fanrpan partners meeting 2012 report (982kb ~ 3 min)
TRANSCRIPT
FANRPAN Partners’ Meeting
2012
R E P O R T
Thursday 31 May 2012
CSIR Conference Centre
Pretoria, South Africa
REPORT DETAILS
This report is not an exhaustive account of the 2012 FANRPAN Partners’ Meeting,
but rather a summary and ready reference. All proceedings of the meeting were
professionally recorded on video, serving as the ultimate record of this event.
The meeting was convened by the Chairman of the FANRPAN Board of Governors,
Hon. Sindiso Ngwenya, and facilitated by the FANRPAN CEO, Dr Lindiwe Majele
Sibanda. This report was compiled by Paul Roos and video recording and production
was conducted by No-Line Communications.
Table of Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms .................................................................................................... 4
Preface ....................................................................................................................................... 5
1. Session One: Welcome, Introductions and Overview of FANRPAN ...................................... 7
1.1 Introductions ........................................................................................................ 7 1.2 Opening Remarks by Mr Ajay Vashee, FANRPAN Board Member .................. 7 1.3 Overview of FANRPAN by the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Lindiwe Majele
Sibanda ....................................................................................................................... 8 2. Session Two: Natural Resources and Environment Thematic Area ...................................... 9
2.1 Moving towards Climate Smart Agriculture........................................................ 9 2.2 Partners’ Panel ................................................................................................... 10
3. Session Three: Food Systems: Markets, Food and Nutrition Security Thematic Area ........ 11
3.1 PAEPARD Phase II ........................................................................................... 11
3.2 CAADP .............................................................................................................. 12 3.3 HaSSP ................................................................................................................ 12 3.4 WARM ............................................................................................................... 13
3.5 Partners’ Panel ................................................................................................... 14 4. Session Four: People, Livelihoods and Institutions Thematic Area ..................................... 15
4.1 Household Vulnerability Index (HVI) ............................................................... 15
4.2 Partner Institutional Viability Assessment (PIVA)............................................ 16 4.3 Communication and Advocacy .......................................................................... 17
4.4 Media Liaison .................................................................................................... 18 4.5 FANRPAN Awards ........................................................................................... 18
4.6 Journalist Training ............................................................................................. 18 4.7 Partners’ Panel ................................................................................................... 18
5. Session Five: Plenary Session .............................................................................................. 20
5.1 Chairman’s Remarks .......................................................................................... 20 5.2 Presentation of ACBF Grant .............................................................................. 21
5.3 Partners’ Meeting Evaluation ............................................................................ 21 List of Participants ................................................................................................................... 22
Abbreviations and Acronyms
ACBF Africa Capacity Building Foundation
AHBFI Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International
ARC Agricultural Research Council
AIF Agricultural Innovation Facilitator
AWASA Agricultural Writers’ Association of South Africa
CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme
CA Conservation Agriculture
CD Capacity Development
CELI Communication, Evidence, Learning and Impact
CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
COMRAP COMESA Regional Agro-inputs Program
COP Conference of Parties
CSA Climate Smart Agriculture
CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
DFID Department For International Development (UK)
FANRPAN Food, Agriculture and Natural Recourses Policy Analysis Network
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
FNS FANRPAN Node Secretariat
GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
HaSSP Harmonised Seed Security Project
HVI Household Vulnerability Index
ICRAF International Center for Research in Agroforestry
IPPC International Plant Protection Convention
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
MDG Millennium Development Goals
MTR Mid-Term Review
NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NGO Non-governmental Organisation
PAEPARD Platform for African-European Partnership in Agricultural Research
for Development
PBR Plant Breeders Rights
PC Phytosanitary Certificate
PIVA Partner Institutional Viability Assessments
SADC Southern Africa Development Community
SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
SECCAP Strengthening Evidence-Based Climate Change Adaptation Policies,
SSSN SADC Seed Security Network
TPA Theatre for Policy Advocacy
UN United Nations
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
USAID United States Agency for International Development
WARM Women Accessing Realigned Markets
WTO World Trade Organization
Preface
“Act quickly and act well, because people are dying.” (Danilo Dolci)
Africa may have enviable economic growth rates by global standards, but they are
still not nearly enough to pull its growing population out of poverty.
The continent's growth has remained above five percent in the last eight years,
underpinned by strong prices for its natural resources, better governance and growing
disposable incomes, but poverty is not falling anywhere near as fast.
The World Bank estimated on its website in March 2012 that the percentage of poor
Africans fell from 58 percent in 1999 to 47,5 percent, at a decline of less than one
percentage point a year.
More than 70 percent of the continent’s poor live in rural areas and depend on
agriculture for food and livelihood, yet development assistance to agriculture is
decreasing. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 218 million people live in extreme
poverty. Among them are rural poor people in Eastern and Southern Africa, an area
that has one of the world’s highest concentrations of poor people. The incidence of
poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa is increasing faster than the population.
Rural poverty in many areas of Africa has its roots in the colonial system and the
policy and institutional restraints that it imposed on poor people. In recent decades,
economic policies and institutional structures have been modified to close the income
gap. Structural adjustments have dismantled existing rural systems, but have not
always built new ones. In many transitional economies, the rural situation is marked
by continuing stagnation, poor production, low incomes and the rising vulnerability of
poor people. Lack of access to markets is a problem for many small-scale enterprises
in Africa. The rural population is poorly organized and often isolated, beyond the
reach of social safety nets and poverty programmes. To date, government policies and
investments in poverty reduction have tended to favour urban over rural areas.
Moreover, HIV/AIDS is changing the profile of rural poverty in Africa. It puts an
unbearable strain on poor rural households, where labour is the primary income-
earning asset. About two thirds of the 34 million people in the world with HIV/AIDS
live on the African continent.
Economic growth from agriculture reduces poverty by twice as much as any other
industry, according to the World Bank. However, over the years, agricultural
productivity in the developing world has stagnated, with the average growth in cereal
yields falling from six percent to 1,5 percent in recent decades.
