PAAP’s Electronic Newsletter

25 September 2009Volume 12 Number 19

Stakeholder Directory update:

We are in the process of updating this year’sPAAPStakeholders’ Directory. Please let us know if there are any changes in your contact details before 9th October 2009.

New Appointment

Mr. Moses Oremo has been appointed Programme Assistant for ASARECA’sUpscaling and Knowledge Management Programme (UKMP). He has a Master’s degree in Management of Development with specialization in Knowledge Management and Transformation. He also holds an Msc in crop science.He has worked as an Assistant lecturer at MakerereUniversity, and as an Extension field officer and Agricultural extension programme manager. He has conducted consultancy services in areas of agricultural training, advisory and information services for various non-governmental, research and private organizations in Northern Uganda. His contacts are: ; Tel: +256 414 322 226

ReSAKSS: PROMOTING EVIDENCE-BASED AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

Agricultural development can be a powerful source of economic growth and a key element in the fight against poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. This is especially true for sub-Saharan Africa, where agriculture accounts for 30 to 40 percent of total gross domestic product (GDP) and almost 60 percent of total export earnings. Moreover, the agriculture sector is the primary source of income and employment for many Africans. Yet African governments spend much less on agriculture relative to other developing countries. In aggregate, African public spending on agriculture accounted for 5-7 percent of the total national budget from 1980 to 2005, compared to 6-15 percent in Asia. Meanwhile, sub-Saharan Africa is the only region of the developing world expected to have more poor people in 2015 than it did in 1990. Hunger and malnutrition continue to plague nearly 30 percent of the population. In eastern and central Africa, the percentage of people living on less than a dollar (U.S.) a day actually increased during the past two decades, writes Laura Eberly of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Introduction

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ECOGNIZING that Africa’s agriculture sector offers the greatest opportunity for leveraging growth and poverty reduction on the continent, the African Union (AU) member countries together with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) are currently implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Under this African-owned and African-led initiative, which was launched in 2003, African leaders have committed to significantly increase the share of their national budgets allocated to agriculture under the Maputo Declaration. Meeting in Mozambique, African heads of state and government agreed to commit at least 10 percent of their budgets to agriculture in an effort to achieve at least 6 percent annual growth in that sector.

Yet mobilizing additional resources for the agriculture sector, a challenge in itself, does not automatically propel economic growth or reduce poverty and food insecurity. To achieve these goals, African policymakers must also identify appropriate levels and areas of investment, determine regional and sectoral growth priorities, and create comprehensive development strategies to allocate resources efficiently. In addition, they must take into account the potential impacts of a given strategy, include the needs and interests of diverse stakeholders, consider and respond to local conditions, and interact with regional and global communities. Addressing these complex components requires a knowledge and information system to provide objective, data-driven information and analysis.

At the behest of African leadership, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) launched the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) to help fill this role and support CAADP implementation by providing high-quality analysis, tools, knowledge, data, and information, and to strengthen local capacity to use these resources. The system is organized around three regional nodes—west Africa (WA), southern Africa (SA), and east and central Africa (ECA)—established by their respective Regional Economic Community (REC): the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The regional nodes are housed at three Africa-based centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR): the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria; the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya; and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Pretoria, South Africa in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). IFPRI coordinates a common agenda across the three nodes.

ReSAKSS is committed to filling gaps in knowledge and increasing access to high-quality information and analysis. It operates an innovative and interactive web-based platform ( to track several indicators on trends in African agriculture, as well as the progress of CAADP implementation. The platform serves as an important tool in support of peer review, benchmarking, and mutual learning to facilitate the transition towards evidence- and outcome-based policy planning. ReSAKSS briefs and working papers provide analysis of current issues, while its trend reports display broader shifts over time for an entire region or the continent as a whole. These products inform stakeholders as they implement CAADP.

Supporting CAADP implementation

The CAADP agenda unites and motivates many of the demands to ReSAKSS for research, information, and assessment tools. At the country level, the CAADP implementation process includes taking stock of existing agricultural development efforts, identifying gaps that need to be filled to help increase growth and reduce poverty and hunger, specifying the strategic options and sources of poverty-reducing growth in the agricultural sector, and estimating long-term funding needs to exploit this potential. The process builds on ongoing country efforts and is led by national governments and key stakeholders, in collaboration with the RECs, partners, and experts. The process culminates in a country Roundtable meeting and, ultimately, the creation and signing of a CAADP Compact, which specifies long-term investment commitments for agricultural growth and development.

