AATF Inaugural Report - African Agricultural Technology Foundation

A New Bridge to Sustainable Agricultural Development in Africa
design and start-up phase, the Foundation is the
embodiment of four key principles that unite
and energise agricultural development specialists
throughout Africa:
• Science and technology can and must play a
vital role in addressing the continent’s pressing
food and nutritional needs;
• Success will be achieved only through effective
partnerships among the many players
involved in development;
• Strong direct farmer participation in the
development process is essential; and
• Africans can and must take the lead in
providing the answers to Africa’s challenges.
These principles are mirrored in the process by
which AATF came into being. To ensure that the
views of all key stakeholders were considered in
the overall design of the Foundation, a 24-person
Design Advisory Committee (DAC) was formed
in early 2002. This broad-based Committee
comprised representatives from African national
agricultural research institutions, the CGIAR,
African seed and agricultural technology companies,
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) crop science corporations,
and four donor organisations.
The DAC served as the architect of AATF,
providing guidance on the development of
the Foundation’s business plan and key operational
issues, including the identification of Board
members, selection of the headquarters, and the
development of criteria used to select pilot projects.
Committee members and many others participated
in a series of consultations among African,
American and European leaders in development.
These structured, systematic consultations were
professionally facilitated by the Meridian Institute,
a neutral third party with a 20-year track record
of helping diverse stakeholders resolve some of
society’s most contentious public policy issues.
Throughout these consultations, participants
were asked to help identify and prioritise the
major constraints to agricultural development
in sub-Saharan Africa. They were asked what
they and their organisations could contribute to
improving food security and reducing poverty on
the continent, and what they would need to be
more fully involved in the development process.
They were asked about how to overcome restrictions
to accessing proprietary technologies, and
how such technologies could be used by others
to help smallholder farmers without endangering
inherent intellectual property rights.
The ultimate outcome of these multistakeholder
consultations was the birth of an idea
whose time was long overdue, the delineation
of the principles upon which AATF rests, its
mission, and the operational model it embraces.
The conceptualisation, set up and implementation
of AATF was quite a challenge but one that was
placed in very capable hands. I am therefore happy
to report that we have witnessed exciting progress
especially in the development of projects and
realisation of the AATF goals.
Most significantly for me, the birth of the
AATF idea and the consultations that followed
set the tone and organisational culture of the
Foundation; the recognition that there is much
more that unites us than divides us; and that
we all have much more to gain from building
bridges than erecting barriers to development.
Prof. Jennifer Ann Thomson
AATF Board Chair
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