africa rising east and southern africa review brief - 16 march 2015
TRANSCRIPT
AFRICA RISING EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
EXTERNAL REVIEWTANZANIA AND MALAWI
Briefing 16th March 2015
Jim Ellis-Jones, Colletah Chitsike & Jean Ndikumana
Brief content
• Review process and purpose
• Africa RISING and ESA implementation strategy
• Four research outputs – Babati, Kongwa & Kiteto, Dedza & Ncheu
• Communication, data collection and use
• Partnerships and management
• Human resource capacity
• Contribution to humid tropics CRPs
• Brief conclusions and next steps
Review process and purpose
Process
• Literature review
• Email/skype/telephone discussions
• Field visits
Purpose of this brief
• Overview of initial assessment
• Especially challenges, way forward and opportunities
• Still to come– Recommendations
– Prioritisation
Achievements
• An impressive range of partnerships
• Platforms initiated
• Output 2: Integrated Systems Improvement
– Impressive bio-physical activities
– Some good science with some scaling out (R&D)
– Mother-baby-grandaughters/spillovers
– Participatory methods
Implementation strategy - framework
Challenges
• No initial framework– Jump starts
– Process project
• Programme framework emerged
• ESA project – Three variations
– Each with its own strengths
Way forward
• Update ESA framework
• Clearer definition of Outputs and activities
• Revisit indicators– Identify / confirm baselines
– Targets
– Milestones
• Theory of change approach
• Think through conditions
Implementation strategy -IPs
Challenges
• R4D-IPs intended to facilitate community engagement (inc. gender), joint planning, implementation and learning
• R4D-IPs are not just dissemination mechanisms but contribute to demand led research (demand-led)
Way forward
• Provide facilitation of R4D-Ips– Monitor &learn
• Strengthen linkages from District (strategic) to Village/community levels (operational)
• Agendas/plans need to reflect and build on learning cycles
• Value chain analysis to inform interventions, plans & action research
Implementation strategy- scaling pathways
Challenges
• Recognise role of existing farmer groups and community networks
• Where is the social science
• Recognition of the importance of gender to improving livelihoods – both men & women & youth
Way forward
• Institutional analysis to identify and support CBOs
• Facilitate farmer-to farmer extension
• Map, monitor and assess babies and granddaughters-spill overs– Who, what, how, why, when,
achievements, challenges & lessons
RO1: Situation analysis and programme wide synthesis
Challenges
• Base-lines
• Farmer characterisation
• Inventory of technologies
• Ex-ante economic analysis
• Establish R4D IPs
• Work with community priorities
• Where is gender?
Way forward -platforms
• Clarify R4D purposes, partner roles, and agendas– Learning cycle
• Develop links from District to community
• Ensure farmer representation
• Need for facilitation, monitoring and learning
RO2: Systems improvement –cereal-legumes(genetic intensification, management incl Alfasafe)
Challenges
• Timely arrival of inputs/ compensation
• Soil erosion• Socio-economic evaluation
including gender (not just modelling)
• Input availability/affordability – Seed, fertiliser, inoculant
• Marketing constraints• Silo effect & overlap with
other research
Way forward
• Step wise recommendations– Low, medium and high
• Map and learn from adoption pathways
• Value chain analysis to inform future
• Utilisation of dambos
• Link with national platforms
• Other crops ?– potatoes, sunflowers, cotton, tobacco
RO 2- Crops, vegetables only Babati
Challenges
• Seed availability
• Processing
Way forward
• CB seed production
• QDS for local sales
• Link with TOSCI
RO2: Livestock –fodder establishment
Challenges
• Use of FEAST
• Trees and fodder legumes unsuitable for high altitudes
• Napier disease in bulking nurseries
• Farmer selection – wants to remove napier
• What happened to forage choppers and balers
Way forward• Need for feeding trials
– Build on existing groups
• Ensure other management aspects addressed– Housing– Health
• Integrate with other SI research activities
• Value chain analysis (dairy in Malawi)
• Need to address mechanisation issues
RO2: NR management
Challenges
• Long term nature of landscape research
• Research/demos for awareness raising
• Conflicts between crop farmers and pastoralists
• Intense rainfall events can destroy all SWC structures
• Free grazing during dry season
Way forward
• Need for short term recommendations
– Fertliser and agronomy packages
– Contour intervals/length
– Maintenance needs
• Rain water harvesting demos
• Policy briefs for stakeholders at all levels
– Decision maker support for bye-laws
RO2: Post harvest
Challenges
• Mechanisation affordability/availability / ownership /maintenance issues
• Scaling up triple bags– Partial budget analysis
– Availability
• Warehouse & business management by farmer groups/individuals
Way forward
• Awareness raising on aflotoxins– Incorporation in crop
management practices
• Alfasafe for Malawi
RO2: Food nutrition and processing
Challenges
• Need for coordination & lesson learning across countries
• High illiteracy rates amongst young mothers – Communication tools
Way forward
• Establish baselines for monitoring and assessing change
• Develop a comparative research programme between Tanzania and Malawi– Focus on children >2, pregnant
women and different household categories
• Link SUA, LUANAR, IITA, AVRDC, with NAFACA-Tuboreshe Chakula and INVC
Cross cutting issues
• Commodity value chain studies– to identify potential interventions
– Agree at platform level how to address
• Ensure gender and youth issues around technologies especially labour and utilization are addressed during participatory evaluation occasions.