Twenty-four African countries and two RECs—COMESA and ECOWAS—are taking the next step to formalize their CAADP commitments this year by developing and signing CAADP Compacts. This document, written and signed at the Roundtable, describes the country’s plan for increasing agricultural investment to achieve higher agricultural growth and poverty reduction, and commits stakeholders to agreed-upon strategic actions. Throughout this process, ReSAKSS, in collaboration with its partners, supplies the evidence-based analysis and information that informs the Roundtable discussions. ReSAKSS also facilitates follow up to Roundtable outcomes.

Strategic analysis and knowledge management

With a network that stretches across the continent and has a presence in almost every country, ReSAKSS draws from a wealth of data and geographically-diverse sources to provide relevant and timely strategic analysis and knowledge products. These publications not only inform the CAADP implementation process, but also provide the information needed for evidence-based decision-making. Outputs include working papers—such as the recent report on agricultural public expenditures in Africa—issue briefs, annual trends reports, and posters that glean information from all three ReSAKSS nodes, as well as research partnerships in dozens of countries. These publications offer information to a variety of stakeholders; country-specific analyses offer local policymakers detailed results for their specific circumstances, while broader reports—such as the 2008 Annual Trends Report—provide international organizations with information on regional and continental trends and patterns in agriculture.

The majority of the strategic analysis that is conducted by the ReSAKSS network is demand-driven. Research may be commissioned directly by the REC or member states, or initiated by the ReSAKSS node in response to a prevalent concern. National policymakers may request information when preparing or creating budgets, development strategies, or trade and investment policy. For example, based on the request of COMESA, a working paper was recently prepared by ReSAKSS-ECA in collaboration with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA) on non-tariff barriers for maize and beef trade between members. The paper not only synthesized trade barriers in the region, but it also assessed their potential impact on poverty and food security.

Because demand for products drives research, ReSAKSS publications remain relevant and timely, covering issues of importance to those making decisions on agricultural policies. For example, drawing on economic data from several countries in the ECA region, a recent ReSAKSS-ECA report on the global food price crisis estimates the crisis’s impact on food security and economic growth and considers the drivers of the crisis. According to the report, the transmission of international high food prices into the region’s domestic markets was dependent on the tradability of a country’s staple crop. Certain national and regional policy responses may have also led to differential price transfer by country. This type of analysis may be useful to policymakers trying to understand the local impact of a global phenomenon, and how best to respond.

Not all ReSAKSS working papers focus on the regional level. Some have examined potential agricultural development strategies and the long-term effects on poverty and economic growth at the country level. These analyses give stakeholders involved in the CAADP Roundtable discussions a better-informed idea of which investment options will generate the highest returns and help countries to achieve the CAADP targets. For example, when the government of Malawi was preparing its Agriculture Development Plan to revitalize agriculture, it requested support from ReSAKSS, which produced a working paper analyzing the contribution of agriculture to the country’s economy under various spending scenarios. Based on the results of these scenarios, ReSAKSS suggested a strategy with specific investment priorities and levels that would promote economic growth and poverty reduction while reaching the targets of the CAADP agenda—precisely the information needed to draft Malawi’s country CAADP compact.

Reports also tackle more specific research questions. One recent working paper from ReSAKSS-ECA examines investment opportunities for livestock in the North Eastern Province of Kenya. This study synthesizes current knowledge about a prevalent source of livelihood in Kenya and offers livestock investment opportunities for the government to incorporate into its regional development program. Narrower than trend reports or trade studies for all of ECA, detailed working papers focused on one particular country provide pragmatic, precise information to policymakers planning implementation strategies.

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E)

Another important function of ReSAKSS is to facilitate consistent and continual assessment, review, and benchmarking. ReSAKSS monitors key agricultural indicators in African countries against the CAADP targets and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It maintains standardized statistics on its website, where users can view and compare the trajectories of individual countries and regions against benchmarks, as well as continent-wide trends. For instance, ReSAKSS evidence has shown that a number of African governments are responding to the 2003 Maputo Declaration by increasing their national budget allocations to agriculture. In fact, eight countries have met the 10 percent target. ReSAKSS hopes the interactive graphs and easily comparable data will promote peer-review and foster cooperation between countries striving for similar goals.

The ReSAKSS network also facilitates dialogue and knowledge-sharing to help stakeholders design, implement, and monitor and evaluate agricultural development strategies. In November, ReSAKSS will convene a high-level international conference on “Exploring New Opportunities and Strategic Alternatives to Inform African Agricultural Development, Planning and Policy.” When participants meet in Addis Ababa, they will review Africa’s and individual countries’ progress on MDG1—halving poverty and hunger by 2015—as well as progress on implementation of the CAADP agenda. Key policymakers, donors, economists, and NGO representatives will also share and discuss existing research on agricultural policy and analytic capacity. Finally, they will consider mechanisms, tools, and networks to strengthen evidence-based policymaking, particularly as it relates to growth options for agricultural development in Africa. The agenda includes opportunities to take stock of initiatives undertaken thus far, consider alternative strategies for improving agricultural performance, and debate mechanisms for implementation.

