion, synergetic collaboration and constructive planning.  Keynote and invited lead papers as well as visits to farming communities and institutions will stimulate debate.  The AT and CA equipment and farm input exhibition will, make real, the arising recommendations on technological options, including input supply and marketing strategies that meet the needs and limitations of Africa's farming communities.

Problem analysis will be undertaken in small, multi-disciplinary groups while specialised output-oriented teams will tackle key issues raised.  Issues for strategic interventions in AT and CA advancement, upon which achievable actions can be operationalised, to meet a range of development scenarios, will be generated. The ultimate aim is to present proposals, which can be converted to guidelines for realistic and achievable actions towards modernising agriculture in the region and Uganda.

The Planning Process
Day One will constitute the workshop's ceremonial opening, with key dignitary statements and keynote presentations.  These will be backed by Invited Papers, which will also help make the case, highlight current thinking and raise key concerns and ingredients towards intensified collaborative action for animal traction and conservation agriculture led - modernization of agriculture.  The day will culminate at the broad-range equipment exhibition and demonstration.

Day Two will concentrate on receiving further information from carefully selected Invited Papers. As the papers are presented the Moderator's team will pullout the arising key issues. At the end of each session the participants in plenary will confirm and expand on the arising issues.  Later the participants will break out into small multi-disciplinary groups to help broadly refine the issues. 

Day Three will be spent in visits to key areas and institutions where informal discussions (in own work environment) with various stakeholders (including farmers and rural transporters) will be held.

Day Four (like Day 2) will make time to receive more information from specialised (invited) papers.  Like Day two the day will have plenary discussions after each block of thematic papers, and help pull out the arising key issues. Later the participants will break out into small multi-disciplinary groups to help broadly refine the issues.  In the afternoon a synthesis of both Tuesday and Thursday papers will be conducted as final broad issues are firmed-up.

Day Five (final and a half day) will start with professional discussion groups to tackle issues, which will have been grouped according to disciplinary areas.  The specialised groups will tackle the various disciplinary issues and make proposals for realistic and achievable actions with.  Group presentations will follow, covering the case of foreseeable development impact for the region in general and Uganda in particular.  

Launch of UNATCA
During the workshop Uganda will have an evening meeting regarding the operationalization of UNATCA.  The Uganda team will present the plans of UNATCA during the workshop closing ceremony, at which the organization will be endorsed and declared officially launched. 

Workshop Reporting
Immediately after the workshop a reporting team will stay behind and help report the workshop.  The team will compile issues and recommendations into a small volume, Workshop Report.  The team will additionally peruse the papers submitted by participants and select the publishable ones, as well as sort them into thematic groups.  The selected papers will later be edited for the Workshop Proceedings.

Workshop themes
1)       Work animal nutrition, health and welfare management
2)       Socio-cultural and Gender issues in Animal Traction and Conservation Agriculture
3)       Animal powered transport in rural and peri-urban areas
4)       The role of Animal Traction in the context of Conservation Agriculture
5)       Equipment for Conservation Agriculture
6)       Organisation of machinery use and other farm services.
7)       Entrepreneurship development in manufacturing, marketing and service provision.
8)       Micro-finance in Animal Traction and Conservation Agriculture development
9)       Policy issues on Animal Traction and Conservation Agriculture

Workshop Outputs
1)       Information and experiences on AT and CA for the region consolidated.
2)       Contacts between African and Brazilian AT and CA implement manufacturers and suppliers established.
3)       Strategic issues and elements on the contribution of AT and CA in the efforts to Modernise Agriculture in the Region and Uganda (e.g. elements for quality farm services delivery) elaborated.

Animal Traction and Conservation Agriculture equipment exhibition
This is a special event (at the Source of the River Nile showground) where a wide range of local and international tractor, animal and hand conservation tillage implements and other related inputs will be exhibited.  A Monday afternoon exhibition and demonstration session will be a good chance for participants to interact on a one-to-one basis with implements manufacturers, and other input suppliers, researchers and developers.  The machinery and other inputs will be available for viewing throughout the period of the workshop.