In its quest to hasten the transformation needed to establish a food secure Africa free
from poverty and hunger, FANRPAN is making giant strides. This dynamic network
draws on the world’s foremost leadership prowess, intellectual resources, research and
technological advances to address the continent’s vexing dilemmas. Its unswerving
mission is to promote effective food, agriculture and natural resources policies.
By actively facilitating linkages and partnerships between governments and civil
society, building the capacity for policy analysis and policy dialogue in Africa, as
well as supporting demand-driven policy research and analysis, FANRPAN is
influencing and affecting verifiable change in Africa.
At its Partners’ Meeting on 31 May 2012 in Pretoria, South Africa, FANRPAN
plainly spelled out the challenges that lie ahead to its network partners from across the
continent and around the world. It also showed to what extent its own strategies and
programmes were addressing these challenges and that it confidently expected the
noteworthy progress to date to increase exponentially in the foreseeable future.
To this end FANRPAN made its intentions perfectly clear: the network is going
Africa-wide. Sixteen countries are already in the fold and four more are about to
finalise their membership. At this meeting FANRPAN’s resolve was very succinctly
summarised by its CEO, Dr Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, when she declared: “We will
not rest until Africa is food secure”.
1. Session One: Welcome, Introductions and Overview of FANRPAN
1.1 Introductions
Dr Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, the CEO of FANRPAN, warmly welcomed participants
to the Meeting, making particular mention of the Africa Day celebrations on 25 May.
She extended a singular word of gratitude to development partners and the 16
governments of African countries where FANRPAN has Node offices.
She afforded special recognition to the women and also the farmers attending the
Meeting.
Participants were asked to identify themselves by group, namely farmers,
government, the private sector, the media, researchers, NGOs, development partners
and the FANRPAN secretariat. These groups were all individually recognised and
welcomed.
1.2 Opening Remarks by Mr Ajay Vashee, FANRPAN Board Member
Mr Vashee remarked that this Meeting was the fourth of its kind and it was evidently
becoming more popular by the year. As part of the Africa Day celebrations he
announced that in future, as an annual event, the FANRPAN Partners’ Meeting will
be held during the 3rd
or 4th
week of May as part of celebrations to commemorate
Africa Day.
He acknowledged the invaluable role played by the development partners, who made
FANRPAN’s work possible.
He noted that the 110 participants confirmed participation and was 40 percent more
than the amount of the previous year – a clear indication that the network was
growing. He congratulated FANRPAN on the sterling work it was doing on behalf of
the entire continent.
Lastly, Mr Vashee identified his fellow board members in attendance and invited
them to introduce themselves individually to the participants.
1.3 Overview of FANRPAN by the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Lindiwe
Majele Sibanda
In her presentation on the Overview of FANRPAN, Dr Sibanda provided some
perspective of the organisational composition, by way of projected diagrams, of
FANRPAN’s structure as well as an organogram of its regional secretariat.
She encouraged countries interested in joining the Network to organise themselves by
first obtaining the endorsement of national organisations and establishing a national
node and then requesting membership to the Network. FANRPAN will gladly assist
and guide prospective members through the process. Currently 16 countries in Africa
have FANRPAN Nodes and four more countries, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia
and Ghana, are in the process of joining and expected to officially come on board
within the next three years.
Most of FANRPAN’s work is done at country level, conducted through various
institutions, with the active cooperation and participation of local institutions and/or
universities.
FANRPAN focuses on three strategic areas, namely capacity building; policy
research; and policy advocacy, and specifically in the following programme areas:
Food Systems, Agriculture Productivity and Markets, Natural Resources and
Environment; Social protection and livelihoods and institutional strengthening.
The Strategic Plan also sets out the Network’s Vision, which is a food secure Africa
free from hunger and poverty, and its purpose, which is to promote appropriate
policies in order to reduce poverty, increase food security and enhance sustainable
agricultural and natural resources development in Africa. Priorities for FANRPAN
include (i) increasing the knowledge base; (ii) increasing the visibility of policy
champions; (iii) increasing the capacity to do policy research and advocacy; and (iv)
addressing the need for institutionalized evidence based policy dialogue platforms at
community, national, regional and global levels.
Dr Sibanda explained that FANRPAN’s strength lies in its ability to link the policy
supply to the demand side. It is an all-inclusive multi-stakeholder platform, which
links government, policy analysts, farmers and the private sector. It further follows a
regional approach that enables learning between countries. FANRPAN is literally a
network of networks.
A video presentation reviewed the FANRPAN 2011 Partners’ Meeting.
2. Session Two: Natural Resources and Environment Thematic Area
2.1 Moving towards Climate Smart Agriculture
During this session, the FANRPAN Natural Resources and Environment Team
presented an overview of some of the on-going projects undertaken by FANRPAN in
the Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) Thematic Area, focussing on “Moving
towards Climate Smart Agriculture”.
Dr Amy Sullivan introduced the theme of “Research for Impact in Climate Smart
Agriculture”, providing an overview of climate change and the natural resource base
and the effect on people, land and food in Africa, as well as agriculture’s contribution
to greenhouse gas emissions.
She explained that Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) sustainably increases
productivity and resilience (adaptation) and reduces and/or removes greenhouse gases
(mitigation), thus benefiting both farmers and the environment. Overall, it improves
the likelihood of national food security and development goals.
Under this theme FANRPAN manages five programmes with the cooperation of
various developmental agencies:
Conservation Agriculture Regional Working Group (FAO)
Limpopo Basin Development Challenge (CGIAR)
Strengthening Evidence-Based Climate Change Adaptation Policies, SECCAP
(IDRC)
Climate Smart Agriculture Advocacy (Rockefeller Foundation)
AfriCAN (European Union).
She elucidated FANRPANs approach towards CSA as (i) conservation agriculture,
(ii) watershed and land management and (iii) adaptive crop and livestock farming
practices. The outcomes are evidence-based policy, capacity building, knowledge
management and institutional strengthening. The multiple benefits of these
approaches include increased yield, resilience, reduced emissions, enhanced
partnerships and greater capacity.
