The CARWG will hold its annual planning meeting from March 23-26, 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa. During this meeting, an inception workshop for the CARWG support project will be held to validate planned project outputs and operational modalities. CA National focal points should come to the meeting with prepared work plans and budgets and should also fill in the Annex 1 questionnaire. The meeting will also discuss opportunities for a longer term CA investment programme to ensure the sustained increase in farmer adoption.

Objective: Consolidation of the CARWG and NCATF annual work plans and launch of the CA coordination and partnership project.

Expected Outcomes:
1. Agreed upon activities and implementation modalities for the FAO coordination and partnership Project that is funded by NORAD
2. Consolidated country information on major CA institutional players and the number of farmers practicing CA in CARWG support project launched; validate project activities and operational modalities
3. Validated NCAFT/platform 2020 work plans with list of activities, including national project inception workshops, CA stakeholder mapping and the targeted number of CA farmers in the next 5 years for per country
4. Consolidated CARWG 2020 work plan that includes; total number of farmers (disaggregated by gender) targeted in the region by 2025 (contribution to Malabo) as well as a list of segmented but complementary regional and national activities.

Dates/Venue/Programme: The meeting will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 23rd – 27th March 2020 (Arrival 23rd March; Departure 27th March 2020). Venue & programme- to be communicated in due course.
Participants: Government Representatives (2 participants/per country comprising: The Conservation Agriculture Focal point and 1 CA woman representative to be nominated by government), African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT), Conservation Farming Unit (CFU), FAO, Conservation Agriculture Platforms (CARWG, NCATFs), Regional Economic Commissions (SADC, AU-NEPAD, COMESA), NORAD, WFP, FANRPAN, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU), Research Organizations (CIMMYT, IITA, ICRISAT, CCARDESA etc.), Academia, Private Sector and the Media. Given that most farm work is done by women, there is need to deliberately ensure strong representation of women in the CA scaling up agenda in Southern Africa.

Travel & Sponsorship: FAO will cover the cost of accommodation, meals and air travel (for sponsored participants) from their respective countries as well as Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA), in line with FAO standard regulations and procedures. Nominated/invited participants should send scan copies of their passports and mobile numbers to Joy Wekesa (Joy.Wekesa@fao.org) Rutendo Tinarwo (Rutendo.Tinarwo@fao.org). FAO sponsored participants should collect their DSA from FAO country offices in the country of their location.

Entry visa/Yellow fever
Participants from countries that require a visa for entry into South Africa need to ensure that they obtain these before travelling. FAO country offices are always available to support participants as necessary. Also ensure that you have a yellow fever vaccination if you come from a country that is classified as prone to the disease by the WHO.
Weather: Please check weather forecasts for Johannesburg in advance. Some warm clothing is always handy.

For more information Download the Conservation Agriculture Regional Working Group (CARWG) Planning Meeting Concept Note