• Ensure data is collected that allows participatory cost-benefit analysis (including gender) options of the trials.
RO3: Research on scaling approaches
• “Networking Mapping” of babies and granddaughters/spillovers to establish who, why, what and modifications found
• Support & learn from scaling approaches funded by bilateral USAID development partners (NAFACA and INVC)
• Address farmer requests for “hand outs” through provision of knowledge and facilitation by R4D platform facilitation
RO4: Monitoring and Evaluation
• Studies on how technology is incorporated – into existing household livelihoods, – comparative case studies of household food
allocations, household labour allocations, including possible hired labour following the uptake of SI.
– Assembling socially & gender disaggregated data on household participants
• Questioning issues of gender interpreted as women’s issues and initiating gender research around technology that does not limit gender to specific technologies and/or approaches
Communication & Knowledge management
• Communication largely targeted at higher level stakeholders (good PR)
• Need to target other stakeholders, R4D platform partners (District and Village) and farmers (establish best methods)
• Improved feedback on research progress / results and best practice guidelines to extension & farmers
Data collection and use
• Many scientists unaware of AR tools - PMMT and wiki
• Protocols and capacity building required
– ongoing
• How does CG, NARS and University generated data be incorporated (or not) into AR’s data base
Partnerships
• Absence of base-line institutional analysis at project start has meant that many past experiences may have been missed
• Need to identify partners working in same areas– Farm Africa in Babati– INADES in K & K – TLC in Malawi– Other research projects in Malawi (SIMLESA, ICRAF,
CIMMYT, CIAT, McK etc).
• Private sector partner representation remains weak
Management
• Address contracting arrangements between partners to reduce funding delays
• Improving coordination and networking mechanisms at research sites
• Avoiding “silo” approaches between research and development partners, regular meetings
• Improving links / communication with ARIs in Tanzania esp HQ, and DARS in Malawi.
• Greater use of local / regional consultants where capacity is limited
In conclusion
• Well done especially - Output 2– Lots to build on
– Challenges to be addressed & priorities to be determined
• Main challenges relate to Outputs 1, 3 & 4
• Review team next steps– Completion of draft report – end March/ early April
– IITA consideration – mid April
– Final report to IITA – end April
Asante Sana & Zikomo
An innovation systems approach
24
Knowledge generation
Demand - pullFarmers
Putting knowledge into use
Information market
StakeholdersNGOsExtensionTradersProcessorsFinanciersCommunicationOthers
Supply - push
Local
participants
R&D
Organisations
Bringing partners together
Phase 1: Engaging with
stakeholders
Phase 2: Planning,
learning and assessing
Phase 3: Ensuring
sustainability
Interest
Collaboration
Ownership
Leadership
Leadership
Facilitation
Backstopping
Private
Sector
Interest
Collaboration
Commercial
opportunity
and farmer
support
Tim
e
Innovation Platform
Consideroptions
Exchange visits
Participatory Research and Extension Approach
Enteringcommunity build trust
Identifyinglocal organ-
isations
Raisingawareness
Identifying needs &
problems
FeedbackTo
community
Training
Technicalbackstopping
Training
mid-Season
evaluation
Training
Planningfor nextlearning
cycle
PREALearning Cycle
PREA Training
MIRACLE
Prioritisingneeds andproblems
Actionplanning
Searchingfor
solutions
Mandatinglocal
institutions
Tryingout new
ideas
End of season review
and processmonitoring
Researcher
Input
supplier/trader
Extension Officer
Farmers’ group
(CBO)
Lead farmer
Other farmers
Seed farmer
Secondary farmers
CV
STRUCTURES OF THE DAESS
District Agric.
Committeecommittees committee CommitteeDEC
AEC
DAECCDistrict Stakeholder
PanelADC
VDC
Community/village
Entry point for planning
& implementation for interventions eg.
Eg ; Model Village, clusters +Farmer business school
Lead farmer
DISTRICT ASSEMBLY
Area StakeholderPanel
Agricultural show