Dr Sepo Hachigonta explained that a key strategy for managing risk and vulnerability
associated with climate change is developing and implementing evidence-based
policies and programmes that respond to local realities and priorities. FANRPAN
achieves this through the SECCAP project whose objectives are to (i) generate solid
scientific understanding; (ii) integrate downscaled climate scenarios with crop growth
and adaptation models, with district-wide household vulnerability information; (iii)
determine socio-economic feasibility of cropping recommendations; (iv) develop
appropriate policy recommendations; (v) provide research evidence to inform policy
processes; and (vi) transfer knowledge generated to decision and policy makers and
local communities.
Dr Hachigonta said rapidly improving technology would also contribute to smarter
agriculture by generating high resolution data relevant for regional policies and
strategies.
He emphasised that continued success in this thematic area depends on institutional
strengthening, multi-stakeholder policy dialogues, capacity building, domestication
and hosting databases, climate change advocacy, UNFCCC agriculture campaigns and
FANRPANs involvement in key engagements like the UN’s Rio+20 Conference.
2.2 Partners’ Panel
The Partners’ panel for the Natural Resources and Environment thematic area
included representatives from the organisations listed below.
CSIR Natural Resources and Environment
ARC Institute for Soil, Climate and Water
TearFund
ICRAF
Wits University
Conservation Farming Unit
Five of the panellists presented brief outlines of their work in this context.
Dr Bob Scholes, CSIR:
Dr Scholes outlined his work on methane emissions from enteric fermentation of
livestock in Southern and Eastern Africa, relating to gas emissions and climate
change. He submitted that concise data was hard to obtain due to variances in breeds
and types of forage and that figures often quoted in this regard were seldom accurate.
Improving breeds and the quality of livestock diets would, however, result in a win-
win situation for farmers and the environment. He touched on future grain trends in
relation to climate change and asserted that crop yields generally prove to be more
sensitive to temperature than to rainfall.
Prof Mary Scholes and Ms Yvonne Takang, Wits University:
These panellists described their involvement with the AfriCAN programme, including
their establishment of a web-based database to facilitate better information sharing
and provision in terms of local climate change statistics. They have established a
Climate Change Research Faculty that works across faculties for post-graduate studies
at Wits. It is available to students throughout Africa. Along with GIZ, Wits has also
launched a Climate leadership Programme to educate leaders in this regard.
Mr Earnest Maswera, TearFund:
TearFund is a faith-based NGO that mobilises local churches to augment and develop
food security and HIV/AIDS strategies, social protection and community
development. It also responds to natural disasters.
Dr Hendrik Smith, ARC:
The ARC’s Institute for Soil Climate and Water conducts research focussed on natural
resources. Technological developments include earth sensing by satellite technology
to help making decisions in land management and conservation agriculture. The
institute works extensively with farmers and provides soil mapping as well as soil,
water and plant analysis. It also records and analyses climate and weather data in
South Africa.
3. Session Three: Food Systems: Markets, Food and Nutrition Security Thematic Area
In this session, the FANRPAN Team presented an overview of some of the on-going
projects undertaken by FANRPAN in the Food Systems: Markets, Food and Nutrition
Security Thematic Area, focussing on “Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder
Engagements in Policy Processes”. The following projects, supported by development
agencies, were highlighted:
Implementing Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme,
CAADP (GIZ and DFID)
Platform for African-European Partnership in Agricultural Research for
Development, PAEPARD (European Union)
Aligning National Policies and Legislation to the SADC Seed Regulatory
System, HaSSP (SDC)
Strengthening the Capacity of Women Farmers to Influence Agricultural
Policy Development in Southern Africa, Women Accessing Realigned
Markets (WARM) (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
Mr Ian Mashingaidze introduced the thematic area, and presented updates on
FANRPAN’s involvement in implementing CAADP and also Phase II of PAEPARD.
A video presentation of CAADP was screened.
3.1 PAEPARD Phase II
He explained that the objectives of the second phase of PAEPARD could be
summarised as the creation of an enabling environment for successful partnerships in
agricultural research development, as well as improving participation of non-research
stakeholders in conceptualizing, implementing and evaluating innovative multi-
stakeholders research projects.
From a group of implementation partners under the project, FANRPAN is
coordinating Work Package 2 that seeks to create an enabling environment for
successful partnerships in ARD, and to improve participation of non-research
stakeholders (CSOs, FOs, private sector organizations, government) in
conceptualizing, implementing and evaluating innovative multi stakeholders research
projects. Project outcomes for 2012 include various proposals for farmer-led
partnerships in agricultural research development; an updated PAEPARD
stakeholders database and newly trained Agricultural Innovation Facilitators (AIFs).
3.2 CAADP
The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) is a
strategic framework agreed upon by African Heads of State to guide agricultural
development on the continent, with the objective of comitting 10% of national
budgets to agriculture in order to grow agriculture by a minimum average annual
growth rate of 6% in each participating country. It also aims to reduce poverty by
50% by 2015.
A total of 30 out of 54 countries have signed the CAADP Compact since the signing
of the CAADP declaration by NEPAD Heads of State in Maputo in July2003.
FANRPAN promotes the participation of non-state stakeholders and hosts multi-
stakeholder dialogues, eight of which have been hosted in Sub-Saharan countries
since 2010. FANRPAN also played a leading role in developing the COMESA
Regional CAADP Compact.
FANRPAN also developed a stakeholder database with more than 8,000 contacts.
Through the mailing list, civil society stakeholders are informed of CAADP related
activities, such as the policy dialogues. FANRPAN hosts the Secretariat of the Non-
State Actors (NSA) Task Team. NSAs have resources and skills that can play a
crucial role in the implementation of CAADP.
Approaching the tenth anniversary of the Maputo Declaration of 2003, FANRPAN
called on all African countries to commit to signing implementing their CAADP
Compacts without further delay. FANRPAN screened a video from its 2011 Regional
Policy Dialogue of September 2011 where Node Coordinators in its member states
gave progress reports on the CAADP process in their respective countries.
