Annex 2 PARTICIPANTS FOR THE GIPhT / GFAR MEETING

FROM 17^TH TO 19^TH SEPTEMBER, 2001

			NAME		COUNTRY		Contact Information
	1		Aoga Antoine		Benin		SAA-IITA-AGRO-PR. PROJECT Agro-processing 04 Bp 1091 Cotonou or 06 Bp 862 Cotonou Tel: 300459/301877/941786/490686 Fax: 300459 Email: 562000aa@bow.intnst.by
	2		Mokgoko Cornelius		Bostwana		Plant Protection Division P/Bag 0091, Gaboorene Tel: 267 328745 Fax: 267 328768 Email: cmokgoko@gov.bw
	3		Mosha Alex Dr.		Bostwana		National Food Technology Research Centre NNFTRC – House 754 Tel: 267 340441 Fax: 267 340713 Email: alexmosha@hotmail.com
	4		Mamam O. F		Bukina Faso		Secretariat Exécutif, CLISS 03 BP 7049 Ouagadougou 03 Tel: 226 333664 Home: 266 380826. Email: farouk128@hotmail
	5		Gahungu Tharcisse		Burundi		ISABU Post Harvest & Food Technology Program P.O.box 795 Bujumbura Tel; 257 227349/227350 Mob: 257 910727 Email: gahuth@yahoo.fr
	6		Rupert Best		Colombia		Centro International De Agricultura Tropical (CIAT Cali, Colombia Tel: 57 2 4450022 Fax: 57 2 4450073 Email: R.BEST@cgiar.org
	7		Wheatley C		Colombia		Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) Apartado Aereo 6713 Cali, Columbia Fax 00057-2-445-0073 Email: C.WHEATLEY@cgiar.org
	8		Phemba Phezo		DRC		INERA – Mulungu Research Center Bukavu, DRC C/o Box 327, Lyangugu / Rwanda Email: phembap@yahoo.fr
	9		Shimelis Admassu		Ethiopia		Ethiopia Agricultural Research organization Dept of Food Science & Post Harvest Technology P.O.Box 33381 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: 251 2 112186 ext. 254 Fax: 251-1-461294, 251-2-114623 Email: iar@telcom.net.et Or narc@telecomnet.et
10		Boateng Bernard		Ghana		University Of Ghana Dept. Of Crop Science, Legon,Accra Tel: 233 21 500300 ext 2131 Email: baboteng@yahoo.com
11		Ambrosini F		Italy		GFAR secreteriat, FAO, Rome Tel: 39 06 57053194 Fax: 39 06 57053898 Email: Francesce.Ambrosini@fao.org
12		Rosa Rolle		Italy		GFAR secreteriat, FAO, Rome Tel: 39 06 57053194 Fax: 39 06 57053898 Email: Rosa.Rolle@fao.org
13		Mrs Karanja M		Kenya		Kenya Farmers Union, Family Health Plaza P.O.Box 43148, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: 254-2-608324 / 500036, Fax: 254-2-608325 Email: farmers@kufu.org
14		Prof Karuri		Kenya		Univ. Of Nairobi P.O.Box 29053, Nairobi Tel: 254 2 630172, Mob: 254 2 607049 Fax: 254 2 630172/631326 Email: dftn@africaonline.co.ke
15		Remington Tom		Kenya		Catholic Relief Services – USCC P.O. Box 49675 Nairobi Tel: 254 2 750788/741355 Fax: 254 2 741356/747387 agric-ea@form-net.com
16		Mrs Mwangwela Agnes		Malawi		Bunda College Of Agriculture – SADC P.O.Box 219 Lilongwe, Malawi Twl: 265 277222 Fax: 265 277436 Email: agiemwangwela@hotmail.com
17		Thomas Nkhata		Malawi		National Smallhoders Famers Association Of Malawi P.O.Box 307161, Lilongwe Tel: 265 772883 Fax: 265 770858
18		Joao Paulo		Mozambique		Food For the Hungry International Box 2006, Pioneiro – Beria – Mozambique Or Box 1390 Mutare, Zimbabwe Tel: 03 352152/4 Fax: 03 352155 Email: jsousa@fhi.net
19		Prof. Tewe Olumide O		Nigeria		University Of Ibadan Dept. Of Animal Science Tel: 234 02 8100878 Email: tewe20@yahoo.com
20		Olorunda A		South Africa		University Of Ibadan Dept. Of Food Tech Tel: 234 2 8102355 (Nigeria) 2715 9628226 (South Africa) Fax: 2715 9628598 Email: Ayodele@univen.ac.za
	21		Syambi Abner		Uganda		FAO – Uganda Plot 79 Buganda Rd, Wandegeya Tel: 256 41 250575/6, 250771 Fax: 256 41 250579 Email: FAO-UGA@field.fao.org
	22		Nyangi David		Tanzania		Sokoine University Of Agriculture Dept. of Agric. Economics & Agribusiness P.O.Box 3007 Tel; 255 744 272573 Email: davidnyange@hotmail.com
	23		Clive Drew		Uganda		IDEA Project- USAID Funded Plot 18 Prince Charles Dr. Kololo, Kampala Tel: 256 41 255482/3 Fax: 256 41 250360 Email: clive-adc@starcom.co.ug
	24		Obiro Florence		Uganda		IITA-FOODNET Plot 7 Bandali Rise P.O.Box 7878, Kampala Tel: 256 221417, Mob: 256 71 805247 Email: forence.foodnet@imul.com
	25		John Jagwe		Uganda		IITA-FOODNET Plot 7 Bandali Rise P.O.Box 7878, Kampala Tel: 256 221417, Mob: 256 71 805247 Fax: 256 41 220217 Email: john.foodnet@imul.com
	26		Ebong Geoffrey George		Uganda		ECAPAPA / ASARECA Plot 13 John Babiiha Rd, Entebbe Tel: 256 41 321751, Mobile: 256 77 508592 Fax: 256 41 321777 Email: ecapapa@imul.com
	27		Prof. Mrema Geoffery		Uganda		ASARECA P. O. Box 765, Entebbe, Tel: 256-41-321389/320556/320212 Fax: 256-41-321126 Email: asareca@imul.com
	28		Sakala I		Zambia		AFRICARE – Zambia Small holder Agricultural Mechanization promotions Plot 70/100 Ibex Hill, Lusaka, Zambia Tel: 260 76436728 Fax: 260 1262377 Email: isaacsakala@hotmail.com
	29		Shaun Ferris		Uganda		IITA-FOODNET Plot Bandali Rise P.O.Box 7878, Kampala Tel: 256 221417, Mob: 256 71 805247 Fax: 256 41 220217 Email: s.ferris@imul.com
	30		Agona Ambrose		Uganda		NARO - Uganda Kawanda Research Station Tel: 256-41-567708 Fax: 256-41-567649 Email: karihave@starcom.co.ug

