January - June 2008 - Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

Community animal health info kiosk: Access to
information can improve disease control and support
poverty reduction strategies since most of the poor live
in information–exclusion. Participants recommended that
KARI Muguga North look into the feasibility of setting
up an info kiosk for sharing livestock health knowledge,
enable farmers generate researchable issues and sustain
partnerships.
“Bangladesh system”: Participants envisioned a time
when indigenous poultry farmers in Kenya would be
organized and adapt a village system specifically for
rearing and growing poultry and to produce and sell eggs.
During the closing ceremony, Dr Mugambi presented
certificates of attendance to participants.
Dr J. Mugambi, Centre Director Muguga North
presents a certificate to a participant
KARI finalises the first Budgets and Workplans for the Fourth Medium Term Plan
By Koinange T. Mukundi, KARI Headquarters
The KARI Director, Dr. Ephraim Mukisira challenged
scientists to take research as a business with clients
whose demands must be met. He emphasized the
need to remain focused to the work plan and budgets
throughout the implementation period. Dr. Mukisira said
this when opening a three-day Budget and Work plan
meeting at KARI Headquarters on 7 th June, 2008.
Speaking to over 70 Programme Coordinators drawn
from all KARI programmes, Dr. Mukisira asked officers to
go out of their way to ensure that the activities they were
involved in succeeded. He advised them to plan well in
order to make the annual event realize organized and
effective budgets and work plans. He noted that the annual
activity had worked well for KARI in the past.
He asked researchers to demonstrate commitment and
embrace sound communication and keeping of functional
records that would assist them account for research funds.
These, he noted, were characteristic of good fiscal
discipline and good practices and would assist KARI in
annual reporting. He further noted that these would assist
in improving donor confidence in collaborative activities
with KARI. He encouraged scientists to balance travel
and accommodation expenses with serious research
engagements that would impact positively on the
livelihoods of mostly the rural poor.
Noting that it was necessary to strengthen the capacity
for effective budgeting and formulation of work plans,
the Director observed that the Planning Monitoring &
Evaluation Unit, which is a quality assurance unit, will
help KARI realize this goal. He challenged coordinators
to master their disciplines in order to provide the required
leadership. He asked scientists to continue building
effective networks, which in return would foster effective
partnerships. He paid tribute to the Chief Accountant,
Mr. Andrew Otolo who had worked for KARI for a long
time. The Chief Accountant would be retiring in June after
serving KARI for a period of almost 20 years.
This years’ budget and work plan activity was inclusive
and involved more participants in order to cater for
programmes such as Adaptive Research and ARIS, among
others, which had been left out in 2007. ARIS was
established to facilitate commercial activities aimed at
financing 20% of KARI’s research activities in
appropriations in aid (A in A). Most ARIS work is subcentres
where most of the commercial activities are carried
out .
The Director asked all to plan the programmes activities
as guided by KARI’s policy documents the Strategic Plan
and fourth Medium Term Plan. This, he said, would greatly
assist the Institute pursue its mission and vision to the
letter.
The Director seized the opportunity to inform the
participants that the Institute had developed new “Terms
and Conditions of Service” that would be applied to
improve the welfare of staff in a number of areas. He
further said that performance contracts is here to stay
and asked participants to take it seriously to reward staff
that are performing and place sanctions to those that are
not. The participants also learnt that the KARI Pension
Scheme was registered in March this year and contributors
to the scheme will get periodical updates on the status of
their pension accounts. This will be done through
newsletters and the annual general meetings (AGMS).
Speaking to the coordinators during the meeting, Dr.
Joseph G. Mureithi, Research and Technology Deputy
Director, pointed out that the work plan would take
consideration of the end phase of KAPP and the onset of
the 4 th Medium Term Plan. He emphasized the need to
budget for funding for communicating the research finding
to stakeholders in order to enhance effective uptake and
adoption of new KARI technologies. He noted that
coordinators were best placed to keep track of KARI
technologies and asked them to assist in developing an
inventory of these technologies.
The Chairman of the Budget Committee, Dr. David
Mwangi Miano, stressed the need to efficiently utilise
the resources available for research, including the human
resources. He advised the programme coordinators to have
projected indicators reflected in their budgets and work plan
so that they can run in tandem with each other.
Briefing the participants, Mr. George Karanja told the
participants that KARI, through the Board of Management,
had made specific performance targets to Government of
Kenya. He asked the groups to be guided by these targets
in planning because they form the basis of assessing
KARI’s performance.
Highlighter No. 23
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