Partnership, Strategic Alliances
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
Partnership, Strategic Alliances
Agricultural research and development has the potential to deliver a huge impact on development. For Africa to realise this, however, it needs to reform the way ARD is organised by using innovation as the organising principle and pathway for agriculture-driven development impact. Agricultural innovation involves interaction among multiple (value chain) actors. Such actors include researchers, extension providers, development agents, the private sector (input marketers, processors, output marketers, and credit providers), policy makers, donors, farmer organisations and consumers. The FARA Secretariat recognises that advancing innovation and innovation capacity in African agriculture demands mechanisms and favourable environments for establishing and strengthening those institutions which will facilitate the organisation of the abovementioned actors and promote their interaction.
The Secretariat possesses strong continental-level comparative advantages for (i) harvesting and sharing information about institutional innovations concerning the organisation of multiple ARD actors and (ii) facilitating strategies to enhance capacity for innovation across Africa’s sub-regions. Through GFAR, the Secretariat is also well positioned to facilitate the networking of ARD actors between Africa and other regions.
Refreshingly, after decades of acting independently of each other and of the priorities of African countries, European agricultural and environmental research institutions have recently adopted policies that encourage coordination and collaboration both amongst themselves and with others. They have also established institutions such as the European Initiative for Agricultural Research for Development (EIARD), the European Consortium for Agricultural Research and Training (ECART), the European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD), CTA, the International Centre for Development-oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA) and NATURA, which foster and facilitate this mode of engagement. This emerging mode of African–European engagement has created the need to broker partnerships between European and African institutions. The Secretariat is well placed to do this at the continental level.
Through Function 5, the Secretariat catalyses and facilitates the establishment and strengthening of partnerships and strategic alliances at various levels aimed at sustainably increasing the impact of agricultural research and development. It tests and promotes best practices in multi-stakeholder (partnership) approaches to enhance agricultural innovation. It also catalyses the assemblage and exchange of information and experience relating to partnerships and multi-stakeholder approaches to agricultural innovation. In so doing, it facilitates and catalyses linkages between strong and weak stakeholder agencies.
Partnerships and strategic alliances to support sustainable broad-based agricultural productivity, competitiveness and markets in Africa established
NSF 5 hosts a portfolio of two projects:
Formal engagement of the SSA CP Cross-site Research Support Team (CRST) members
During the conception of the SSA CP, it was envisaged that the research teams will require backstopping in various areas
such as: (i) organizational and institutional change; (ii) participatory monitoring and evaluation, (iii) impact assessment; (iv)
capacity development; (v) knowledge and communication management, and (vi) integration and management of data to
perform cross-site analysis and make program-wide inferences. These services were initially provided by “services
providers” chosen from a roster of experts, who provided inputs through largely independent activities. However, feedback
from the SSA CP research actors found the inputs provided by some consultants identified by the service providers
unsatisfactory. There was also some concern about the way the consultants operated which left no room for continuity in
the support extended to research actors. This dissatisfaction prompted FARA to consider alternative models of delivering
research support to the research teams on the Program. The approach chosen by FARA has come to be known as the
cross-site research support team (CRST) approach. This approach highlights the importance of having a core group of
“specialists” who will be engaged to backstop all three pilot learning sites for the whole of the lifecycle of SSA CP, thus
providing continuity of support. In the first run, three experts in the natural and social sciences have been formally
engaged by the SSA CP. They are Dr. Jemimah Njuki, a Senior Social Scientist at CIAT in charge of PM&E, Mr. Peter
Muraya, a Data Management Expert with the ICRAF/ILRI research methods group based in Nairobi, Kenya and Dr. Aliou
Diagne, a Senior Impact Economist with WARDA based in Cotonou, Benin. As the implementation of the SSA CP picks
up, other areas where expertise is needed will be identified leading to the engagement of new CRST members.
Post-doctoral fellows in Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation recruited
FARA/SSA CP has recruited post-doctoral fellows in the area of Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation. These social
scientists will specifically: (i) facilitate the operation of innovation platforms (IP); (ii) track learning and change in the IP and
research sites and (iii) collect and analyze data for testing the SSA CP hypotheses. Drs. Luke Olarinde (Nigerian) and
Kefasi Nyikahadzoi (Zimbabwean) have accepted to work as postdoctoral fellows (PDF) within the SSA CP to be based at
the KKM and ZMM pilot learning sites respectively. A third PDF to be based in the Lake Livu PLS is in the process of
being recruited. In this regard, three agricultural research institutions have been contacted by FARA/SSA CP to act as
host institutions for the post doctoral fellows. They are Institute of Agricultural Research, Zaria, Nigeria, Institut des
Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda (ISAR), Kigali, Rwanda and Bunda College, Lilongwe, Malawi for the PDFs in KKM,
Lake Livu and ZMM PLSs respectively.
