Having had a highly successful maiden annual staff retreat in 2016, the Secretariat held its 2017 annual Staff Retreat from 8th to 10^th February, 2017.It was themed: “Enhancing FARA’s strategic positioning, collective performance and delivery of results in the context of the Science Agenda and the Medium Term Operational Plan (MTOP) 2R”.

The 3-day event was held outside the FARA Secretariat, at the Aqua Safari Resort, Big Ada, Ghana—a conducive environment for this kind of event that entails teamwork, creative thinking and consensus building. It was attended by all professional staff, most of the support staff, the Secretariat’s Science Technology and Innovations (STI) Advisor, Prof. Mandi Rukuni and consultants engaged to support the elaboration of a results framework for the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A), namely Dr. Yvonne Pinto and Mr. Calum Handforth.

The retreat was coordinated by Dr. Irene Annor-Frempong, the Director, Research and Innovation supported by Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Director, Corporate Partnerships and Communication. It was chaired by Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, the Executive Director of FARA and facilitated by Dr. ‘Wole Fatunbi.   

The retreat was structured into six sessions covering the following:

• Introduction and setting the scene to give participants a shared understanding of the objective and program of the retreat
• Reflection on the lessons learnt from the implementation of the 2016 work plan and budget
• Sharing of detailed information about the three Core programmes and support functions
• Identifying and isolating issues and challenges in the conceptualization, planning, implementing and monitoring of the MTOP 2R and the 2016 work plan and budget including reporting on progress and performance its implementation
• Identifying opportunities and risks for FARA including partnership opportunities within and outside Africa highlighting the South-South, North-South cooperation.
• Defining mechanisms for improving teamwork, working relationships and performance management at organizational and individual levels.

For pictures at the event, click here