FARA - Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa - http://fara.infosysplus.org/

Programs / Initiatives

FARA's approach

is develop a portfolio of programmes that will collectively address five requirements for meaningful impact on livelihoods, food security and conserving natural resources

  1. Internalising a new innovation systems approach to agricultural research for development
  2. Strengthening human capacity to implement, internalise and upscale that approach to all stakeholders including researchers, change agents, processors, marketers, and not least policy makers
  3. Promoting immediate applications that can make a difference and restore credibility in agricultural development
  4. Assembling the financial resources that African agricultural research systems require to carry out the required reforms and investments
  5. Disseminating information to and from African scientists, change agents and policy makers FARA has sought to make concurrent progress on these five fronts so that impact of one will not be limited by lack of progress in the other.

FARA's Programmes

  1. The Sub Saharan Africa Challenge Program (SSA CP) Introducing and internalising a new approach to agricultural research for development
  2. Building African Scientific and Institutional Capacity (BASIC)Strengthening the capacity to build the human capacity to implement, internalise new approaches to agricultural research for development and to implement development
  3. Dissemination of New Agricultural Technologies in Africa (DONATA) Immediate applications that can make a difference and restore credibility in agricultural development
  4. A Multi-country Agricultural Productivity Program for Africa (MAPP) Securing the resources that African agricultural research systems require to carry out the required reforms and investments
  5. Regional Agricultural Information System (RAIS) promoting access and exchange of information

1. The Sub Saharan Africa Challenge Program (SSA CP)

SSA CP's purpose is to address the most significant constraints to reviving agriculture in Africa, i.e., failures of agricultural markets, inappropriate policies and natural resource degradation with a new paradigm, Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D). This will foster synergies among disciplines and institutions along with a renewed commitment to change at all levels from farmers to national and international policy makers IAR4D's major thrusts

  • A set of principles to address the complexity and heterogeneity of farming systems.
  • A new research agenda with an integrated approach to addressing interactions between natural resource management, production systems, and agricultural markets and policies.
  • Institutional change to forge new partnerships to involve all stakeholders, especially smallholders and pastoralists, women as well as men.

SSA CP's objectives:

  1. To develop technologies for sustainably intensifying subsistence oriented farming systems
  2. To develop smallholder production systems that are compatible with sound natural resource management.
  3. To improve the accessibility and efficiency of markets for smallholder and pastoral products
  4. To catalyze the formulation and adoption of policies that will encourage innovation to improve the livelihoods of smallholders and pastoralists.

SSA CP Partners:

NARS, SROs, FARA, NARIS, CGIAR, advanced research institutes, NGOs, civil society, policy-makers

Download SSA CP pdf file

2. Building African Scientific and Institutional Capacity (BASIC)

BASIC's purpose is to raise the quality and relevance of African tertiary agricultural education to encompass the crosscutting issues that are pertinent to attaining sustainable and profitable agriculture and develop new cadres of professionals for national, regional and international agricultural science, extension, business and policy forums

BASIC's approach is to establish a framework in which African universities can express their priority requirements and draw, as needed, on the pedagogical and subject matter expertise of leading academic institutions to build their scientific and institutional capacity in cutting-edge teaching and research methods and on the CGIAR centres to generate up-to-date and locally relevant training materials.

Download BASIC as pdf file

3. Dissemination of New Agricultural Technologies in Africa (DONATA)

DONATA's purpose is to achieve early impact on improving African livelihoods by accelerating dissemination and uptake of new technologies

DONATA's programme:

  • Building a portfolio of tested technologies
  • Assembling resources for dissemination and out-scaling
  • Building capacity, and sharing resources and techniques
  • Joint learning by doing

Priority new technologies:

- NERICA rice

  • Higher yield
  • Increase labor productivity by less weeding & shorter growth duration
  • Enhanced sustainability through resistance to pests and diseases
  • see www.warda.org

- Tissue culture banana

  • rapid propagation of clean planting materials
  • increased yield
  • pests and diseases resistant
  • see www.ahbfi.org & www.kari.org

-Improved cassava

-IR-Maize

- High-beta carotene sweet potato

DONATA's portfolio will include African farmer-innovations that have not had enough attention, especially for dryland development

Download DONATA as pdf file

 

4. A Multi-country Agricultural Productivity Program for Africa (MAPP)

Advocacy of the role of agricultural research leading to:

 

MAPP's purpose is to identify, focus and make available resources required to implement NEPAD's Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme's (CAADP) fourth pillar: 'Agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption'

MAPP's objectives:

  1. To strengthen capacities of African agricultural technology development and delivery systems
  2. To Increase investments by African governments in technology development and dissemination
  3. To link national, subregional and regional programs and networks with strong international partnerships to achieve efficiency and effectiveness

MAPP's benefits:

  1. Enhanced African participation in the agricultural revolution
  2. Increased investments by the African governments in agricultural research
  3. Effective and efficient agricultural technology generation, dissemination and adoption systems

MAPP pilot countries:

COMESA-ASARECA: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda
ECOWAS - CORAF/WECARD: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal
SADC: Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia

MAPP Partners:

NEPAD, Sub Regional Organizations, Regional Economic Communities, National Agricultural Research System, National Governments

Download MAPP as pdf file

 

5. Regional Agricultural Information System (RAIS)

RAIS's purpose is to improve the access and contribution of African agricultural scientist to agricultural science and development knowledge by adding value to subregional and national agricultural information systems through a regional service

RAIS's objective is to provide:

  • Coordination, facilitation and harmonization of information exchange in Africa
  • Information platform on African agricultural research for development stakeholders and resources
  • Advocacy for improved policies
  • Capacity building on ICT/ICM Skills, infrastructure and leadership

RAIS's programme:

  • Publication of success stories
  • E-discussions o Market information
  • Link with stakeholders
  • Directories
    • - Services and programs
    • - Experts and organizations
    • - New technologies
    • - Capacity building opportunities

RAIS Partners:

NARS, SROs, GFAR, EARD InfoSys+, knowledge providers

Download RAIS as pdf file