ReSAKSS has also developed an M&E framework for assessing countries’ progress on the CAADP agenda. ReSAKSS designates key indicators for agricultural growth and spending, identifies the data required to assess these indicators, and develops a methodology for collecting and analyzing the appropriate information. By developing these processes that are applicable in multiple countries, ReSAKSS plans to generate uniquely comparable results. Data collection under this framework will take place by utilizing the ReSAKSS regional and national networks, and will be used for future analysis on African agricultural development. The raw data will also become easily accessible via the website to maintain transparency and continue to promote peer-review.

Capacity strengthening

To support continued research on this level, ReSAKSS works with individual countries and RECs to establish national Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (SAKSS) nodes. These country SAKSS can tailor research to local needs through close collaboration with in-country research institutions, government ministries, and other stakeholders. The main goal is to provide ReSAKSS services on the national level and develop an accessible framework for continued, objective research and informed policymaking.For example, Mozambique has already established a country SAKSS. It maintains a database of key indicators on public spending for agriculture, agricultural performance, and welfare measures, and an atlas that tracks the distribution of public spending in the country. The node also produces an annual trends and outlook report, as well as policy and issue briefs to analyze returns and progress on Mozambique’s broader development goals.

Rwanda is currently working with ReSAKSS to establish its own country SAKSS to excel implementation of its agricultural development strategy. In 2007, Rwanda held a Roundtable to determine how the country would align its national agricultural policies, strategies, and investment programs with CAADP principles and targets. CAADP signatories are expected to establish SAKSS nodes within two years of completing Roundtables, a project that ReSAKSS will support in each country. This will require training and supporting researchers and decision makers, as well as facilitating communications with existing research institutions and government ministries.

In addition to establishing and supporting country SAKSS nodes, ReSAKSS provides training to strengthen institutional and technical capacity for stakeholders in many countries. Recent activities include instruction in Geographic Information System (GIS) monitoring techniques, workshops on economic models to evaluate non-tariff trade barriers, and information technology trainings. In addition, most of the analytical research undertaken by ReSAKSS is in collaboration with Africa-based research institutions, such as ASARECA and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

CAADP support in east and central Africa (ECA)

Burundi and Ethiopia—two ECA countries that recently conducted Roundtables and developed and signed CAADP Compacts—demonstrate the variety of circumstances African governments face and the diverse implementation plans they develop in response. ReSAKSS-ECA provided instrumental support in both cases.

In Burundi, agriculture employs over 90 percent of the population and contributes 35 percent of total GDP. Sixty-eight percent of Burundians lived in poverty in 2000, and that number may be even higher today. Agricultural growth has been volatile, highly dependent on the international coffee market, and disrupted by civil unrest. In 2004—the most recent year for which data are available—Burundi was among the lowest investors in agriculture, allocating only 4.4 percent of its national budget to the sector.

In order to reach MDG1, ReSAKSS finds that Burundi will have to surpass the CAADP targets, and maintain an 11 (rather than 6) percent agricultural growth rate every year until 2015. To have maximum impact on agricultural production and food security, Burundi should make investments that increase productivity for staple, subsistence crops, such as bananas, beans, and maize.

In Ethiopia, agriculture is equally important to the country’s economy, employing 85 percent of the population and accounting for 40.5 percent of total GDP. However, in contrast to Burundi, Ethiopia’s agricultural sector has exhibited an average annual growth rate of more than 6 percent since 2000, with an estimated annual growth rate of 8.4 percent for 2008. The national poverty rate declined from 43 percent of the population in the early 1990s to 39 percent in 2005. However, it is difficult to maintain this level of productivity because Ethiopia’s agriculture is vulnerable to the same international coffee market as Burundi, coffee being Ethiopia’s major source of foreign export earnings. Moreover, Ethiopia is highly susceptible to drought.

Maintaining high agricultural growth rates could put Ethiopia on track to achieving MDG1 by 2015. However, growth in Ethiopia in the past has been very inconsistent, which, if continued, could actually increase poverty. ReSAKSS research shows that investing in staple crops and livestock sectors will continue to be essential, but investing in agro-industries and non-agricultural sectors, such as manufacturing, transportation, and services, will be equally important for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction.

While Burundi’s major concern is increasing agricultural productivity, Ethiopia should focus on developing the infrastructure to support continued, consistent growth. By providing country-level information and analysis, ReSAKSS facilitates these types of stocktaking exercises and in turn supports the development of evidence-based strategies so that two countries with unique situations can both successfully aim for and ultimately achieve their goals.