September 13  - 15,  2018

Goettingen, GERMANY

Dear Colleagues,

the United Nations sustainable development goals enshrined in their objectives that poverty was to be halved by 2015 by various nations globally. However, this goal has rarely been achieved by many countries. Much more remains to be done to achieve the targets.

To achieve the UN 2030 agenda objective of ending poverty and hunger everywhere, the following issues are deemed pivotal:

1. The majority of the Afro Asian population lives in rural areas which are mainly the production sites for raw materials. The utilization of natural resources is injudicious.
2. In these regions national agricultural productivity is quite low while international investors are able to obtain high efficiency through capital and technology deployment, economies of scale. However the produce is export bound and does not contribute to national needs.
3. The impact of climate change is soaring, disaster management is in its infancy with regard to research, required dimension and footprint.
4. The food processing industry is yet to gain pace, hence related economic growth is far below its potential.
5. Knowhow transfer from international knowledge centers is punctiform.
6. The need for short-term currency requirements sets priorities over sustainable development strategies on many national agendas.

International Foundation for  Sustainable Development in Africa and Asia, Goettingen, Germany

 University of Applied  Sciences and Arts,

Goettingen, Germany

African Asian Studies Promotion Association

Afrikanisch-Asiatische Studienförderung e.V.

MAHATMA GANDHI HAUS

Karl Fritz Heise-Saal

Theodor-Heuss-Str. 11

37075 Göttingen / Germany