The CAADP-XP4 Programme, which is funded by the European Union (EU) and administered by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), recently underwent a mid-term review at Birchwood Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 16th to 22nd May 2022.
The CAADP-XP4 Programme is implemented by a consortium comprising the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA), West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development in Southern Africa (CCARDESA) and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).
Dr Malu Ndavi, the IFAD Lead Technical Specialist, led the IFAD team comprising Dr Viviane Filippi, IFAD Programme Management Analyst; Ms Gadzeni Mulenga, the Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Specialist; Mr Amine Belhamissi, the Technical Specialist AR4D and Mr Akash Jaggia the Consultant Financial Management Specialist and Mr Jean Bosco Rurangangabo, the accredited Financial Management Specialist Consultant to conduct and facilitate the Midterm Review. This review comes precisely 39 months after Programme implementation.
After an intense review of relevant documentation from the consortium, the overall assessment of the CAADP-XP4 Programme showed that the CAADP-XP4 performance was on track, having achieved more than half of the planned targets. The achievement by component was as follows in order of component; Capacity Strengthening scored 94%; multi-stakeholder Partnerships scored 74% ; Policy and Institutional Arrangements scored 72%; Knowledge and Information Management 85%; and Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Reporting scored 86%. The Programme was rated satisfactory.
The team lead, Dr Malu Ndavi, was satisfied with the consortium's performance. However, he urged the Programme to work much harder in components 2 and 3, which scored slightly lower than all the other components. Dr Ndavi was happy with the capacity strengthening activities undertaken by the consortium; however, he urged the consortium to identify follow-up steps to derive tangible and impactful benefits of the training initiatives to the targeted beneficiaries.
It was clear from the Consortium presentations that the capacities of the CAADP XP4 institutions and their regional and national partners were strengthened through this Programme by enhancing human capacity, fiduciary systems, infrastructure and operational systems. Furthermore, the CAADP-XP4 Programme also improved the partnership of the five organizations to work together and establish and strengthen diverse Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) for addressing agricultural research and development interventions. These platforms are now being used to scale up some of the interventions being implemented under CAADP-XP4. Partnerships established by the organizations were harnessed to mobilize resources for advancing the agricultural R&D agenda. The Programme also boosted the Knowledge Management and Communication capacities through training of stakeholders and establishment as well as upgrading of relevant ICT infrastructure. In addition, there was improved programme coordination, planning, monitoring, evaluation, learning and programme visibility which facilitated close working relations among the consortium partners. This programme governance model forms a good foundation for working together by these agricultural research and development coordinating bodies in the African continent.
The consortium vowed to continue working together with each institution leading specific components. AFAAS intends to continue scaling out (i) the digitalization of Agricultural Extension Advisory Services to respond to demand for innovations; (ii) undertaking experience capitalization through Country Fora; (iii) CSA good practices and innovations; and (iv) engaging with global AEAS actors and host the Extension Week as flagship information and knowledge event that widely shares innovations, successes, and failures.
While ASARECA also undertook the scaling up climate-relevant technologies and innovations through five strategies, namely (i) the repackaging of the Technologies, Innovations and Management Practices (TIMPs) database to include climate-relevant technologies and innovations; (ii) convening policy dialogues on agricultural policy reforms to facilitate movement and exchange of agricultural technologies across borders—one such dialogue was organized in 2021; (iii) organizing benchmarking exercises (one such exercise in 2021 was attended by a total of 8 countries) to facilitate peer-to-peer learning as well as the exchange of knowledge and technologies amongst partners; (iv) convening crowdsourcing workshops to identify CSA technologies, technology adaptation domains and modalities for scaling up the technologies; (v) convening dialogues on the institutionalization of CSA among partner institutions as a strategy for driving the scaling up of CSA approaches in the ECA region. One such dialogue was conducted during which the ASARECA CSA Alliance was established. This Alliance will serve as a vehicle for scaling up CSA technologies.
CCARDESA will continue to respond to the enormous demand for technologies that enhance adaptation to climate change in Southern Africa. The response involves the development and dissemination of CSA technologies and policies. CCARDESA is also building on the regional outcomes and networks created by a climate-related project it had been implementing known as Adaptation to Climate Change in Rural Areas in Southern Africa (ACCRA) to scale out CSA technologies and policies. Furthermore, CCARDESA will continue to advocate for the mainstreaming of climate-relevant activities and innovations into national plans for such activities to benefit from the countries' budgetary allocations. In addition, CCARDESA will feed the project's results on policies for cross border trade to add value to regional initiatives on promoting intra-regional trade in Southern Africa and intra-Africa trade.
While CORAF's scaling up interventions builds on (i) improved internet connectivity, which has helped organize webinars, online meetings, and consultations in the context of the COVID 19 crisis. Improved connectivity will expand the reach of the WebTV in its dissemination of climate-relevant knowledge and technologies to, particularly the youth in West and Central Africa; (ii) collaborative efforts supported by the network of CAADP XP4 focal points based in the NARIs and a network of regional stakeholders based in international and regional research and development organizations, i.e., CCAFS, AGRHYMET, CILSS, and HubRural.
On the other hand, FARA will continue with the following strategies for scaling up (i) supporting the mainstreaming of programme actions into regional and continental initiatives on agriculture; (ii) establishing or strengthening partnerships with complementary programmes and institutions, e.g., the one-CGIAR, TAAT, AIRTEA, PANAP, LEAP4FNSSA, CAAPs and the NORAD-supported food systems mainstreaming project; (iii) leveraging FARA-hosted networks, e.g. the agribusiness and innovation platforms portal, YPARD, agribusiness incubators and the African foresight academy, and (iv) supporting the capacity of African stakeholders to formulate projects and mobilize investments for implementation of these projects. FARA will also facilitate the digital interoperability for Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) of the Programme.
The consortium is happy with its performance and promised to perform better in the two lagging components. They will also improve the mainstreaming of gender and youth elements in the Programme, put sustainability elements of the initiative, and incorporate aspects of addressing new emerging environmental issues. The consortium underscored their commitment to continue jointly implementing programme activities for a broader and more significant impact on the African continent. The MTR provided a valuable opportunity to learn and reflect on how to consolidate the Programme's investment in the next phase of the Programme.