Field visits
This will be a whole day event designed to expose participants to real-life scenarios and experiences (case studies) so as to ensure feet-on-the-ground analysis and also to provide learning experiences to the participants. The workshop field visits will show participants specific areas of interest. The areas will be selected on the basis of the themes of the workshop. The areas include research and training institutions, implement manufacturers and farms or farming communities. With the registration, participants are advised to indicate their preferences in the field visits.

Abstracts, papers and presentation
(Kindly note revised submission dates: Thanks to the many who have met deadlines already)

The official language of the workshop will be English. Papers, abstracts and posters must be prepared in English and sent to the secretariat not later than March 30th, 2002. Full papers must be received by 30th April 2002 at the very latest. Please note that all participants will be expected to submit a paper or a poster that fits any of the workshop themes and relevant to specific work experiences. Even the simplest of posters and documentation of relevant work experiences are encouraged. Papers submitted will be considered for publication in the workshop proceedings.  There will be room to display books, extension materials, posters, equipment, and accessories of interest to participants.

Please note that the organisers have plans to avail copies of all Keynote and Invited papers to participants on arrival at the workshop.  The copying of these papers will be done before the workshop begins.  If your paper is late you MUST plan to produce 70 copies to bring with you to the workshop.

Papers must be a maximum eight pages, in font size 12 and on A4 paper size.  Please supply both hard copy and electronic copy (on diskette or as an email attachment) of the paper, in MS word. Mail by post or bring to the workshop original hard copies of pictures and graphics you may have (pasted or scanned) onto your paper.  Note that only keynote and invited papers (as specifically communicated by organisers) will be orally presented at the workshop.  All other papers will be presented as posters and submitted for possible publication.

If your paper is to be orally presented, note that the usual visual aid gadgetry: including overhead and slide projectors and Power Point LCD Beamer will be availed.

Posters must be highly pictorial or graphical, with minimum of text.  The room available for your poster will be no larger than 1m x 1m (or approximately 3ft x 3ft) and kindly plan accordingly.  There will be an award for winning posters, as selected by participants.  Selection will be on the basis of message captured, thematic content, relevance to everyday work experience, clarity and other considerations.

Special participant-organised sessions
Special interest talks, videos etc. brought in by participants will be allocated time in special evening sessions.  Any special interest or thematic groups will also be able to meet in the evenings. A Multi-system Video Player and TV will be availed.  Specialised videos can also be shown to participants during breaks or during special evening sessions.  Please notify organizers before or upon arrival of any special presentation or thematic discussion you would like to have with interested participants.

Accommodation, Costs and Logistics
The workshop participants will be expected to stay at Sunset Hotel, the main venue of the workshop. This will cost US$ 80 per person per day, full board and US$ 60 on half board. However within walking distance are several other hotels with a range of self-contained rooms. The cost of lodging and boarding ranges from US$ 40 to US$ 80 for full board and US$ 30 to US$ 60 for half board. A workshop registration fee of US$100 will be charged to each participant.  It is recommended that participants plan on having at least US$ 80 per day.  Some participants may wish to share rooms with twin single beds.

If you wish to pay for yourself or persons you are sponsoring in advance or by inter-bank credit transfer, please contact the Secretariat in good time.  It may be possible to organize credit-card payments through the travel agent's company after arrival, but carry some cash for out-of pocket spending.  There are no credit card (withdrawal) machines or in-bank transactions within Jinja, but this is possible in Kampala.

Transport to and from workshop venue
Jinja is about 80 km from Kampala, and is some 120km from Entebbe International Airport. Participants from outside the country will be met at the airport if they provide their provide their arrival details to the Workshop Secretariat.  They will accordingly be transported to and from the conference venue in Jinja. Participants from within Uganda and possibly from neighbouring countries are advised to travel directly to Jinja or converge at Fairway Hotel in Kampala where transport will be available to Jinja.

If for some reason you miss the airport pick-up bus, or are stranded at the airport for some reason, take a taxi to Fairway Hotel where you can be easily reached, and possibly find Workshop Information.  The Workshop Secretariat contacts will be at Tel: 256-41-566161; Mobile 077-220010. Phone contact with Fairway Hotel is available at the airport, if needed.  This will be the mid-way official hotel for the workshop participants while in transit across Kampala. Fairway hotel will give workshop participants a special rate. Normal rate is US$ 76.00 for single room and US$ 96.00 for a double room.  Telephone contact with the Sunst Hotel venue in Jinja is +256-(0)43-120115/585/ Fax: 256-(0)43120741/121322 On emergency you can reach Mrs Ongom on Mobile 077-457087 or Mr. Morgan at 077-504901.  Email: sunset@source.co.ug;  Web: http://www.crosswinds.net/~sunsethotel
Participants will be able to use the email service for a small fee, during the workshop.

Hosts and Sponsors
The Workshop is hosted by UNATCA.  FAO, ACT and possibly UNIDO will sponsor the machinery exhibition, including some of the exhibitors.  ATNESA may be able to obtain sponsors for the keynote presenters and invited papers.  UNATCA will raise funds locally to cover logistical support, core workshop costs and some key local or international participants.  They will seek support to conduct a reporting meeting for the editorial committee, the final Workshop Report and Final Proceedings.  The Reporting Team Meeting will be during the week after the Workshop.  All support received will be acknowledged at every opportunity and be elaborately displayed on banners and the Proceedings documents.  Private companies may want to sponsor the Workshop Bags, pads, Workshop Dinner or Cocktail.  These form an important part of the networking effort. 

Weather
Uganda temperatures are relatively warm. May temperatures range from 18 to 30 degrees centigrade and you may need nothing more than a simple sweater for the evenings. You may need an umbrella during the field-visit.

Immigration and health requirements
Participants are advised to check VISA and health requirements from the respective Ugandan High Commission, Embassies or Consulates.  If required, please note you MUST obtain VISA in your home country and before arrival in Uganda.  A Valid Yellow-Fever Vaccination Card is required for foreign visitors to Uganda.

Workshop Organizing Committee

UNATCA (local) committee
Chairperson: Dr. J.J. Otim, Presidential Advisor on Agriculture & Veterinary Services
National Co-ordinator: Eng Wilfred Odogola, Director, Agricultural Eng & Applied Techn Res Institute
Member: Mr. Joy Omoding, Commissioner, Farm Development, Min Agric . Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF)
Member: - Dr. Kibalama Sentongo, Head Agricultural Engineering Dept, Makerere University
Member: - Mrs Alice Tibazalika, Gender representative and Uganda National Farmers’ Association
Member: - Dr. Michael Foster, Sasakawa Global 2000, representing NGOs
Member: - Dr. Flemming Eriksen, DANIDA
Member: - SAIMMCO
Member: - Mr. Alphonse Candia.
Secretary: Eng Otai Francis, Assistant Commissioner, Agricultural Engineering, MAAIF

ATNESA:
Chairperson: Dr. Pascal Kaumbutho, Kenya
Treasurer: Dr. Edward Nengomasha, Zimbabwe
Member: Prof. Timothy Simalenga, South Africa (Immediate former Chair)
Tech. Advisor: Prof. Paul Starkey, United Kingdom

FAO Rep:  Dr. Theodor Friedrich
ACT Rep: Martin Bwalya
GTZ Rep:  Dr. Kurt Steiner

Editorial Committee
FAO, ATNESA, ACT and 3 from Uganda.  Subject matter specialists will be contacted to edit papers for the proceedings.  The Editorial Committee will receive and compile a list of Abstracts for circulation to the participants.