3.3 HaSSP
In her presentation on FANRPAN’s Harmonised Seed Security Project, Dr Bellah
Mpofu emphasised that there can be no food security without seed security. Only four
percent of African smallholder farmers use improved seed. The global seed market is
worth US$47 billion and Africa’s share of the global market amounts to only three
percent.
The HaSSP project ultimately aims to create a seed secure SADC-wide system that
will provide farmers with improved quality seeds now and in the future. In particular,
it addresses the needs of resource-poor smallholder farmers whose seed systems have
been affected by a history of recurrent disasters and rely mainly on informal seed
sources.
She noted that availability was one of the main challenges in this regard. Swaziland,
for example, does not produce its own seed; most of its seed is imported from South
Africa. Other challenges include smallholder farmers’ lack of access to markets, the
affordability of good quality seed and then seed quality itself; she cited incidents of
fake seed being sold to farmers in rural areas.
The intended outcomes of the HaSSP project include the domestication and
implementation of the SADC Harmonised Seed Regulatory System; enhanced
availability of varieties, more private companies investing in the seed sector,
resulting in improved access to seed by farmers; better seed quality; improved
facilities and skills; reduced seed importation costs as re-testing of imported seed will
not be necessary and a common seed certification scheme, allowing more efficient
movement of seed in the region.
Significant advances have been made in the four pilot countries of this four-year
project, namely capacity building for improved seed variety releases, greater
alignment to global trends, strengthening of the seed certification process, evaluation
of the phytosanitary capacity of each country.
Lessons learnt so far include the realisation that policy reform processes are very
different in each country and require a deep understanding of legal processes hence
more assistance from legal officers is required. Weak node capacity in some countries
has also been identified. In addition, seed stakeholders who are mainly scientists or
seed technologists require specialist training in policy processes.
At a Mid-Term Review Workshop held in Johannesburg in May 2012, two more
countries, Mozambique and Tanzania, participated in the HaSSP pilot programme.
3.4 WARM
In her presentation on the WARM project, Mrs Sithembile Mwamakamba explained
that WARM seeks to strengthen the ability of women farmers to advocate for
appropriate agricultural policies and programmes. It is a three-year pilot project
funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation being implemented in Malawi and
Mozambique that is now drawing to a close. The project is being implemented in
partnership with researchers from Bunda College of Agriculture, University of
Malawi, University of Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique, National Smallholders
Association of Malawi (NASFAM), Story Workshop Theatre Development
Organisation, Malawi and the Graca Machel Foundation for Community
Development in Mozambique.
The goal is for women farmers to have access to assets, such as knowledge,
technology, credit, better seeds, fertiliser and other inputs by ensuring that local and
national policies and services address their needs.
She gave a brief overview of the WARM project before introducing a video
presentation on the Theatre for Policy Advocacy (TPA) methodology and process,
which is being implemented in Malawi and Mozambique. TPA is a form of
participatory theatre that allows women farmers to engage their communities in
developing solutions to their problems. It allows for community participation and
dialogue. Policy messages are conveyed to community leaders, national decision-
makers and other stakeholders who attend to watch the theatre performances, which,
in turn, may bring about policy change. The theatre performances have been well
attended by various stakeholders.
The TPA process involves community entry and mobilization where the community is
introduced to the project and briefed on objectives of the project. It is at this stage that
individuals who are interested to be part of the theatre performance are selected. Care
is taken to include as many stakeholders as possible; women, elders, and men. Focus
group discussions are conducted during which case studies and issues facing women
farmers are explored further.
In her presentation, Ms Mwamakamba also highlighted some of the successes of the
project. Performances by six theatre groups in Malawi and two groups in
Mozambique attracted thousands of people and enabled women farmers to
communicate their livelihood stories to local leaders, government officials and
development organisations. In Malawi, the Minister of Finance, Honorable Ken
Kadondo, who participated in one of the community performances, commended the
use of theatre to stimulate dialogue on critical issues affecting women farmers. In
Mozambique women farmers have been able to engage with the President to clearly
articulate the needs of my fellow women farmers.
As the pilot phase of the WARM project ends, FANRPAN is preparing to share
results and findings across the 16 member countries and address the policy challenges
raised so far in Malawi and Mozambique.
3.5 Partners’ Panel
The Partners’ panel for the Natural Resources and Environment thematic area
included representatives from the organisations listed below.
Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation
COMESA-ACTESA
Africa Forum
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
GIZ
Dr Wynand van der Walt (consultant)
Five of the panellists presented brief outlines of their work in this context.
Mr Andile Hawes, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
The National Department of Agriculture represented the government of South Africa
at the Meeting and it hosts the FANRPAN regional office in Pretoria. Mr Hawes is the
Deputy Director-General in charge of Production and Resources Economics. He
outlined his departments work on researching providing forecasts for food security.
Emelia Haworth, Africa Forum
The Africa Forum harnesses the experience of former African Heads of State with the
aim of advancing African development. The core competencies of the Forum include
advisory services, advocacy, facilitation and leadership development and monitoring.
Dr Getachew Belay, COMESA-ACTESA
ACTESA, or the Alliance for Commodity Training, facilitates access for smallholder
farmers to national, regional and international markets. It also conducts policy
research and is involved in seed policy harmonisation as well as livestock trading and
biotechnology programmes. Mr Belay lauded the work done by FANRPAN and
expressed the desire for closer partnership and collaboration.
Dr Wynand van der Walt, FoodNCropBio
As a resource consultant to FANRPAN, Dr Van der Walt gave a brief report on a
recent Plant Variety Protection Workshop, which is of particular interest to
FANRPAN’s HaSSP project. He pointed out that plant breeders’ rights (PBR) are a
cornerstone for farmers’ access to modern varieties. He referred to the SADC
Protocol on PBR and warned that African countries urgently need effective PBR
legislation to ensure plant variety protection. Without protection of new plant
varieties, Africa will continue to lose its plant breeding innovation to piracy.
Mr Daniel Kamanga, Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International The AHBFI has a very similar vision to that of FANRPAN and the Foundation will
seek to increase collaboration in the near future. It is mainly involved in scientific
studies on biotechnology developments on various crops in African countries as well
as biosafety and regulatory programmes.
