Thank you, Zdravka, for letting us know about FAO's new email list, "Millets," on Dgroups (a platform used by international development organizations). I'm seeing the new "Millets" list, and this "Collab" list as forums with complementary and mutually supporting missions. It would be of interest to know if there are also other locally or regionally focused email lists or social media platforms on millets currently in use elsewhere. I personally have already subscribed to "Millets" and encourage others who share its goals and want a more international perspective to do the same. In the meantime, Collab will continue as a primarily North American focused forum which is open to all. I expect that there will be judicious reposting of key information among diverse forums such as Millets & Collab, and the net effect will be a more effective circulation of information about millets, the International Year of Millets, and various initiatives in this space. At the midpoint in the IYM, it is good that we all are "upping our game" in promotion of millets as resilient crops and nutritious (and tasty) foods! Best to all, Don DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Thu, Jul 6, 2023 at 7:50 AM Dimitrova, Zdravka (NSP) < Zdravka.Dimitrova@fao.org> wrote:
Dear colleagues,
We are delighted to invite you to join the Millets Community of Practice (CoP) <https://dgroups.org/fao/millets>!
The Millets CoP provides a platform for farmers’ organizations, cooperatives, civil society organizations, research centres, NGOs, policymakers, decision-makers and the private sector working in millet value chain with the common goal of identifying opportunities and gaps to promote a shift towards sustainable food systems.
This community exchanges information and ideas on millets production and processing best practices, projects, lessons learned, initiatives, programmes, public policies, research and development and innovation among others. It is an open platform, with moderated management.
The community serves to:
- Share and co-create knowledge among stakeholders, with a particular focus on successful agricultural technologies and innovations, best practices and case studies on millets (in areas such as crop production, post-harvest and marketing, natural resource management, nutrition and food security, capacity development, Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and traditions, climate change and disaster risk reduction);
- Systematize practices and technologies to make them available to a wider audience as a legacy of the International Year of Millets; - Identify gaps in knowledge and support research community for data collection; - Foster knowledge and information dissemination for concrete actions and policy-making in support of millets production and processing services; - Encourage sharing and collaboration between practitioners. - Disseminate information on events and other opportunities related to millet value chain; - Provide support to deal with shared challenges in millet value chain; - Support collective efforts to influence relevant policy areas; and, - Promote the consumption of millets and integrating millets in diversified and healthy diets.
To join the community, please register at the following link: https://dgroups.org/fao/millets.
Kind regards,
*Secretariat of the International Year of Millets 2023*
Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Address: Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy
-- Collab mailing list Collab@lists.millets2023.space https://lists.millets2023.space/mailman/listinfo/collab
