Presentation of Philippe Petithuguenin on 26 May 2015. Brussels. DG RTD. 8th Meeting of the Joint EIARD-SCAR Strategic Working Group.

1. 1
Research and
Innovation
Roadmap proposal towards a
EU-Africa Research & Innovation
Partnership on food and nutrition security
and sustainable agriculture
By Mohammed Jeenah and Philippe Petithuguenin, on behalf of all the 10 members of the
Expert Working Group appointed by the EU-Africa HLPD Bureau: Ibrahim RM Benesi, Joachim von
Braun, Johnson A Ekpere, Mohammed Jeenah, Luís Goulão, Daniel Nkoola Kisauzi, Helena Gómez
Macpherson, Philippe Petithuguenin, Paco Sereme and Jeff Waage.

2. Research and
Innovation
• The process: constitution of the EWG, ToR, Modus operandi
• The context
• The proposal: What and How
• Inputs from the external consultation
• To conclude: what is new with this proposal !
Summary of presentation

3. Research and
Innovation
• Constitution of the EWG and ToR set by the HLPD Bureau
• First face-to face meeting in Brussels, 29 - 30 April 2014
• 2nd ftof meeting, Addis Ababa, 6 – 8 October 2014
• 3rd ftof meeting, London, 5 – 6 March 2015
with regular virtual meetings in between and abundant flow of
Process
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4. Research and
Innovation
Role of science, technology and innovation
Food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture
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Context (1/3)
Roadmap ToR set by the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue on STI
Long term
Jointly funded and
Co-owned R&I Partnership (R&IP)
Prompted by agriculture to sustainably respond
Level of global hunger, 800 mil going hungry
Expanding nutritional imbalances Under nutrition and obesity
Demand of a global population 9 billion by 2050
Complicating context of Climate change
Dwindling natural resources
Increased input costs

5. Research and
Innovation
• Substantial convergence
− European Common Agricultural Policy
− Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme
− Science, Technology & Innovation Strategy for Africa
• Common Policy Goals
− producing more food with appropriate inputs,
− enhancing income growth
− promoting rural development.
Roadmap Cognisance of What Exist
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Context (2/3)

6. Research and
Innovation
• Enhanced coordination of research relevant to FNSSA between African and
European researchers
• Broader mobilisation of the STI community
• Joint design of the R&I Partnership by European and African stakeholders
• Direct linkage of R&I
• Inclusion of the complete value chain.
Novel Elements of R&I Partnership
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Context (3/3)

7. Research and
Innovation
• Relevance of the research to African and European priorities for FNSSA;
• Capacity for joint research, based on principles of equity, and involving
comparable and complementary expertise and resources;
• Expected impact of research and likelihood of uptake through an integrated
knowledge system with all stakeholders;
• Scalability, or the likelihood that effective research outputs and outcomes will
have impact at national or even continental scales;
• Complementarity and value for money, based on the intention that the new
investment will also up-scale existing bilateral and multilateral collaboration.
Criteria for selection of thematic priorities
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WHAT (1/6)

8. Research and
Innovation
• Sustainable intensification
• Agriculture and food systems for nutrition
• Expansion and improvement of agricultural markets and trade
=> Specific research projects should be jointly identified and designed after consultation
with other stakeholders
Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda
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WHAT (2/6)

9. Research and
Innovation
• Ecological intensification approaches at lowest costs and environmental impact.
• The identification, and breeding, of animals and crops to maintain/increase
productivity and resilience under conditions of limited external inputs
• Research on animal and crop health, including fish, will be given due attention
at all relevant scales (from farm to international levels)
• Research on appropriate use of soil, water, land and inputs management
practices,
• Research on advanced informed marine spatial planning and functioning of
marine ecosystems, and aquaculture technologies
• Research on organizational innovations, which will facilitate uptake of
innovations across farms and rural communities,
Sustainable intensification
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WHAT (3/6)

10. Research and
Innovation
• Research on improved food value chains with minimal loss of nutritional value,
little wastage and a high level of safety.
• Research to improve the nutritional value, through advances in breeding and
biotechnological innovation,
• Understanding consumer behaviour with respect to healthy diets and nutrition
Public private partnerships on research to improve the nutritional quality of
foods, particularly processed foods in the marketplace.
Agriculture and food systems for nutrition
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WHAT (4/6)

11. Research and
Innovation
• Research development of surveillance, monitoring and diagnostic systems for
sanitary, phytosanitary and other food safety purposes. that will permit
improved trade in agricultural commodities
• Development of the science agenda of mutually beneficial bioeconomy
innovations. Example of specific scientific issues are the expansion of tradable
biomass products with due consideration for food security,
• Research on reducing excessive fluctuations in food and input prices and
improving resilience of food systems.
• Global Value chains and market power. Research priorities could include: the
development of mechanisms for linking smallholder farmers to markets,
addressing the question of how to link rural communities to markets,
Expansion and improvement of agricultural markets
and trade
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WHAT (5/6)

12. Research and
Innovation
• Creating a framework for improved coordination and added value
• Supporting innovation processes allowing knowledge to be mobilized to generate
impact
• Strengthening the capacities for collaboration among the African and European
R&I communities.
• Understanding the social and cultural contexts of the production systems
impacting FNSSA
• Research infrastructure, Innovation platforms
Cross cutting issues
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WHAT (6/6)

13. Research and
Innovation
• Competitive calls for proposals,
• Commissioned work,
• Targeted facilitation mechanisms.
Flexibility and Capacity to adapt
• Effectiveness of the mechanisms
• Ability to evolve and to address the goals articulated by the HLPD.
Portfolio of Modalities
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HOW (1/3)

14. Research and
Innovation
• Short term,,
− Existing instruments that support the goals and aims of this road map.
• Long term
− Specific platform.
 Public-Public partnership
– Bi continental Public-Public partnership between the EC, the AUC
– Voluntary basis, European and African Governments.
 Public-Private partnerships Expanded
– Philanthropy
– Private Companies
Mechanisms
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HOW (2/3)

15. Research and
Innovation
Monitored Goals (see also logical framework)
• The improvement of food security in the two regions
• The development of better and healthier diets for billions of people
• The creation of jobs and new opportunities for family farmers, especially smallholders, on both
continents
• The increase of diversification of agricultural systems and agribusinesses
• The opening of new markets and the development of better trade within and between both
continents
• The reduction of structural dependence of African countries to food aid
Monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment
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HOW (3/3)

16. Research and
Innovation
• In February and March
2015, an advanced draft
of the roadmap was
submitted to a targeted
consultation of
stakeholders in Europe
and in Africa.
Responses from 50
diverse stakeholders
confirmed the
relevance of the
proposal.
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Stakeholder consultation (1/4)
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4
6
8
10
12
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17. Research and
Innovation
• “The long term perspective of the Project aiming on the development of self-
supporting bi-Continental networks.”
• “To reduce fragmentation and coordinate the various national initiatives, hence
promoting research impact. It should be realized however that this is highly
ambitious. “
• “Ecological intensification approaches that may include research on more
efficient use of external inputs and on natural resource management, crop
health with the objectives to develop sustainable approaches minimizing
production losses and avoiding geographical spreading of diseases.”
• “The pursued strong involvement of all stakeholder Groups (scientific
community, civil Society, public sector, private sector, gender-balanced and
over all income Groups) into the process.“
Examples of what they especially liked
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Stakeholder consultation (2/4)

18. Research and
Innovation
• “The document still has a ‘transfer of technology’ tone, despite the acknowledgment that multi-
stakeholder partnerships are needed (which includes farmers.). So it’s still a ‘linear pathway’ from
research to farmers, not considering the important role of local innovation and adaptation, and the
role of technology users in shaping research agendas and screening solutions.”
• “The pathways being proposed (e.g. global value chains) do not seem to be very suitable for
improving the livelihoods and resilience of the majority of smallholder /family farmers in Africa or
Europe”
• “On science and research, one can distinguish shared interest between the two continents.
Considering innovation, the difficulty is that innovation needs are very different between Europe and
Africa. Innovations are more 'context‘ specific and these contexts are very different between the two
continents. Europe and Africa may have more to share on how to promote innovation processes
(with adequate policies, partnership agreements, participatory approach, criteria for assessing
researchers….) than on the innovations themselves.”
• “EDCTP is given as a successful example, but the EDCTP is very focused (3 diseases, just the clinical
trials) and the health sector is much less diverse than the agricultural sector. So this successful
example has limited validity for the proposed roadmap.”
Main concerns about the Roadmap
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Stakeholder consultation (3/4)

19. Research and
Innovation
• « Le non-respect des engagements de chaque partie prenante, notamment en termes de contribution financière ».
« Low-level capacity for domestic resource mobilization; and weak political commitment to operationalize and fast
track …..”
• “In Africa, The main barrier is the weak linkage between research and the CAADP process.”
• « Notre organisme est en train d'ouvrir ses portes au continent africain et le plus grand handicap que nous avons
c'est la méconnaissance...Nos chercheurs sont bien connus en Europe, aux USA, mais pas en Afrique et ils n'ont
pas des contacts là-bas»
• “The often short term nature of project funding timeframes sometimes limits optimal implementation of projects
which integrate some sustainability components. Consideration on longer time frames could be made to enable
such research projects to achieve full impacts.”
• “Poor availability of suitable and functional research facilities limits the type and extent of research which can be
conducted. Need to foster a close link between the research grants and others focusing on infrastructural
development.”
• “There is no single blueprint .Implementation should be scaled up in ways that take account of local conditions and
national priorities.”
• “We underline the importance of flexible funding mechanisms”
Bottleneck identified and Recommendations
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Stakeholder consultation (4/4)

20. Research and
Innovation
 A true Africa- Europe joint and balanced partnership.
 jointly owned, governed and funded by European and African
 moving away from an “aid perspective”
 Broader participation of the European institutions
 An all-encompassing R&I framework covering all aspects of food security, nutrition and sustainable
agriculture.
 align, under a common vision, all existing joint R&I activities, irrespective of their funding
mechanisms or legal instruments.
 Synergies, optimization, identification of gaps...
• Linking local action - adapted to the huge diversity of local contexts both in Africa and in Europe -
with National, regional, continental and bi-continental policies in research, innovation, trade,
capacity development, knowledge management….
− generation of diverse innovation adapted to the multiplicity of local specificities
− AND generation of generic knowledge and know-how which can be exchanged.
Innovative characteristics of the proposed Roadmap
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To conclude

21. Research and
Innovation
Thank you for your attention. Any questions ?
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