4. Session Four: People, Livelihoods and Institutions Thematic Area In this session, the FANRPAN Team Member presented an overview of some of the
on-going projects undertaken by FANRPAN in the People, Livelihoods and
Institutions Thematic Area, focussing on “Communication, Evidence, Learning and
Impact (CELI)”. The following aspects were highlighted:
FANRPAN Tools for Communication and Impact
Measuring Household Vulnerability and Livelihoods (HVI)
Partner Institutional Viability Assessments (PIVA)
Agricultural Writers’ Association goes Africa-wide
Miss Siphokazi Phillip introduced this thematic area and referred to three important
projects under the CELI banner:
Developing a Holistic Youth and Agriculture Policy for Africa, supported by
CTA;
Strengthening Evidence-based Agricultural Policy Advocacy and
Harmonisation in Southern Africa, supported by USAID; and
Learning, Communicating and Advocating for Climate Smart Agriculture,
supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.
Tools for Communication and Impact can be broadly categorised into three levels (i)
Local Level: Household Vulnerability Index and Theatre for Policy Advocacy, (ii)
National Level: Partner Institutions Viability Assessment and (iii) Regional and
Global Level: Media; Publications; Documentaries and Policy Engagements.
4.1 Household Vulnerability Index (HVI)
The HVI is a composite index that is used to assess a household’s access to five
livelihood capital assets namely (i) natural assets (land, soil and water); (ii) physical
assets (livestock, equipment and fixed assets); (iii) financial assets (savings, salaries,
remittances or pensions); (iv) human assets (farm labour, gender composition and
dependents); and (v) social assets (information, community support, extended families
and formal or informal social welfare support). A total of 15 variables (called
dimensions) are assessed together, and a statistical score is calculated for each
household.
The tool categorises a household by assessing external vulnerability that is introduced
by shocks and internal vulnerability or the inability of such a household to withstand
such shock. The HVI tool classifies the household as low, moderate or highly
vulnerable, depending on its ability to cope with the shock. Low vulnerability
households are able to cope without external assistance; moderate are ordinarily able
to cope, but require assistance when affected by a temporary shock (such as a
drought); and high vulnerability households are always dependant on external
assistance to survive (the chronically poor or food insecure). Based on the different
vulnerability levels, policy makers and development agencies are able to tailor their
relief or development packages to assist the affected households to overcome their
vulnerability.
The HVI Pilot Project was launched at sites in World Vision’s Area Development
Programmes (ADPs) in Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, with the aim of
improving the quality of programme design, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation. The project objectives were to (i) develop livelihoods databases for pilot
sites in each of the three participating countries and (ii) institutionalise and scale up
the HVI tool. The project output was to develop livelihoods databases on asset
ownership by rural communities to inform policy and practice.
A HVI video presentation was screened.
4.2 Partner Institutional Viability Assessment (PIVA)
With support from USAID, FANRPAN has since 2005 been implementing a project
called “Strengthening Evidence-Based Agricultural Policy Advocacy and
Harmonization in Southern Africa”. As part of its institutional strengthening and
capacity building efforts under the project, FANRPAN is using the Partner
Institutional Viability Assessment (PIVA) tool to assess the capacity of its national
node hosting institutions with respect to six competency areas, namely (i) Governance
and leadership; (ii) Operations and management systems; (iii) Human resource
development; (iv) Financial management systems; (v) Programmes and service
delivery; and (vi) External relations and advocacy.
FANRPAN has conducted PIVAs since 2005 when it first assessed the institutional
capacity of the Regional Secretariat. The PIVA tool provides a useful baseline
against which progress, measured in terms of actual investments being made in the
node hosting institutions, can be tracked.
4.3 Communication and Advocacy
FANRPAN, through its communication and advocacy programme, creates awareness,
appreciation and support for the organisation at all levels. It seeks to better establish
and clarify FANRPAN’s leadership and other roles, such as a policy maker, in the
agricultural sector at national, regional, continental and global levels.
The objectives of the communications and advocacy programme are (i) strategic
advocacy engagements to raise awareness of FANR-related matters; (ii) engaging
with all stakeholders and partners directly or through the media; and (iii) provide
stakeholders with information or evidence for informed decision making and policy
development. Expected outcomes of the programme are (i) awareness, appreciation
and support for evidence based policy development among the public, industry and
governments; (ii) the establishment and clarification of FANRPAN’s roles (e.g. as a
policy analysis network) in the agricultural sector; nationally, continentally and
globally; and (iii) the broadening of FANRPAN’s network base – i.e. obtaining
support of relevant role-players to secure space for engagement.
FANRPAN utilises a variety of communications tools. It publishes a number of
publications, such as the Policy Brief Series, Newsletters, Policy Advisory Notes,
Project Brochures and Country Studies. The publications are also available on the
FANRPAN website.
Regional Advocacy Initiatives include the annual flagship multi-stakeholder Regional
Policy Dialogue; media training on documenting best practices in the region; training
scientists in policy development and national priorities; regional harmonization of
policies-engagements with SADC, the African Union, sharing experiences; and Pan-
Africa Parliament engagements. The Annual Regional Policy Dialogues, which was
started in 2001, have been held in several countries in East and Southern Africa. In
2011 the Policy Dialogue was hosted in Swaziland and the 2012 Dialogue will be held
in Tanzania.
At the global level, FANRPAN has participated in United Nations engagements, such
as the UNFCCC and FAO Ministers of Agriculture meetings, the World Economic
Forum, and the World Bank Food Security Forum. The CEO is regularly invited to
contribute her views on behalf of FANRPAN on various issues in the international
media.
Policy research and advocacy is critical to helping policymakers reduce the levels of
poverty and hunger in Africa. In the last decade, FANRPAN has developed a strong
and inclusive network at the forefront of the agricultural debate in Sub-Saharan
Africa. FANRPAN seeks to increase the visibility of the available research evidence
to boost progress towards solving the global agenda of food security and agriculture.
Partnership will always play a key role in helping FANRPAN bring its messages to
global audiences.
