1. Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
FARA’s Strategic Plan and
Medium Term Operational Plan
(MTOP) for 2014-2018
6th FARA General Assembly
Accra, 20 July 2013

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Outline
1. Why a new Strategic Plan and MTOP for FARA?
2. Process followed
3. The Strategy
– Strategic Priorities and expected results
– Implementation arrangements
4. Budget

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Why a new Strategic Plan & MTOP?
1. Timing: current MTOP ends Dec 2013
• New MTOP (2014-2018)
• Current Strategic Plan (2007- 2016)
2. Changes in operating environment call for FARA to
reposition itself to:
• respond to emerging challenges and opportunities
• take advantage of lessons learned and build upon
achievements

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Emerging Challenges & Opportunities
• Globalisation (need to improve
competitiveness)
• Attention to regional integration
• Robust economic growth in the
South—BRICs;
•  Population, Urbanisation
• Increased investments in AR&D
(African govts, CGIAR, global
initiatives—FtF, G8 New alliance,
IntenseAfrica, Multi-lateral FIs)
• Drive to transform African
agriculture (CAADP
momentum)
• Increased recognition of
transformative power of
markets and private
enterprise
• Economic slow down in
developed countries  value
for money and short term
investment horizon

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Achievements on which FARA will build
• A strengthened ARD
institutional architecture in
Africa
• Strengthened relationship
with AUC and NPCA
• Recognition of value of
regional level collective
action
• FAAP and increased awareness
of contribution of ARD to
agricultural transformation
• Validated approaches for
catalysing innovation and for
capacity strengthening

6. Process followed
Retreat of CAADP Pillar IV
Stakeholders (March 2012)
Consultation on position paper by DPs &
Pillar IV stakeholders (Brussels)
Draft 1 developed
Stakeholder consultations with Draft 1
as reference
Consultations with DPs and
validation by all other stakeholders
Draft 3 developed
Approval by General Assembly
Internal reflection  Position paper
Validation by FARA Board
Final Draft
Draft 2 developed

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Stakeholder recommendations
1. Recognise maturity of institutions that were ‘clients’ into effective partners
(avoid competing with them)
2. Embrace the entire agricultural innovation system; widen scope beyond
focus on research
3. Recognize farmers as key private-sector actors and treat private sector
actors as partners in development.
4. Respond appropriately to CAADP’s transformation agenda
5. In absence of mandate to lead implementation of CAADP Pillar IV, draw on
wide stakeholder acknowledgement of FARA’s leadership in innovation-
related aspects of CAADP
6. Develop an all-embracing and integrated capacity-development
framework for African agriculture

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THE STRATEGY
2014-18

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Strategic Statements
Goal:
To contribute to the sustainable reduction of food insecurity and
poverty in Africa while enhancing the environment.
Purpose:
To contribute to generating high broad-based and sustainable
agricultural growth in Africa
Value Proposition
Strengthening Africa’s capacity for innovation and transformation, by
visioning its strategic directions, integrating capacities for change and
creating the enabling policy environment for implementation.

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Core functions of FARA
1. Facilitating Collective Action around the promotion of
innovations in Africa
2. Capacity strengthening to enhance the functionality of
agricultural innovation systems in Africa
3. Intellectual leadership for ARD in Africa
4. Partnerships to enhance broad-based productivity,
competitiveness and markets in Africa
5. Advocacy and communication for improved ARD in Africa
6. Tracking of progress in Africa’s agricultural development

11. FARA Change Theory
FARA stakeholders (govts, private
sector, NGOs, DPs in R&D, policy
makers, academia, scientists, change
agents, entrepreneurs, farmers, etc)
Stakeholders working in
isolation with uncoordinated,
fragmented support
Development is about
transforming lives of people
By CONNECTING individuals and stakeholder
with different capacities, we make them aware
of different actors’ capacities and LEARN to
harness critical capacities to bring the needed
CHANGE in institutional arrangements for
collaboration
We undertake VISIONING through foresight
and analysis to provide strategic directions that
guide new and future actions
By forming PARTNERSHIPS and strategic
alliances we combine the strengths of all
stakeholders to respond to needs
High RETURNS ON INVESTMENTS
in AR&D leading to high broad-
based, sustainable agric.growth
HIGH impact on reducing food
insecurity and poverty while
enhancing the environment
By COMMUNICATING best practice and policy
options based on evidence, we ADVOCATE for
enabling policies and institutional structures
and processes that enable implementation of
actions on demand

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Strategic Directions
Strategic Priorities
1. Visioning the kind of agriculture
Africa wants and the collective
actions needed to achieve it
2. Developing the capacities needed
to achieve it
3. Developing the enabling
environment to enable effective
implementation of needed actions
Currently …. 4 Networking
Support Functions
1. Advocacy and Policy
2. Access to Knowledge and
Technologies
3. Capacity Strengthening
4. Partnerships and Strategic
Alliances
Emerging thematic
areas
• Climate Change
• Bioenergy
• Nutrition
• Youth
Cross cutting issue
• Gender

13. Generic Services of FARA
Figure 1. Strategic Priorities and Generic services of FARA
Visioning

14. Networking Support
functions
Services
supported
1. Visioning Africa’s agric
Transformation
2. Integrating capacities for change
3. Enabling environment for
implementation
Business
Research
Extension
Education
Policy

15. Overall OutcomesSP1: African agric.
stakeholders determining
how the sector should be
transformed & establishing
the needed collective actions
in a gender sensitive manner
SP2: Strengthened and
integrated continental capacity
responding to stakeholder
demands within the
agricultural innovation system
in a gender sensitive manner
SP3: Enabling environment for
increased ARD investment and
implementation of agricultural
innovation systems

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How the results will be delivered
3. Mobilising Forum Members
– Pool of Experts:
– Core Research and Development
Support team:
– FARA Fellows network:
– Africa Agricultural Science Week:
– Internships
– Post-Doctoral Fellowship: Visiting
Scientists
– Diaspora
1. Partnerships in line with
Subsidiarity
2. Performing core
functions & services

17. The human
resources
required
Board of Directors

18. Budget (2014 – 2018) (USD, 000s)
Unit Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3
Executive Directorate 11,552 11,552 11,552
Strategic Priorities 102,048 79,188 50,564
Deputy Executive Directorate 5,413 4,750 5,148
SP1: Visioning Africa’s Transformation 24,500 18,709 11,887
SP2: Integrating Capacities for Change 35,489 27,007 20,887
SP3: Enabling environment for
implementation
36,646 28,722 12,642
Finance 3,069 3,069 3,069
HR and administration 4,701 4,701 4,701
Grand Total 121,371 98,511 69,886

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Resource Mobilisation
• MTOP is the main tool for resource mobilisation
• Resource Mobilisation strategy to be developed upon
approval of the MTOP
• Resources sought from: DPs, African govts, Private
sector

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Conclusion
• Strategy and MTOP reflects the aspirations of FARA
constituents; is designed to respond to challenges and
take advantage of opportunities
• FARA is well positioned to lead the mobilisation of
science and knowledge in the transformation of
African livelihoods

21. Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
Thank you for the
attention
www.fara-africa.org