Annex 3What is Strategic ANALYSIS and Strategic THINKING ?? Some ideas for the GFAR strategic planning process

1.0 The aim of this workshop is to develop a GFAR based strategy paper for future activities in post harvest research and technology research and development. Throughout the meeting the participants should focus on that higher aim.

During the first part of the meeting, there will be several papers presented on current events and problems within the post harvest sector. Our job is to analyse this information to develop the strategic plan, so we need strategic thinking rather than activity based action plans.

Strategic planning generally entails the adjustment objectives and management of resources in response to changes in its external environment and client needs. For agricultural research organisations, strategic planning positions the organisation within the context of national or in this case international development plans, that will enable more effective and efficient use of scarce resources and identifies structural changes needed for good performance.

Essentially, strategic planning is a process in which a future vision is developed for an organisation, taking into account its political, legal and economic circumstances. To be successful, the planning process requires the full engagement of the people within the organisation, a belief that the planning outputs will be implemented and commitment of the management to follow through with the outcomes of the planning process.

The final product of strategic planning is an institutional or organisational strategy, which articulates the organisations “sense of mission”, a road map for the future directions to be taken, which is achievable within the organisations capacity and resources. The document should therefore show, what the organisation is, what it wants to be and the plan to get to this desired state.

There are many approaches to strategic planning and it is important to develop plans that are tailored to the specific needs of the organisation. This is particularly the case for programmes aiming to support the activities of a regionally linked association of NARS. Strategy development is also a dynamic process and therefore requires regular updating and modification if it is to serve as a useful management tool. Typically, strategic planning requires the establishment of a main committee, which propels the process and preserves a timeframe that enables the organisation to maintain momentum. In this case that central committee is GFAR.

For some members of the institution it is likely that the process may appear threatening, as old ideas are tossed aside, or new ideas may indicate shifts in power, which can lead to conflict situations. Therefore facilitated opportunities for open debate, such as this session, should be capitalised upon to support open dialogue. Transparency and rapid information flow will assist in team building during the process of strategic thinking and opportunities need to be developed which enable people to focus on the issues at hand, i.e., the extent of change in the external environment, trends that affect the organisation, the level of competition between players in the sector, priorities and constraints.

Discussing ideas of change will inevitably lead to some blind alleys and false trials, for example, discussions can debate a number of possible models, most of which will be unsuitable on further analysis, but this evaluation of ideas will be useful in highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of taking specific directions.

To avoid futile meandering it is vital that the lead agents in the process maintain a focus on the major issue, which is, how the organisation should reposition itself to address new conditions.

