Programme for Agri4D 2025

Day 1 - Tuesday 23 Sep 2025

15.00: Registration - Welcome coffee (Exhibition Hall)

16.15: Welcome session and partner's pitch (Exhibition Hall)

16.45: Mingle and speed networking (Exhibition Hall)

18.00: Conference dinner (Ulls restaurant)

Side event 1:

Symposium: A Decade of Swedish–African Collaboration in Agricultural Science for Development in Africa
Venue: Campus Ultuna (exact location TBD)
Date & Time: 23 September, 9:00-12:00

Join us for a short symposium where SLU and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) will present work from more than a decade of joint agricultural science for development in Africa. Results and future outlooks of projects aimed at improving durum wheat for the Senegal River Basin and barley for Ethiopia will be presented. The symposium will conclude with a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, SLU, ICARDA, NordGen and the Nordic breeding industry, who will discuss the future of agricultural development research and collaboration.

Side event 2:

Climate Change and Pathways for Resilience and Sustainability in Africa
Venue: The Nordic Africa Institute Library, Villavägen 6, Uppsala
Date & Time: 23 September, 13:30-15:30
Join us for a panel discussion on climate change and pathways for resilience and sustainability, featuring experts in the field. The discussion will be followed by coffee and informal networking.

Sign up for the side event when register for the conference

Day 2 - Wednesday 24 Sep 2025

8.00: Registration

8.30:  Opening of the conference (Main Hall and online)

Maria Knutson Wedel, Vice Chancellor at SLU

Daniel Liljeberg, State Secretary to Minister of Rural Affairs

Jakob Granit, Director-General at Sida

9.15: Keynote speaker – Professor Miguel A Altieri, University of California, Berkely

10.00: Fika /Networking

10.30: Parallel sessions – 6 parallel sessions (onsite only)

12.00: Lunch (Ulls restaurang or Kårhuset)

13.30: Keynote speaker - Nitya Rao, University of East Anglia (Main Hall and online)

14.15 Poster session (Poster venue) and Online Flash Poster (online)

14.45: Break

15.00: Parallel sessions - 10 parallel sessions (5 onsite, 5 online)

16.45: Panel discussion with key take-aways (Main Hall and online)

17.15: End of Day 2

17.30: Campus activities - Campus walk or visit to permaculture farm

19.00: Dinner in town, Vätgöra Nation, Slottsgränd 12

Day 3 - Thursday 25 Sep 2025

8.45: Welcome and summary of Day 2 (Main Hall and online)

9.00: Keynote speakers -

Shakuntala Thilsted, CGIAR

Erik Alexandersson, NovoNordisk Foundation

10.00: Fika/ Networking

10.30: Parallel sessions – 5 parallel sessions (onsite only)

12.00: Lunch break (Ulls restaurang or Kårhuset)

13.30: Keynote speaker - Patrick Okori, RUFORUM (Main Hall and online)

14.15 Fika/ Networking

14.45: Parallel sessions - 10 parallel sessions (5 onsite, 5 online)

16.30: Panel discussion with key take-aways (Main Hall and online)

17.00: Closing of the conference - True Schedvin, Head of Global Sustainable Economic Development, SIDA

Side event Friday 26 September: 

Vet. Marie Anne Mukasafari PhD will defend her thesis 26th September at 9.15 in Are room (VHC building, entrance floor). 

Title: Milk matters. Linking dairy cow feed to milk yield and quality, and child undernutrition in Northern Rwanda.”

“Stunting, a form of chronic undernutrition in children, is a major public health concern worldwide. Livestock can play a crucial role in reducing stunting by supplying nutrient-dense animal-source foods needed for child growth and development. This thesis aimed to study the association between keeping a lactating cow and the prevalence of stunting in smallholder households in the Northern Province of Rwanda by looking at feeding and milking practices, milk yield and quality, and the association between keeping a lactating cow and stunting in young children.”

Participants at Agri4D are welcome to come and listen.
Note that the disputation will take place 26th September, the day after the conference has finished. 

Side event 1:
Symposium: A Decade of Swedish–African Collaboration in Agricultural Science for Development in Africa
Venue: Campus Ultuna (exact location TBD)
Date & Time: 23 September, 9:00-12:00

Join us for a short symposium where SLU and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) will present work from more than a decade of joint agricultural science for development in Africa. Results and future outlooks of projects aimed at improving durum wheat for the Senegal River Basin and barley for Ethiopia will be presented. The symposium will conclude with a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, SLU, ICARDA, NordGen and the Nordic breeding industry, who will discuss the future of agricultural development research and collaboration.

Side event 2:
Climate Change and Pathways for Resilience and Sustainability in Africa
Venue: The Nordic Africa Institute Library, Villavägen 6, Uppsala
Date & Time: 23 September, 13:30-15:30

Join us for a panel discussion on climate change and pathways for resilience and sustainability, featuring experts in the field. The discussion will be followed by coffee and informal networking.

Side event 3:

Vet. Marie Anne Mukasafari PhD will defend her thesis 26th September at 9.15 in Are room (VHC building, entrance floor). 

Title: Milk matters. Linking dairy cow feed to milk yield and quality, and child undernutrition in Northern Rwanda.”

“Stunting, a form of chronic undernutrition in children, is a major public health concern worldwide. Livestock can play a crucial role in reducing stunting by supplying nutrient-dense animal-source foods needed for child growth and development. This thesis aimed to study the association between keeping a lactating cow and the prevalence of stunting in smallholder households in the Northern Province of Rwanda by looking at feeding and milking practices, milk yield and quality, and the association between keeping a lactating cow and stunting in young children.”

Participants at Agri4D are welcome to come and listen.
Note that the disputation will take place 26th September, the day after the conference has finished.