A meeting was held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire April 4 and 5, 2017, co-hosted by IFPRI and AfricaRice, to strengthen linkages and forge stronger partnerships around new ideas, tools and technologies that contribute to developments in agricultural science, technology and innovation.  The meeting was attended by over 60 participants from international development institutions (World Bank, Africa Development Bank, IFAD and USAID) and technical partners (CGIAR Centers, national partners including universities, sub-regional organizations, private sector and NGOs).  It demonstrated how new technologies and their assessments, delivery mechanisms, shared platforms, and new tools will support agricultural transformation and economic development in Africa.

In response to and as part of CGIAR’s technical support to the implementation of the Science Agenda, IFPRI organized its activities around the following research concepts: 1) Develop and disseminate tools needed to promote information sharing and new agricultural research findings at national and regional levels, and 2) Contribute evidence-based pathways to ensure research has direct impact on rural poverty and food and nutrition security. 

Funding support for the Scientific and Technical Partnerships in Africa program was provided by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).  

The Meeting:

• Reviewed and discussed initial highlights and results from IFPRI and partners three workstreams as proof of concept in technical support of the Science Agenda.
• Explored examples of country level applications of technologies, technology platforms, and their delivery mechanisms.
• Prepared for specific business cases for technologies and examined further the role private and public sector partnerships play in technology investment in Africa.
• Explored opportunities to create synergies in agricultural R&D that could make a difference in brokering institutional and technical partnerships moving ahead.
   

The three workstreams discussed and delivered include the following activities:

1. A Technology Platform, being developed as a technical partnership instrument, to provide data and analytical assistance to partners in helping them improve data collection and management for improved agricultural investment planning. In this workstream, IFPRI partners with ASARECA, CCARDESA, and CORAF/WECARD in country-led case studies to define the uptake and adoption of agricultural technologies and provide pilot opportunities to “broker” new technologies through partnerships along the value chain. Country case studies, chosen by the SRO partners and designed as part of the initial phase focused on CORAF/WECARD’s work on NERICA rice in Senegal, ASARECA’s work on quality protein maize (QPM) in Uganda, and CCARDESA’s research on improved breeding of sheep and goats in Namibia.
2. A portal developed by RUFORUM and ASTI/IFPRI on African Agricultural Higher Education Capacities (AgHEd). The meeting also included updates from ASTI’s new datasets and analyses on agricultural R&D indicators for Africa South of the Sahara.
3. A group of ex-ante Technology Assessments of 10 key CGIAR agricultural technologies, produced with partner institutions.  This work involved determination of potential impacts and demonstrated key analytical tools to support the implementation and delivery of the Science Agenda. During the meeting, four of the promising ten technologies were reviewed and discussed in depth.  An expansion of all ten technology assessments over the course of the program is envisaged.

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Technologies, Platforms and Partnerships in support of the African agricultural science agenda (Meeting Summary, Agenda and Participant List)

Day 1: Tuesday, April 4, 2017 | 9:00AM – 5:00PM
 

Session I: From Discovery to Delivery to Impact – Identifying Challenges and Addressing Opportunities facing Africa’s agricultural research landscape

Presentation Title: Challenges and Scenarios for Ending Hunger in Africa by 2020 (presentation)
Speaker: Mark W. Rosegrant

Presentation Title: Comprehensive Overview of Investment and Human Capacities in African Agricultural Research: What is new from ASTI? (presentation and ASTI Synthesis Report)
Speaker: Nienke Beintema

Short Overview of the S&T Partnerships in Africa Program 

Presentation Title: Program Overview (presentation)
Speaker: Kerri Wright Platais

Presentation Title: Workstream I – Technology Platform  (presentation)
Speakers: Jawoo Koo and Katie Downie

Presentation Title: Tracking African University Capacity Indicators and Emerging Trends (presentation)
Speaker: Charles Owuor

Presentation Title: Technology Assessments Overview (presentation)
Speaker: Gabrielle Persley

Presentation Title: A scoping study of the evolving institutional structures for the delivery of STIs to agriculture in Africa (presentation)
Speaker: Yihenew Zewdie

Technology Assessment 1: Chicken Genetic Gains in Ethiopia

Presentation Title: Increasing productivity of chickens through the African Chicken Genetic Gains (ACGG) project (presentation)
Speaker: Jasmine Bruno

Technology Assessment 2: Rice in Africa

Presentation Title: Delivering a sustainable rice seed system in a complex institutional setting (presentation)
Speakers: Sidi Sanyang and Josey Kamanda

Presentation Title: Rice in Africa Scaling New Genetic Materials – AfricaRice and CORAF collaboration (presentation)
Speakers: Ernest Assah Asiedu and Sidi Sanyang

Presentation Title: Rice in West Africa: a private sector perspective…(presentation)
Speaker: Joost W. van Odijk 

Session II: Institutional Initiative and Technical Opportunities for Engagement: What is ahead for Africa and how do we create stronger synergies?

Presentation Title: A scoping study of the evolving institutional structures for the delivery of STIs to agriculture in Africa (presentation)
Speaker: Yihenew Zewdie

Presentation Title: Questions for Sessions II-IV and Panel Discussions (presentation)

Presentation Title: Science, Technology and Innovation delivery in Context of Africa’s Agricultural Transsformation (presentation)
Speaker: Maurice Lorka

Presentation Title: Rolling out the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A) at country level (presentation)
Speaker: Aggrey Agumya

Innovate, generate, disseminate and adopt improved technologies (presentation)
Speaker: Simeon K. Ehui

Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) (presentation)
Speakers: Younes Berrada, Tekalign Mamo Asefa, and Mohammed El Gharous

Day 2: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 | 9:00AM – 4:30PM
 

Technology Assessment 3: Beans and Demand-led Breeding

Presentation Title: Harnessing Investments to Transforming Bean Value Chains for Better Incomes and Diets in Africa (presentation)
Speaker: Jean-Claude Rubyogo

Technology Assessment 4: A PPR thermostable vaccine for sheep and goats

Presentation Title: Pestes des Petit Ruminants Thermostable Vaccine (presentation)
Speaker: Edward Okoth

Assessment of the sectoral effects of selected CGIAR technologies 

Presentation Title: Assessment of the sectoral effects of selected CGIAR technologies (presentation)
Speaker: Mark W. Rosegrant

Technology Platform Country Case Studies

Presentation Title: Workstream I – Technology Platform Country Case Studies (presentation)
Speakers: Kodjo Kondo, Moses Odeke, Baitsi Podisi, Liangzhi You, Ulrike Wood-Sichra and Jawoo Koo 

1. Ex-Ante Technology Potential Assessments – Koo (Paper)
2. Technology Profile: NERICA – Kondo (Paper)
3. Technology Profile: QPM – Odeke (Paper)
4. Technology Profile: Breeding TIMPs for Small Ruminants – Podisi (Paper)

Session III: Panel Discussion on Delivery Mechanisms to Accelerate Technology Dissemination: Building Bridges

Presentation Title: Bridging the Gap: the application of agricultural innovation and technology (presentation, overall diagram)
Speaker: Katie Downie

Presentation Title: Delivery Mechanisms to Accelerate Dissemination: Building Bridges (presentation)
Speaker: Dina Umali-Deininger

Session IV: Panel Discussion on Private and Public Sector Investors: Developing the Business Case for Specific Agricultural Technologies

Session V: CAADP and CGIAR alignment efforts – expanding the role of institutional and technical partnerships – next steps

Presentation Title: CAADP and CGIAR alignment efforts – expanding the role of institutional and technical partnerships – next steps (presentation)
Speaker: Simeon K. Ehui