4.4 Media Liaison
FANRPAN encourages good relationships with representatives of local, regional and
international media. Its Communication Department manages, tracks and monitors
solicited and unsolicited communication with the print and electronic media,
disseminates relevant news through media releases and press briefings and assists
journalists in compiling articles and conducting interviews. This Department is also
actively involved in the production of documentaries and video presentations in
association with various media partners.
FANRPAN also has a social media profile and already has 1129 followers on Twitter.
The Twitter address is: @FANRPAN.
4.5 FANRPAN Awards
Since 2008 FANRPAN has recognised excellence in Food Security Policy by
awarding the Food Security Policy Leadership Award for outstanding leadership in
agriculture; the Civil Society Policy Mover and Shaker Award and the FANRPAN
Excellence in Agricultural Journalism Award. In 2011 FANRPAN awarded Her
Majesty, Queen Mother Ntombi, Indlovukazi of Swaziland, with the FANRPAN Food
Security Policy Leadership Award.
Partners are encouraged to take an interest in the awards and to support FANRPAN
by sponsoring the different categories in order to increase the desirability and profile
of these awards.
4.6 Journalist Training
In line with its objective of building capacity for policy analysis and dialogue,
FANRPAN has embarked on a project to provide specialist training to agricultural
journalists throughout Africa. FANRPAN has embarked on a programme of journalist
training so that reporting on FANR-related issues is balanced and so that information
dissemination is optimised. With the cooperation of Junxion Communications, these
special training courses have been attended and appreciated by journalists from
Swaziland, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. Altogether 14
reporters were trained during the 2011 Policy Dialogue in Swaziland and six at the
CoP17 meeting. More of these training sessions are planned for the future.
4.7 Partners’ Panel
The Partners’ panel for the Communications and Advocacy thematic area included
representatives from the organisations listed below.
AgriConnect
Junxion Communication
ACBF
Nedbank
Octoplus
Oxfam GB (South Africa)
Financial and Fiscal Commission
National Agricultural Marketing Council
Five of the panellists presented brief outlines of their work in this context.
Ms Erika Alberts, AgriConnect
AgriConnect provided an outline of its services as a communication practitioner
specialising in agriculture. Ms Alberts expressed the opinion that organisations,
industries and brands need to “own” their own media in order to effectively get their
respective messages across to targeted audiences. She announced AgriConnect’s
involvement with a new magazine publication, soon to be launched by FANRPAN.
Mr Ben Rootman, Junxion Communications
Junxion Communications is a public relations agency that specialises in media
relations in the agricultural sector. Through its well-established channels with the
agricultural press in South Africa and the rest of the continent it can readily
disseminate news and information. It also has close ties with the Agricultural Writers’
Association (AWASA) and Mr Rootman used the opportunity to announce AWASA’s
intentions to expand to the entire continent of Africa. Junxion has also been
instrumental in assisting FANRPAN with journalist training for reporters from six
African countries.
Mr Hein du Plooy, Nedbank
Mr Du Plooy gave a short presentation on the financial products offered by his bank.
Mr Mkhululi Ncube, Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC)
Mr Ncube is a Programme Manager charged with Budget Analysis at the FFC. The
Commission advises government on the division of revenue. He noted that the FFC
has been giving particular attention to the fiscal implications of climate change and
disaster management. Specific fiscal policies are needed in the event of these
interventions at local, regional and national level. Mr Ncube expressed his desire to
work more closely with FANRPAN, especially with regard to its Household
Vulnerability Index.
Ms Rashmi Mistry, Oxfam
Oxfam is a renowned international NGO concerned with poverty alleviation. It has
been operating in and out of South Africa for the past 25 years. Oxfam is looking to
focus more time and attention to small-scale farmers and also to engage with the
relevant policymakers. She confirmed the NGO’s intention to continue collaborating
with FANRPAN on the pressing issues of poverty relief.
5. Session Five: Plenary Session
Participants were encouraged to discuss the information presented to them with a
view to posing questions in one-on-one meetings between Partners and FANRPAN
staff later in the Meeting.
Dr Sibanda heartily thanked all the participants who contributed to the Partners’
Meeting proceedings, including the FANRPAN staff. She asked Mr Ajay Vashee to
invite the Chairman of the FANRPAN Board of Governors, Hon. Sindiso Ngwenya,
to address the Meeting.
5.1 Chairman’s Remarks
In light of the recent Africa Day celebrations, Hon. Ngwenya called on Africans to
rise up and take their rightful place. Africans have all the know-how and expertise to
play their part in providing solutions for global food security.
FANRPAN supports the development and implementation of better food, agriculture
and national resources policies in Africa. Its members include universities, research
institutes, the business sector, farmer groups and other civil society organisations that
support these policies. FANRPAN currently operates national nodes in sixteen
countries, with a Regional Secretariat hosted by the South African government, he
said.
Following a decision made by the FANRPAN Annual General Meeting, he
announced FANRPAN’s intention to expand and extend its services throughout the
entire continent of Africa.
“As one of the leading independent African organisations that advocates food
security, researches and collects information to inform the policy agenda, the Food,
Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), fully
realises the need to focus on its core business more than ever – ensuring that foolproof
information is available to ensure food security to all the people of Africa.
“We are fully equipped to play this role. We must be the catalyst that brings African
countries together to stand up and be counted on matters of food security. This was
more than evident in FANRPAN’s unifying role at last year’s COP17 meeting where,
for the first time since 1994 – the first Conference of Parties – the conference realised
that we are serious about agriculture being granted its rightful place on a world
agenda that has to provide food security for seven billion people. Africa spoke with
one voice,” he recounted.
He reiterated that Africa is an important part of the food security and poverty
alleviation solution – it applies global practices, albeit with proven home-grown
methods. He called on the world to join Africa in this quest.
From eight national offices in 2003 to 16 national offices to date; Hon. Ngwenya
confidently predicted that we will soon celebrate 54 national FANRPAN offices
across the entire continent.
