CCARDESA Attends an Inception Workshop in Johannesburg

The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) took part in an inception workshop for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) European Commission (EC) / International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-Funded initiative in Johannesburg from 21st to 25th October 2019.

The workshop was intended to familiarize participants with how each organization is going to implement its allocated responsibilities of the overall programme, identify areas of working together to achieve higher impact and where to avoid overlap.

This initiative is being supported by a partnership between European Commission (EC) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) under DeSIRA (Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture) which is aiming at supporting the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) ex-pillar IV Organizations in implementing a Science-led and Climate Relevant Agricultural programme.

The overall objective of the initiative is to enable agricultural research and innovation, including extension services, to contribute effectively to food and nutrition security, to economic development and climate mitigation in Africa. This will be achieved by improving the capacity, effectiveness and positioning of the regional and sub-regional agriculture research and extension organizations as well as National Agriculture Research Systems, and by promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing among the organizations.

As part of the CAADP ex Pillar IV organizations, CCARDESA has been identified as the implementing partner and beneficiary of this programme in Southern Africa because the programme provides the institutional architecture for promoting greater coordination and efficiency of agricultural research and extension within and across Africa. The CAADP ex Pillar IV organizations were preferred for this role because they are best placed to coordinate processes for farmer-participatory research, effective multi-partner innovation platforms, and improved private sector participation and investment.

Besides CCARDESA, other CAADP ex-Pillar IV organizations participating in the initiative include the following: (1) Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA); (2) Agricultural Forum for African Advisory Services (AFAAS); (3) Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and the (4) West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF).