The CAADP-XP4 Consortium, with support from the European Union and managed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), met from 29th to 31st August 2022 at Park-Inn by Radisson in Nairobi, Kenya. The Consortium comprises the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA), the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) and Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). The meeting participants included the Technical Committee, Monitoring and Evaluation and the newly formed Gender Technical Working Groups.
The main objective of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of the 34 agreed actions from the CAADP-XP4 MTR, with particular attention to the monitoring and evaluation and gender and youth aspects. The background to the meeting is that the CAADP-XP4 Consortium held a Mid-Term Review in Johannesburg, South Africa, in May 2022, where IFAD expressed its satisfaction with the programme's performance. However, there were identified gaps that needed further improvement including the formation of the Gender Technical Working Group, gender implementation plan, inclusion of gender responsive indicators and revisiting some targets the programme has over achieved. Other actions included the development of resource mobilization, tracking partnership indicators, knowledge management and capacity strengthening.
The Consortium Technical Committee (TC) Chair, Mr Moses Odeke, officially welcomed the participants to the meeting on behalf of the TC members and shared the meeting objectives. He stressed that the agreed actions need to be implemented as they form a basis of a midterm baseline. "It is therefore incumbent upon this team to collectively agree on how it will implement the recommendations and actions," Mr Odeke stressed.
He further said that there was also a need to eliminate ambiguity and clarify all unclear issues by coming up with strategies to implement the agreed actions promptly. Mr Odeke reminded the team to revisit the timelines but was quick to caution them to come up with realistic deadlines and timelines. He also urged all participants to take the meeting seriously and urged the team to work hard and smart.
IFAD representative in charge of programme support, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Knowledge Management Officer, Ms Gadzeni Mulenga, gave her opening remarks expressing IFAD's happiness with the CAADP-XP4 programme. She indicated the result-oriented approach that IFAD espouses and urged the Consortium to adhere to deadlines, which are critical in programme implementation.
Dr Baitsi Podisi, the CAADP-XP4 Programme Coordinator at CCARDESA and a Consortium TC member, emphasized the need for the Consortium to look beyond the programme's life and focus more on resource mobilization to ensure the sustainability of the programme.
Dr Aggrey Agumya, Research and Innovation Director at FARA and a TC Consortium member, thanked the M&E and Gender TWG for organizing the meeting. He intimated that the CAADP-XP4 is one of the backbone programme for most organizations. Therefore, Dr Agumya urged participants to think critically about how the programme can continue beyond donor support. He also thanked IFAD for their unwavering support and guidance, which keeps the XP4 programme on the right track.
Mr Max Olupot, the Director of Programmes at AFAAS and a TC Member, said that the meeting is critical as it will help integrate gender and mainstream gender in all consortium activities. He further urged all to consider the involvement of women, youth, and people with disabilities crucial for attaining the programme objectives.
Dr Mariame Maiga, the Gender Specialist at CORAF and also a lead for the Gender Technical working group, thanked the TC for the opportunity to include gender as one of the CAADP-XP4 working groups. She promised that the group would do all within their powers to ensure that gender is mainstreamed in all CAADP-XP4 activities. She also told the participants that gender is a cross-cutting issue that needed to be taken seriously as it is a missing link in the sustainable agricultural development agenda. Dr Maiga also presented the gender workplan, which factored in all the outstanding issues and gender-related gaps in the programme, with gender strategy development requiring urgent action.
The FARA M&E Specialist, Mr Anselme Vodounhessi, also Lead for the Consortium M&E TWG, facilitated sessions where the participants reviewed selected indicators and integrated gender & youth parameters in the analysis methodology, developed resource mobilization and sustainability-specific indicators in the results framework. The meeting also agreed to enhance the tracking of partnerships indicators (North-South, South-South, North-South-South) within the CAADP-XP4 M&E framework.
The FARA Private Sector Engagement Specialist and Gender Focal Point, Ms Karen Munoko, presented the continental private sector engagement strategy and how it is operationalized. She shared the role of the private sector in agricultural research and development and how the Consortium stands to benefit from the engagement, among other things.
The meeting ended with the Consortium firmly resolving to implement the agreed plans and regularly updating one another on programme implementation.
