CONCEPT NOTE - FARA

Forum for Agricultural
Research in Africa
Center for International Food and Agricultural
Policy (CIFAP), University of Minnesota
CONCEPT NOTE
Workshop to Plan the Establishment of an African Food and
Agricultural Policy Platform (AFAPP) within FARA
FARA Secretariat
Accra, Ghana
30 th – 31 st May, 2012
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Workshop to Plan the Establishment of an African Food and Agricultural Policy Platform (AFAPP)
within FARA
Africa’s agriculture growth agenda
Agriculture growth is critical for Africa’s economic and social development because of its contribution to
food security, employment, income, and wealth creation. According to the second annual Global
Agriculture Productivity Report released by the Global Harvest Initiative at the World Food Prize
symposium in Des Moines, Iowa in October 2011, the rate of food productivity gains in Africa is below
the 1.7% required to meet the goal of feeding Africa’s rapidly growing population. Africa’s total factor
productivity rate is growing at about 1% a year; well below the 4.4% 1 rate needed to achieve Millennium
Development Goal No. 1 by 2015.
The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) adopted by African Heads of
State and Government in July 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique provides a vision and agenda for achieving
a 6% annual growth. It presents a framework with a set of key principles and targets to “guide country
and regional strategies and investment programs; stimulate and support policy dialogue; …… and
facilitate greater alignment and harmonization of efforts of development partners, international and
local institutions, knowledge centers and think-tank institutions” 2 . The framework identifies four
mutually reinforcing pillars 3 for driving the agricultural sector towards high productivity targets.
The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) is the lead institution for the implementation of the
fourth pillar on agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption. This pillar contributes to
the 6% growth target through broad-based improvements in agricultural productivity, competitiveness
and markets. FARA’s Framework for African Agricultural Productivity (FAAP) was endorsed in 2006 by
African Heads of State and Government in Banjul, The Gambia, to give guidance on how interventions in
four thematic areas 4 can enhance agricultural productivity and contribute to the 6% annual growth. The
FAAP outlines the key principles for improving agricultural productivity, profitability and sustainability
through innovation and calls for increased use of evidence-based approaches to policy development,
priority setting and strategic planning in agriculture. It also calls for strengthening the capacities of
African policy research institutions to make them more responsive to public policy needs. Correct
application of the FAAP principles is a key element for a successful agriculture growth agenda for Africa.
FARA’s policy support to Africa’s agriculture growth agenda
In 2007 FARA revised its strategic plan to incorporate the FAAP principles and policy support to the
CAADP country process. Networking support functions (NSFs) 5 were created to facilitate institutional
reforms of agricultural research and development (AR&D) systems; promote access to knowledge and
technologies; develop strategic decision-making options for policy, institutions and markets; strengthen
1 Framework for African Agricultural Productivity (FAAP), 2006. Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). Accra, Ghana.
2 AU-NEPAD, Accelerating CAADP Country Implementation: A Guide for Implementors. November 2009.
3 The pillars address issues of sustainable land and water management (Pillar I); rural infrastructure and trade-related market
access (Pillar II); hunger, food and nutrition security (Pillar III); and agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption
(Pillar IV).
4 The thematic areas are: integrated natural resource management; adaptive management of appropriate germplasm;
development of sustainable market chains; and policies for sustainable agriculture.
5 The NSFs are Advocacy and Policy (NSF1/3); Access to Knowledge and Technologies (NSF2); Capacity Strengthening (NSF4);
and Partnerships and Strategic Alliances (NSF5).
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human and institutional capacity for AR&D; and support platforms for agricultural innovation. In 2011, a
joint evaluation of the 2 nd External Program & Management Review (EPMR) and a review of FARA’s
Medium Term Operational Plan 2007 – 2012 (MTOP) recognized the strengths and weaknesses of
African policy research institutions and the need for FARA to strengthen their capacities, promote
exchanges among them and facilitate linkages between them and policymakers.
The Review Panel recommended that as a continental body, FARA should use its convening power to
facilitate linkages among African policy research institutions in order to promote synergies and
complementarities in the work that they do and also capture any regional spillovers. The panel
recommended further that FARA’s Advocacy and Policy unit should strengthen its relationships with
African policy research institutions including the international organizations that it is already working
with such as the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the European Center for
Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and the Technical Center for Agriculture and Rural
Development (CTA); enhance interactions with CAADP Pillar II 6 ; and seek new partnerships with other
international policy research institutions. The Panel also called on FARA to prioritize its activities in
agricultural research, extension and education and link them closer to its CAADP Pillar IV mandate in
order to fulfill the policy ‘think tank’ role that it should play at continental level.
