This document outlines the agenda for a two-day foresight event held prior to the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week and FARA General Assembly in Accra, Ghana. The event focused on exploring the future sustainability of rural areas and the contribution of agriculture and science in Africa. Day 1 involved group work to identify drivers of rural sustainability, map these as a system, and introduce scenario building. Day 2 consisted of group work to develop plausible future scenarios for key drivers and discuss implications for food security. A synthesis report was prepared on Day 3 to summarize outcomes for the plenary session on rural sustainability.

1. 6TH AFRICA AGRICULTURE SCIENCE WEEK & FARA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The future sustainability of rural areas and the contribution
of agriculture and science
Agenda of the pre-plenary foresight event
Accra, 15-16 July , 2013, Press Center
Day 1: July 15 2013
Morning 09:00 to 13:00
Plenary (45 minutes)
Introduction to foresight (25 minutes): R. Bourgeois (GFAR)
The multiple dimensions of sustainability of rural areas (20 minutes):
K.S. Njonjo (SID)
Facilitated group work: the drivers of the sustainability of rural areas in Africa (2
working groups; 2 and ½ hours)
Identification of drivers
Trends and discontinuities
Plenary: reports from the groups and consolidation (45 minutes) A. Kingiri
(ACTS)
Afternoon 14:00 to 18:00
Facilitated group work: mapping the sustainability of rural areas in Africa as a
system and identification of driving forces (2 working groups; 2 and ½ hours)
Systemic linkages between drivers
Identification of key drivers
Plenary:
Reports from the Group work and consolidation (1 hour) A. Kingiri
(ACTS)
Introduction to scenarios (30 minutes) K.S. Njonjo (SID)

2. Day 2: July 16 2013
Morning 09:00 to 13:00
Facilitated group work: Building scenarios of the futures of sustainability of
rural areas (3 working groups; 3 hours)
Identification of plausible futures for the key drivers
Discontinuities with current situation
Plenary: Sharing scenarios (1 hour) A. Kingiri (ACTS)
Afternoon 14:00 to 18:00
Facilitated group work: Scenarios’ implications for “Africa feeding Africa” (3
working groups; 2 hours)
Plenary:
Reports from the Group work and consolidation (1 and ½ hours) A.
Kingiri (ACTS)
Wrap up and next steps (30 minutes) R. Bourgeois (GFAR)
Day 3: July 17 2013
Preparation of a synthesis report to the plenary sub theme 2 (small task force of
volunteer participants with support from the facilitators).