Inside SSA CP January – March 2008, Vol. 2, No. 1
Ade Freeman visits the PCU
Dr. Ade Freeman of ILRI visited the PCU in Accra during the quarter reported in this edition of our newsletter. The main
purpose of the visit was to present highlights of the research conducted on behalf of the SSA CP by ILRI. ILRI had
undertaken to backstop SSA CP by conducting research centered on identifying consistent strategies, entry points, and
interventions that may be attractive for households and communities under different agro-climatic, market, and
demographic contexts. The research also covered the identification of options that can be used to revive agriculture and
spur growth in specific agricultural development contexts; supporting institutional arrangements; and policies that support
technological change and pro-poor growth at the PLS. The research which was done with the Norwegian funding,
enriched discussions on site selection for SSA CP projects.
Development of 2009-2010 SSA CP MTP
The SSA CP annually develops a rolling medium term plan (MTP) to articulate its research agenda, proposed workplan
and budget. In previous years, the MTP covered three years. This year however, the MTP that will be developed will
cover only two years, taking us to the proposed end of the current research phase of SSA CP, i.e. December 2010. The
development of the MTP involves all the actors that contribute to the research, administrative and financial activities of
SSA CP. This in effect means all of us. This year we will be drawing on the services of two consultants selected
specifically for their experience in the preparation and review of CGIAR targeted MTPs as well as in the evaluation
exercises related to the CGIAR and the Science Council. The process for the development of the 2009-2010 SSA CP
commenced in March 2008.
Approval of workplans and budget by PCU
The FARA secretariat is pleased to report that the workplans and budgets received from the Taskforces working on SSA
CP have been approved. Consequently, research activities based on the approved workplans have commenced in all
sites. All activities in the approved plans are geared towards the proof of the concept of integrated agricultural research for
development (IAR4D). Our proof of concept is basically coming out of the practice of IAR4D itself. The design adopted for
the poof of concept will capture “before and after” as well as “with and without” effects of IAR4D for a combination of
qualitative and quantitative parameters which have been chosen by the group.
Planning for the transfer of LI and MC roles to the SROs
As part of FARA’s intervention to reduce transaction costs in the SSA CP, the FARA Executive Board endorsed the
transfer of Pilot Learning Site (PLS) Lead Institution (LI) and Management Committee (MC) functions to the Sub-regional
agricultural research organisations (SROs). In this regard, FARA has started negotiations with the LI and SROs to ensure
a smooth transition by January 2009.
News from Pilot Learning Sites
Indicators and data collection tools for baseline surveys developed
Each PLS organized workshop to identify the monitoring indicators and data collection tools required for the baseline
surveys between January and March 2008. The workshops involved all the taskforces in each of the PLS working together
to develop the monitoring indicators as well as the data collection tools.
New leader for the CIAT–led Taskforce
Dr. Andy Farrow has been acting as the new taskforce leader for the CIAT-led
taskforce for Lake Kivu. He replaces Dr. Pascal Saginga. Andy Farrow is a GIS
expert. We welcome Dr. Farrow aboard the SSA CP.
For more information on the above events, please contact Dr. Monty Jones by email:
mjones@fara-africa.org
Endnote
Inside SSA CP is a quarterly publication of the SSA CP’s coordination unit. It is aimed at sharing information on activities
and developments within the SSA CP to promote collaboration in our multi-stakeholder and multi-location program.
Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme (SSA-CP) for
Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) Kano-Katsina-Maradi Pilot Learning Site (KKM-Sahel Agro-ecological Zone Taskforce Download document
Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Integrated Natural Resource Management to Improve Rural Livelihoods in Sudan Savanna of West Africa. Download document
Kano-Katsina-Maradi Pilot Learning Site (KKM-PLS) Lead Institution Research Phase
Implementation Plan 1 July 2007- 30 June 2008. Download document
Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Linking Technical Options, Policy, and Market Access for Improved Land Productivity in the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone. Download document