Call for Abstracts: 4th All Africa Horticultural Congress

Dates: 29 March - 1 April 2021
Venue : Abdou Diouf International Conference Centre, Diamniadio, Dakar, Senegal
Abstract deadline: 31 July 2020

Theme:
TRANSFORMATIVE INNOVATIONS IN HORTICULTURE

The Executive Committee of the 4th AAHC, the Horticulture Cluster and the ISHS, invite you to the Fourth All Africa Horticultural Congress (IV AAHC) to be held at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Centre in Diamniadio, Dakar, Senegal.

The All Africa Horticultural Congress (AAHC), which is being held for the first time in French- speaking West Africa, will be a major event for the African and world scientific community. Beyond the interest aroused by the actuality of the theme and the topics on the program, it will strengthen the positioning of West Africa, and Senegal in particular, in the sector of research and technical and scientific innovation in horticulture.

Contributions are solicited on the priority themes of the congress in response to questions from the sub-themes (see below the program of the congress in the appendix)

Languages

The conference language will be English. Simultaneously English-French translation will be available during the plenary sessions.

Abtract Submission

Abstracts must be submitted online no later than July 31, 2020 on the AAHC2020 website. (http://www.aahc2020/) or on the ISHS website (https://www.actahort.org/members/symopsium/=512). The Scientific Committee will provide a response within one month following submission.

Please! Note that an active ISHS user account is required in order to submit an abstract. Authors who do not yet have a user account with the ISHS can create one through this link: https://www.actahort.org/members/newmember?asc=1 (online payment or by bank transfer).

For more information on abstract submission fees, click on: https://www.ishs.org/faq/does-ishs- charge-abstract-submission-fee-when-i-submit-my-abstract .

The benefits of ISHS membership are many (see on the ISHS website: https://www.ishs.org/members). For ISHS Individual members, the abstract submission fee is fully waived. As a member, a discount of 150 Euros is also provided on the Congress registration fee.

Selection and notification process

Abstracts (in English imperatively) shall not exceed 300 words. The one-paragraph abstract should contain information on the objectives of the study, materials and methods, results, conclusions.

All oral presenters, including invited and keynote speakers, must submit a manuscript for publication in Acta Horticulturae. If this is not agreed to by the author(s), the work can be presented as a poster instead. Authors of posters are welcome to also submit their manuscript for publication in Acta Horticulturae.

Articles must be submitted at https://www.actahort.org/members/symopsium/=512 by September 30, 2020 at the latest for publication in Acta Horticulturae.

Moreover, the best papers may be considered by a jury of reviewers for submission to FRUITS, The International Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture (impact factor 2018: 0.807).

Oral Presentations

The presentation of scientific papers will be limited to 15 minutes each, including 3 minutes of discussion for any clarification. All authors are invited to prepare their oral presentation using the PowerPoint format available on the conference website: http://www.aahc2020.org/downloads/.

Posters

Presentation on posters will be made on a surface of 120 cm x 90 cm. All text shall be readable at a distance of 2 m. Posters will be displayed as soon as their authors are registered at the congress venue (Sunday evening or Monday morning) and will remain so throughout the Congress. During the special poster session, one author at least shall be available to discuss the poster with participants.

Appendix

Theme and sub-themes of the congress

TRANSFORMATIVE INNOVATIONS IN HORTICULTURE

  1. Nutrition and health (T1)

    • Nutritional quality of fresh and processed horticultural products
      • Fruit & vegetables imported and grown in Africa do they meet the nutritional needs of the people?
      • What public policies to encourage the consumption of fruit & vegetables in Africa?
    • Making value of African horticultural species
      • Characterization of the biodiversity of African vegetables & fruits
      • What technological and / or commercial value addition for horticultural products?
    • Food safety of fresh and processed horticultural products
      • What sanitary quality of horticultural products grown in Africa (pesticide residues, parasitic and bacterial contamination, etc.)?
      • What quality of processed fruit & vegetables in Africa? (postharvest contamination, mycotoxin management, ...)?

2.Environment and sustainable management of resources (T2)

  • Climate change
    • What are the effects of climate change on?
      • The preservation of plant genetic resources at the scale of African regions?
      • Invasive species (insect pests, birds, rats, herbs etc.)?
      • The natural enemies of crop pests?
      • Crop diseases?
      • Horticultural markets?
    • What is the contribution of horticulture to strengthen the resilience of family farms?
      • What answers for adaptation to climate change?
      • What answers for climate change mitigation?
  • Agroecological transition
    • What agroecological practices related to:
      • Soil fertility?
      • Water management?
      • The management of genetic resources?
      • Crop protection?
    • What criteria for measuring the sustainability of agroecosystems?
      • Socioeconomic
      • Agronomic
      • Environmental
  • Horticulture and innovative technologies
    • What is the contribution to the development of horticulture in Africa?
      • Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)?
      • Big data management?
  • What is the contribution to the development of horticulture in Africa?
    • Mechanization?
    • Robotics and automation?
    • Renewable energies?
    • Recycling processes?

3.Value chain analysis (T3)

  • Productivity
    • What are the effects on productivity of horticultural farms?
      • Cost and access to inputs (seeds, plant protection products and agricultural equipment)?
      • Cost and access to inputs (seeds, plant protection products and agricultural equipment)?
      • Difficulties accessing agricultural finance?
  • Competitiveness
    • What are the effects on the competitiveness of horticultural holdings?
      • Innovation in horticulture?
      • More specifically the circular economy?
  • Standardization and labeling
    • Which certification systems for which norms or standards?
    • Which labeling systems for which markets?
.