[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 2, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 56045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-19396]



[[Page 56045]]

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AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT


Board for International Food and Agricultural Development; One 
Hundred and Fifty-Second Meeting; Notice of Meeting

    Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, notice is hereby 
given of the one hundred and fifty-second meeting of the Board for 
International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD). The meeting 
will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on October 17, 2007 at the Des 
Moines Marriott Downtown located at 700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa. 
The meeting venue is in the Marriott Hotel's Iowa Ballroom, Salons A, 
B, and C located on the second floor.
    Dr. Robert Easter, Interim Chairman of BIFAD will open the meeting. 
Dr. Easter is the Dean, College of Agriculture, Consumer and 
Environment Sciences at the University of Illinois. Dean Easter was 
elected by the Board to serve in this capacity upon the April 3, 2007 
resignation of Mr. Peter McPherson, former USAID Administrator. The 
business meeting will begin with a presentation of USAID's FY 2006 
Title XII Report to Congress. It is expected that the Board will be 
looking at ways to enhance Title XII input and collaboration on the 
preparation of the FY 2007 report. Following the Title XII Report, the 
Board will discuss operational and management issues concerning the 
Strategic Partnership for Agricultural Research and Education (SPARE), 
establishment of a new BIFAD sub-committee, USAID's revisions to the 
ADS 216 (policy guidance) relative to Title XII implementation, SPARE 
committee issues, and other actions.
    Late in the morning the Board will shift its attention to ``Big 
Picture'' thinking when it discusses ideas and plans for defining 
BIFAD's Strategic Direction in 2008. Critical to this will be the role 
of BIFAD in supporting USAID in collaboration with the U.S. university 
network to address priority agricultural issues in the context of 
transformational development. The Board will be re-visiting its earlier 
resolution with regard to implementing recommendations advanced in the 
special study conducted by former USAID Assistant Administrator Richard 
E. Bissell entitled: ``Implementation of Title XII: Report to the BIFAD 
(June 2006)''. It is expected that the Board will re-affirm its 
commitment to advancing the recommendations made in the Bissell Report.
    Following the executive luncheon, which is closed to the public, 
the Board will continue its discussion on defining the Board's action 
agenda for 2008. The Board will be entertaining comments from the 
audience on identification of critical priorities for international 
agriculture. It is the Board's intention to formulate several key 
recommendations which can be presented to the USAID Administrator. 
Incorporated into the afternoon deliberations will be discussion on 
several special initiatives including: facilitation of a Conference of 
Deans of Agriculture; conducting a study on ``Defining a Title XII 
Activity''; and ideas related to formulating a new Center of Excellence 
for Technology Adaptation in Africa with possible links to the new U.S. 
military command AFRICOM.
    After a mid-afternoon break the Board meeting shifts to several 
policy oriented presentations. First, Catherine Bertini, Professor of 
Public Administration, Maxwell School, Syracuse University will present 
a report on: ``U.S. Funding for Higher Education in sub-Saharan Africa: 
A Case Study.'' Then in keeping with the theme of the World Food Prize 
symposium, there will be two papers presented on implications of 
Biofuels to development in Africa. These presentations, with open 
public discussion, will be given by Dr. Kenneth Cassman, Professor, 
Agronomy & Horticulture, University of Nebraska and Dr. Youba Sokona, 
executive secretary, Sahara & Sahel Observatory, Tunis, Tunisia.
    The Board meeting is free and open to the public. Discussion and 
comments from the audience are especially welcome. Those wishing to 
attend the meeting or obtain additional information about BIFAD should 
contact Dr. Ronald S. Senykoff, the Designated Federal Officer for 
BIFAD. Write him in care of the U.S. Agency for International 
Development, Ronald Reagan Building, Office of Agriculture, Bureau for 
Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Room 2.11-085, Washington, DC 20523-2110 or telephone him at (202) 712-
0218 or fax (202) 216-3010.

Ronald S. Senykoff,
USAID Designated Federal Officer for BIFAD, Office of Agriculture and 
Food Security, Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture & Trade, U.S. 
Agency for International Development.
 [FR Doc. E7-19396 Filed 10-1-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6116-01-P