Our Core Mandates
A. MANDATED ROLES SOLICITED BY FARA’S AUTHORIZING BODIES FOR LEVERAGING NEW CORE FUNDS
1. FARA has been requested by the AU Departments of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) to convene AUC/NPCA Technical Network on Research and Extension and by AU Human Resources, Science and Technology (HRST) to support the EU-Africa research and innovation partnership on FNSSA. FARA continues to be mandated by the African Union and NPCA to facilitate the mainstreaming of the S3A into National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIPs) by convening the Technical Network on Research and Extension. This is a principal demand by key institutions that provide FARA’s authorizing environment and linkage to African Member States. FARA will undertake this by engaging its core competencies in:
i. Stakeholder mobilization
ii. Resource mobilization
iii. Knowledge management for advocacy and decision support
iv. Partnership brokerage and convening power.
2. FARA will support the AUC’s DREA, HRST and the NPCA in their operationalization of the AU’s cooperation frameworks with the European Union and other continents on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture. FARA’s core competencies in the following will be harnessed to implement this mandate:
i. Multi-stakeholder partnership / Innovation Platform brokerage
ii. Knowledge Management for advocacy and decision support
iii. Grant management and quality assurance
iv. Capacity development through the PAEPARD process.
FARA’s positioning in this domain is enhanced by its role in the High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) Working Group of the EU-AU Bureau for the FNSSA. It is further strengthened by FARA’s role in advocacy through the Building Nutritious Food Basket (BNFB) campaign on biofortification and the AfDB’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT).
B. ROLES SOLICITED BY PARTNERS
1. FARA is providing leadership in developing capacities for outreach in the AfDB-funded TAAT programme to ensure that proven technologies are out-scaled to attain wide-scale impact. In doing this, FARA deploys its core competencies in facilitating capacity development, agribusiness incubation, innovation platforms, knowledge management and convening relevant partners from continent’s AR4D apparatus. The innovation platform approach is used as the instrument for developing capacities to reach the “last mile”.
2. FARA has also been requested to lead the development of the African Agricultural Research Program (AARP). FARA will use similar core competencies to coordinate the development and implementation of this continental initiative. The AARP will focus on advancing the Science Agenda by strengthening the capacity of African NARS to engage effectively with the CGIAR in developing the “Next Generation of Technologies for African Agricultural transformation.”
3. FARA is leading the development of the programme on Supporting Implementation of a Science-Led and Climate-Relevant Agricultural Transformation in Africa (SISTA) for funding through the DeSIRA, an EU funding mechanism largely targeting climate relevant agriculture. This programme is expected to increase agriculture’s contribution to economic growth and inclusive development of African countries, through climate-relevant food and innovation systems. Specifically, it will improve the capacities of FARA, AFAAS, ASARECA, CCARDESA and CORAF to support National Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) in African countries to deliver on CAADP results through more systemic and effective linkages to and use of climate relevant science, knowledge and innovation.
4. Another important demand by FARA’s stakeholders and partners is for FARA to provide technical assistance in backstopping innovation and technology platforms, support the development of country S3A Investment Proposals and flagships for sourcing in-country funding, provide technical backstopping to operationalize S3A programmes and flagships at country and local levels, (e.g. the flagships on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and on Post-Harvest Management (PHM). Such backstopping roles support regional and country partners towards leveraging country / domestic resources aimed at strengthening Science–Policy-Impact nexus at national level and to increase budgetary allocation for science and increased implementation of agricultural policies.
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