Currently, FARA’s Advocacy and Policy unit is collaborating with the African Union Commission (AUC),
the AU NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA), 7 the World Bank and other partners to
support the integration of the FAAP principles in the Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans
(AFSIPs) of African countries. 8 The unit is advocating for increased and better quality investments in
agriculture and AR&D through high-level Ministerial and Parliamentarian dialogues. 9 It is also promoting
policy debates on key regional agriculture and trade issues; 10 facilitating linkages between policymakers
and policy research outputs; and supporting the use of policy research outputs for evidence-based
policy formulation and decision-making in Africa. To ensure that the African agriculture growth agenda
benefits from policy support, the FARA Secretariat is collaborating with the Center for International
Food and Agriculture Policy (CIFAP) of the University of Minnesota to establish the African Food and
Agriculture Policy Platform (AFAPP).
6 Implementation of this pillar is led by the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture for West and Central Africa with
headquarters in Dakar, Senegal.
7 NPCA is the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency that provides overall coordination of
the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP).
8 As the Lead Pillar Institution for CAADP Pillar IV, FARA has supported 28 African countries to develop CAADP Compacts, 21
countries to formulate national AFSIPs and 15 countries to organize Business Meetings to mobilize resources for the AFSIPs.
9 In April 2011 FARA hosted the First Ministerial Policy Dialogue in Accra, Ghana under the theme Catalyzing investments in
African agriculture. In April 2012 FARA hosted the Second Ministerial Policy Dialogue under the theme Integrating research,
extension and education in the CAADP country process for increased agricultural productivity. In November 2011 FARA also
organized a Regional Parliamentarian Dialogue in Abuja, Nigeria under the theme Enhancing competitiveness through increased
investments in agricultural value chains in Africa.
10 In 2010 FARA collaborated with the European Center for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), the Technical Center for
Agriculture and Rural Development (CTA), the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency and the
Conference of Ministers of Agriculture for West and Central Africa (CMA) to organize three regional policy dialogues in Accra,
Nairobi and Addis Ababa on Promoting access to regional and international markets for African agricultural commodities.
Another regional policy dialogue on Meeting requirements relating to technical regulations and sanitary and phyto-sanitary
(SPS) measures along the agricultural value chain in Africa was organized in Nairobi, Kenya in 2011.
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Supporting African policy research institutions
Africa is currently facing a number of political, economic, social and technological forces and trends that
are coalescing and having a profound impact on the continent’s ability to address complex issues of
hunger, unemployment and poverty. As the world increasingly becomes one global village, issues of
food insecurity, unemployment, poverty, climate change are not only felt world-wide, but hit hardest on
those regions or countries where there is the least capacity to track the trends, analyze them and
communicate decision-making options to policymakers. African policymakers want to understand
current and emerging trends, be ahead of them, and use appropriate policies to address them.
Unfortunately, African policymakers do not have adequate access to the types of evidence needed for
informed policy formulation and decision-making. Inadequate policy research of relevance to public
policy, limited public policy debate on regional issues of strategic importance, and a disconnect between
policymakers and policy research outputs are some of the reasons that explain why.
Policy research institutions or think tanks support and influence public and private sector decisionmaking
by conducting policy research, disseminating the results and engaging in advocacy for its use.
They also act as catalysts for new thinking and new solutions to address current, emerging and potential
future problems and offer a nursery of ideas on the direction policies should take. Africa has a good
number of policy research institutions that serve national and regional interests. Of the 5,400 think
tanks world-wide, sub-Saharan Africa has about 550 11 . Over 95% of these think tanks operate at the
national level and focus on national issues. Less than 5% focus on regional issues. Eight countries (South
Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Cameroon) account for 58% of all the
think tanks. Each think tank pursues its own agenda within its own national boundary, with little
attention to what the others are doing.
FARA recognizes the existence of several national and sub-regional policy research institutions in Africa
and so will not duplicate or compete with what they are doing. Rather, FARA intends to complement
and add value to their work. African policy research institutions currently generate a wide range of
research outputs in the form of working papers, policy reports, policy briefs, books and refereed papers.