5.2 Presentation of ACBF Grant
With the meeting drawing to a close, Ms Grace Wamala of the Africa Capacity
Building Foundation (ACBF) handed an official letter from the ACBF Board
announcing the awarding of a grant worth $3 million for capacity building of
FANRPAN to the FANRPAN Board Chairman. The Chairman expressed his sincere
gratitude on behalf of FANRPAN. Dr Sibanda confirmed that the grant will contribute
to strengthening the capacity of the regional secretariat and its national nodes. “We
will not rest until Africa is food secure,” she said.
5.3 Partners’ Meeting Evaluation
The FANRPAN secretariat received, with gratitude to those who took the time to
complete them, altogether 41 questionnaires evaluating the meeting.
A large majority of the participants felt FANRPAN organised the event exceptionally
well and noted that the CSIR in Pretoria was a good choice of venue. The relevance of
the Partners’ Meeting and the usefulness of information shared were highly rated.
Participants also expressed their satisfaction with the way time was managed during
the meeting.
Some participants felt that more time should have been made for questions and
discussion, especially following the FANRPAN programme managers’ presentations.
In the same vein, a few participants noted they would have liked more opportunities
to participate themselves.
The secretariat has also noted suggestions for additional topics, as well as the
information participants found most useful. Where possible these suggestions will be
included in planning for future meetings.
2012 FANRPAN Partners’ Meeting
List of Participants
Surname First Name Organization Position/Affiliation Email
1. Adhikari Bhim International Development Research Centre Coordinator Environmental Economics [email protected]
2. Agala Alexandria Ministry of Agriculture, Namibia [email protected]
3. Alberts Erika AgriConnect Managing Director [email protected]
4. Alfred Sharon FANRPAN Office & Compliance Manager [email protected]
5. Baker Jennifer B. AFRICA LEAD Project Deputy Chief of Party - Southern Africa [email protected]
6. Belay Getachew COMESA-ACTESA Senior Biotechnology Policy Advisor [email protected]
7. Benjamin William USAID / Southern Africa Agriculture Team Leader [email protected]
8. Bohlmann Liza AgriConnect Editor
9. Botwana Ntsiki ACBF [email protected]
10. Chen Lynette NEPAD Business Foundation, CEO FANRPAN Board Member [email protected]
11. Chibanda Morestaff Simfresh International Managing Director
[email protected]; [email protected]
12. Chilonda Pius International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
Head of Mission: Southern Africa Regional Office
13. Chingambo Lloyd Lloyds Financials CEO [email protected]
14. Chokoe Tlou Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry DD: Farm Animal Genetic Resources [email protected]
15. De Roos Diederik Octoplus Webiste Designer [email protected]
16. Du Plessis Hanlie No-Line
17. Du Plooy Hein Nedbank Non-Resident Relationship Banking [email protected]
18. Dube Sikhalazo
Rangeland Management -Rangeland & Nutrition ARC-Animal Production Institute
Program Manager: Rangeland Management -Rangeland & Nutrition
[email protected] ; [email protected]
19. Feltman Natalie Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry DD: Plant Genetic Resources [email protected]
20. Friedenthal Jacquelene Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa Science & Technology Counsellor [email protected]
21. Geyer Canny Oxfam GB South Africa Country Programme Economic Justice Coordinator [email protected]
22. Goldschagg Eddie SANSOR Technical Manager [email protected]
23. Habasonda Marjorie Chonya Swedish Cooperative Centre, SCC Programme Officer - Materials Development, [email protected]
24. Hachigonta Sepo FANRPAN Climate Change Manager [email protected]
25. Hawes Andile National Department of Agriculture, South Africa Deputy Director-General (Production and Resources Economics) [email protected]
26. Haworth Emilia Africa Forum [email protected]
27. Heard Caro Kashan [email protected]
Surname First Name Organization Position/Affiliation Email
28. Hillowitz Les CropLife Africa Middle East [email protected]
29. Hove Lewis FAO [email protected]
30. Iyer Kogi Department of Science and Technology [email protected]
31. Jaftha Julian B. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Director: Genetic Resources [email protected]
32. Jethro Nowata Limpopo Department of Agriculture General Manager [email protected]
33. Kahurani Elizabeth ICRAF [email protected]
34. Kalibwani Fred International Water Management Institute [email protected]
35. Kamanga Daniel Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International Communications Director [email protected]
36. Khumalo Angel National Department of Agriculture, South Africa Directorate: Policy Research Support [email protected]
37. Khupe Cecilia USAID Senior Programme Manager [email protected]
38. Kisamba-Mugerwa Wilberforce NPA Chairman [email protected];
39. Klinert Mark Nolands Director
40. Kowo Alfred Kowostone Advisory Services Chief Executive Officer [email protected]
41.
Leroy Marc Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD)
Environmental Planning and Impact Assessment; Environmental Officer: Specialised Production [email protected]
42. Madikiza Seneo Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry [email protected]
43. Madubula Nomonde FFC Senior Researcher: Fiscal Policy
44. Madzivhandila Tshilidzi FANRPAN M&E Coordinator [email protected]
45. Maila Mphekgo ARC-Institute for Soil, Climate and Water Research Institute Manager [email protected]
46. Mailloux Michael Conservation Farming Unit Regional Programme Manager with COMESA
47. Malefane Matsunke [email protected]
48. Maluleke Herbital Agricultural Business Chamber Manager International Trade Intelligence [email protected]
49. Mammpholo Ramakgwale Klaas Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries [email protected]
50. Mapanda Sipiwe FANRPAN Program Assistant [email protected]
51. Mapedza Jackie FANRPAN Program Assistant [email protected]
52. Mapfumo Paul [email protected]
53. Mashingaidze Ian FANRPAN Programme Manager [email protected]
54. Mashingaidze Rutendo Student
55. Masia Sefora
WOCAN (WOMEN Organising for Change in Agriculture and NRM)
WOCAN South Africa Coordinator [email protected]
56. Masoka Ngoni Min of Agriculture, Mechanisation & Irrigation Development, Zimbabwe, Permanent Secretary FANRPAN Board Member [email protected]
57. Masvikeni Eugenia IFRC [email protected]
58. Maswera Earnest TearFund [email protected]
59. Mathivha Obert Commercial Agricultural Youth Chamber (CAYC) [email protected]
Surname First Name Organization Position/Affiliation Email
60. Mesolo Christine ESC TRANSPORTS AND EVENTS Group Chief Executive [email protected]
61. Middleton Walter World Vision International
Partnership Leader for Food Security & Livelihoods
62. Minnaar Henri
NEPAD Business Foundation Programme Manager: Agricultural Programme [email protected]
63. Mistry Rashmi Oxfam GB South Africa Country Programme Climate Change Advocacy Coordinator [email protected]
64. Mkhize Ntando C.S. Department of Environmental Affairs
Sub-Directorate: Biodiversity & Climate Change.
