Africa RISING West Africa Project—The history and where we are today

Africa RISING West Africa Project—The history and where we are today

I. Hoeschle-Zeledon

Africa RISING West Africa Review and Planning Meeting, Bamako, Mali, 3-4 February 2014

Oct. 2011: Brain storming meeting Bamako, Mali 3 projects on farming systems intensification agreement on countries and regions: UER, UWR, NR (Ghana), Sikasso (Mali)

Jan. 2012: Inception workshop Tamale, Ghana CN presentation need for a clear research framework (approach and context, research

hypotheses, trial design) need for appropriate action and control site selection

=> fast track work plan building on existing work to produce results by September 2012

The Start

Feb. 2012: decision on Program approach with 3 regional projects; name: Africa RISING

Africa RISING = Africa Research In Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation

June - December: implementation of year 1 field activities in both countries

Sept.-December: draft work plans for 2013

Next steps

Throughout 2012: Site characterization and selection of future action and

control sites (socio-economic and biophysical characteristics: length of growing period, market access)

Program research framework M&E plan Program communication strategy Program and Project management structure (Rules of engagement with farmers, gender

strategy)

Africa RISING Program

• Bullet

• Bullet

Africa RISING

5-year R4D program with 3 projects, M&E and comms components• Cereal-legume-livestock based farming systems in the Guinea and

Sudano Savanna of WA (Ghana, Mali, [IITA])• Cereal-legume-livestock based farming systems in ESA (Tanzania,

Malawi, Zambia, [IITA])• Crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian Highlands (ILRI)

Goal Create pathways for smallholder farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainable intensification (SI)

Objectives • Identify and evaluate demand-driven options for SI• Evaluate/document/share experiences with approaches for delivering and

integrating innovations beyond program sites• Create opportunities for program participants to move out of poverty and

improve the nutritional status • Facilitate partner-led wider dissemination of SI innovations

Hypotheses • Integration, adoption, trade-off, sequencing, scalability

Research FrameworkResearch Framework

January: Stakeholder meeting in Accra; first Steering Committee meeting Approval of work plans deferred; issues of site and activity

integration; scale of operations; proposed research too conventional, little innovative; need for farming systems approach

Mali, Ethiopia and Ghana identified the various experimentally relevant scales at which they work.

Differences in the terminology and divergent assumptions about what methodological approaches to take, and at what experimental scales to apply these approaches;

Source of miscommunication and misunderstanding across the program

2013

March: program-wide research methodology meeting Agreement on terminology and scales Adoption of proposed farming systems analysis

proposal (RO1) to inform RO2 activities functional farm typologies, identification of entry points, ex-

ante assessment of technology options, farm typology specific priority setting & planning for integrated systems improvement

April – May: Revision of draft work plans for 2013, development of a set of regional research hypotheses

June- December: Implementation of field activities Branding guidelines for coherent identity across all

projects and increased visibility http://africa-rising.wikispaces.com/comms_tools

2013

Sub-agreements in 2013Institution Amount 000US$

ICRISAT (sub-contracts with other partners in Mali) 748

CIAT 100

IWMI 100

ILRI 170

AVRDC (Ghana, Mali) 243

SARI 222

INSTI 29

KNUST 64

SRI 25

CRI 25

MoFA 45

MoH 45

FRI 45

FARA 20

MoU with ACDI/VOCA ADVANCE project (Ghana, expired)

Discussions under way with ATT- Project (Ghana) FARMSEM Project Mali ???

MoU with Heifer International in Ghana

Collaboration with development projects

AfricaRice withdrew in March 2013 Political situation in Mali: exclusion of government

institutions from funding, travel restrictions Lack of baseline surveys to guide research interventions Late recruitment of regional M&E officer Farming systems analysis not yet completed Staff fluctuation in partner organizations Key partners not present at research sites

Implementation challenges

August 2012: visit of US Congressional delegation to Ghana project sites

July 2013: donor visit to Ghana project sites

September 2013: Program-wide learning event

October 2013: exchange visit of Ghana researchers to Mali

Last week: USAID visit to Mali sites

Special events

Programme Management Structure

E&SA Project Steering Committee

(IITA)

Ethiopian Highlands Project Steering Committee

(ILRI)

West Africa ProjectSteering Committee

(IITA)

Communications Team(ILRI)

Monitoring and Evaluation Team(IFPRI)

Program Coordination Team (IITA, ILRI, IFPRI, USAID)

Science Advisory

Group

Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation

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