Too often however, these do not filter into the hands of private and public policymakers and so do not
contribute much to public policy. Given the many development challenges facing Africa, a good number
of African policy research institutions undertake and manage research projects with a view to filling the
existing knowledge gaps. However, too many institutions devote time and resources to the same issues
(e.g. climate change, bio-energy, trade); leading often to duplication, repetition and waste of resources.
The lack of coordination and the absence of a platform on which they can discuss regional issues of
common interest, share ideas, experiences and lessons learnt partly explain this.
With its new role as a weaver of knowledge networks in Africa, FARA will provide a continental forum
for networking (catalyzing, connecting and communicating) among African policy research institutions.
Affiliate members of AFAPP will be drawn from these and other institutions to constitute the research
resources by which AFAPP can carry out its mandate. The platform will provide the opportunity for them
to catalyze, connect and communicate thus complementing and adding value to the work of each other.
The platform will also provide several venues (e.g. workshops, seminars, training, conferences) for
“venting” or communicating research outputs to affiliates of AFAPP, policymakers, and the broader
community of policy analysts. By providing a platform for promoting the production, dissemination and
11 Source: http://www.politicsafrica.com/2012/02/03/africa African Think Tanks on the Rise.
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uptake of policy research outputs, FARA expects to enhance the contribution of policy research
institutions to public policy in Africa.
Objectives of AFAPP
The objective of AFAPP is to enhance the effectiveness of policy support to the African agriculture
growth agenda. Specific objectives are to:
Support the development of a policy research community in Africa;
Promote networking among African policy research institutions in order to:
o
o
o
o
Encourage the production of independent and high-quality agricultural economic (and
related) research of relevance to public policy;
Undertake and manage regional agricultural research projects with a view to filling
knowledge gaps about the key development challenges facing Africa;
Promote cross-boundary sharing of experiences, lessons learnt and approaches on
policy research; and
Disseminate research outcomes widely, through various channels including conferences,
workshops and publications.
Facilitate linkages between policymakers and policy research outputs in order to increase the
uptake of policy research results that support evidence-based policy formulation.
Benefits of AFAPP
A forum for promoting networking among Africa’s policy research community will not only enhance the
effectiveness and efficiency of African policy research institutions in the production and dissemination
of economic research outputs, but also achieve scale and scope economies. Interactions among these
institutions will enhance synergies and complementarities and will help capitalize on regional spillovers.
Promoting linkages between policy research institutions and policymakers will enhance uptake of
research outputs, resulting in evidence-based policies and better informed decisions that support the
African agriculture growth agenda.
Workshop Objectives
The workshop is intended to develop an action plan for realizing the objectives of AFAPP. The specific
objectives are to:
Agree on the goal and objectives of AFAPP;
Identify relevant outputs and activities needed to achieve the objectives;
Establish the structure and operational mechanism of AFAPP;
Determine areas in which AFAPP could add value to African policy research institutions;
Identify the possible venues for “venting” or communicating the outputs of AFAAP to
policymakers and other end users;
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Identify potential sources of funding for AFAPP; and
Prepare a roadmap on the way forward for AFAPP.
Workshop Approach
A small group (15 – 20) of policy experts drawn from policy research and development institutions
within and out of Africa with ample knowledge and experience in food, agriculture and natural
resources will participate in the 2-day workshop. The workshop will be facilitated by a consultant and
will comprise of power point presentations and discussions in plenary sessions. Participants will break
up into working groups to address agenda items. Each working group will elect its chair and repporteur
and will be required to present their group report in plenary session for further discussion. Simultaneous
interpretation (English/French) will be available.
Outcomes of the Workshop
By the conclusion of the workshop, participants would have developed an action plan that shows the
objectives, outputs and activities to be implemented. It should also provide a structure and operational
mechanism of AFAPP, potential sources of funding and a roadmap on the way forward with identified
responsibilities.
Workshop Location and Time
The workshop will be held at the FARA Secretariat located at No. 12 Anmeda Street, Roman Ridge,
Accra, Ghana from 30 – 31 May, 2012.
Organizers of the Workshop
The workshop is being organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in collaboration
with the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy (CIFAP) of the University of Minnesota,
USA.
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