65. Mkhonza Nompumelelo Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Registrar: GMO Act [email protected]
66. Mocumbi Pascoal
European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership
67. Mohapi Margaret
Department of Agriculture, forestry and Fisheries South Africa
68. Molapong Keoagile FANR Directorate, SADC FANRPAN Board Member [email protected]
69. Motsepe Matiga Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry [email protected]
70. Mpofu Bellah FANRPAN HaSSP Manager [email protected]
71. Mpofu Unami GIZ Pretoria [email protected]
72. Mumba Aliness FANRPAN Program Assistant [email protected]
73. Mundia Sam Former PS Ministry of Agriculture, Zambia FANRPAN HaSSP Project Elder [email protected]
74. Musonda Doris Consultant [email protected]
75. Musvoto Constansia CSIR-Natural Resources and the Environment Senior Researcher [email protected]
76. Mwamakamba Lufingo FANRPAN Protocol & Networking Manager [email protected]
77. Mwaniki David Global Crisis Solutions CEO [email protected]
78. Ncube Mkhululi Financial and Fiscal Commission Program Manager: Budget Analysis Local
Government
79. Ndema Sithembile FANRPAN WARM Manager [email protected]
80. Ndiweni Nozipho No-Line Communications [email protected]
81. Ndlovu Lindelwe Student
82. Ndlovu Sifiso Consultant [email protected]
83. Nesamvuni Edward University of Limpopo [email protected]
84. Netnou-Nkoana Noluthando Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Registrar: PBR Act [email protected]
85. Ngcamphalala Sandile NEPAD Business Foundation Project Manager [email protected]
86. Ngwenya Sindiso COMESA Secretary-General FANRPAN Board Chairman [email protected]
87. Notoane John M One World Policy Analyst [email protected]
88. Nyhodo Bonani National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) [email protected]
89. Okunade Folu NEPAD Business Foundation Senior Project Manager [email protected]
90. Paradza Gaynor PLAAS [email protected]
91. Patel Imraan Department of Science and Technology DDG
92. Phahladira Selekane Obed Official Seed Testing Laboratory of South Africa [email protected]
Surname First Name Organization Position/Affiliation Email
93. Phillip Siphokazi FANRPAN Communications Consultant [email protected]
94. Phiri Sydney Katunga SABC- CHANNEL AFRICA Senior Producer: Programmes [email protected]
95. Rakuambo Ntungu. Chris DAFF Air Quality Directorate: Mining and Energy [email protected]
96. Ramasamy Jaysen High Commission of Mauritius 2nd Secretary
97. Revert Thierry Alban National Organic Produce Initiative Business and Development Unit [email protected]
98. Roos Paul Consultant Consultant [email protected]
99. Rootman Ben Junxion Communications [email protected]
100. Scholes Bob CSIR
Chief Scientist at CSIR Natural Resources and the Environment [email protected]
101. Scholes Mary Wits University [email protected]
102. Schreiner Barbara Pegasys Strategy and Development [email protected]
103. Schutze Erika SABC Outreach [email protected]
104. Shene-Verdoorn Carolyn Ah Bird Life South Africa Policy & Advocacy Manager [email protected]
105. Sibanda Lindiwe Majele FANRPAN CEO [email protected]
106. Simalenga Timothy ARC-Institute for Agricultural Engineering Research and Technology Manager [email protected]
107. Simbi Fungayi FANRPAN Program Manager [email protected]
108. Simela Langelihle
National Emergent Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (NERPO)
Chief Executive Officer [email protected]
109. Sisa Edgar Botswana High Commission Counsellor [email protected]
110. Skosana Busi Nedbank
Non Resident Relationship Banking: Relationship Manager Pretoria
111. Smith Hendrik ARC - Institute for Soil, Climate and Water Programme Manager [email protected]
112. Smith Ryan Nolands Inc Auditor
113. Sprinkhuizen Jeanette The Presidency
Outcomes Manager 7: Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
114. Stanley Eze Clean Futures Global Initiative Executive Director [email protected]
115. Sullivan Amy FANRPAN Program Manager [email protected]
116. Takang Yvonne Wits University [email protected]
117. Terre'Blanche Etienne
Pan African Agricultural Business Development Institute (PAABDI)
118. Thompson Frank High Commission of Australia AusAID First Secretary [email protected]
119. Thwala Robert Ministry of Agriculture & Food Security, Permanent Secretary FANRPAN Advisor
[email protected]; s agriculture go s
120. Troni Jessica United Nations Development Programme
Regional Technical Adviser Climate Change - Adaptation
121. Tshabuse Nozizwe Nedbank
122. Van Der Walt Wynand FoodNCropBio [email protected]
123. Van der Walt Monique AgriConnect Marketing representative
124. Van du Nem Maria Angolan Embassy 2nd Secretary
Surname First Name Organization Position/Affiliation Email
125. Vashee Ajay SACAU / FANRPAN Board FANRPAN Board Member [email protected]
126. Volschenk Elsa Octoplus [email protected]
127. Wamala Grace ACBF [email protected]
128. Wambugu Florence M. Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International [email protected]
129. Watkinson Eric Department of Science and Technology Deputy Director: Sustainable Livelihoods Unit [email protected]
130. Wepener Vivienne Nedbank [email protected]
131. Zvomuya Fidelis AgriConnect Editor [email protected]
132. Zwane Njabulo Illovo Sugar Limited GGM of Agricultural Development [email protected]