1.2 Steps in the planning process

A planning process typically sets out with an analysis of the organisation’s current status, an analysis of important changes and trends within the external environment, with the caveat that not every social trend strongly impacts every organisation. The analysis then considers the information in terms of the best strategic options within the current environment of opportunities and threats. This analysis is known as SWOT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, (internal environment) and opportunities and threats within the (external environment). Although it is widely used, the SWOT analysis has been questioned recently, as practitioners often:

Insist on the generation of long lists
Stop at description, instead of going on to analysis
Fail to prioritise (key words here, analyse and prioritise)

Therefore taking into account of these pitfalls, it is advisable to limit the exercise to the four or five most important factors affecting your organisation and focus on thinking about whether these are really threats. Do not agonise on marginal issues, focus on the major areas. Some important questions include:-

What are we doing?
What did we do well / badly?
What external factors enabled us to get it right or to fail?
What internal factors helped us to get it right or caused problems?
Are these factors likely to hold true in the future?
What evidence do we have for suspecting this?

1.3 Trends differentiating the future from the past

There are number of general trends that we should be aware of:

Globalisation - organisations, of any size, no longer operate only in their own locality. Nor do their competitors. Many organizations start up with the sole intention of operating worldwide; they have been called ‘born global’ GFAR is a global born entity. If global sounds too ambitious, it is nonetheless increasingly important not to confine yourself to a limited locale.
International trade – international and global treaties are increasingly dictating Terms of trade. The world is currently dividing around the tables of industrialised high trade partners and the least developed countries, which are attempting to coalesce their trade objectives at the WTO meeting. The importance of the WTO group for LDCs cannot be overemphasised.
Technological advancement – particularly in the areas of communication and information transfer. The explosion of the Internet in recent years is changing how businesses operate.
Societal change. A profound shift has occurred in the West from a manufacturing-based society to the information and knowledge society; organizations are now competing on knowledge and information. Your competitive advantage depends on what you know and how you put your knowledge to use.
The organization as a collection of stakeholders. It is now accepted that organizations are much more than a group of employees. Progressive organizations involve their suppliers, customers and shareholders, as well as their employees, in their strategy. These groups are the one who have a ‘stake’ in the organization, hence the term ‘stakeholders’.
The reliance on innovation for success. Organisations that do ‘the same old thing’ while the environment around them changes are on course for failure. Innovation, doing new and different things, is what provides an organisation with an advantage over its competitors. Tom Peters has coined the phrase ‘Get innovative or get dead’!
The nature of competition. No longer to industry giants have an unchallenged monopoly. Small companies such as Netscape and Amazon Books can now compete directly with the major industry players.
A more diverse workforce – including older workers, women and those from ethnic minorities. Diversity both impacts on, and enriches, the working practices and services that organizations can offer.
Changing organizational structure. Where organizations use outsourcing, empowerment and communications technologies, they can be more flexible and responsive to market opportunities.
The need of lifelong learning – to insure skills change with the requirements of the environment. It has been said that learning is the real key to competitive advantage in the future.
The increasing speed of change – and it’s getting quicker.

1.4 Some Do’s and Don’ts To facilitate the process of strategic planning:-

DO’s

In your working groups try to create an environment for the exchange of ideas, this means organising meetings that are conducive to thinking, this may be achieved by some informal meetings over a beer or having a retreat to get things moving. Its true many corporate decisions are made at the bar, after all the talking has been done!!!!
Getting people involved is a complex task, take time and if you need to, readjust timetables to meet the needs of the people involved.
Develop some schemes to get people focussing on the right types of questions; so you may set tasks for people in the groups, some are listening out for strategic points, others to hold up a hand when things get marginal.
Get the right focus, this may mean reading some literature on a change in management
Think the ideas of change through, does it add up
Set up a team of stakeholders (this is you)
Create a sense of purpose and urgency
Be prepared for conflict and try to enjoy it.
Be willing to negotiate
Build in the capability for learning

Right Questions??

Who will be included in our client base in the future?
What are their priorities
What are our channels for accessing new technologies
What are our channels of delivering our technologies
What should we do to better exploit information, develop knowledge and invest in skills development
What do we do that we could franchise or syndicate to partners
Can we take new market options in our field of activity

DON’Ts

Don’t terrify your employees with a heavy top down approach
Don’t cover ground too quickly
Don’t retain information that you think is sensitive
Don’t avoid difficult areas because it may lead to conflict (capitalise on conflict)
Don’t think that most people are unable to think as well as the top executives, the undercurrent views of all the people in the organisation are important.

· Don’t dwell on the past

What are the real needs of your clients in today’s environment
In which areas of the post harvest sector do you have the highest change of success
How are donors, extension agents, NGOs and farmers attitudes changing
How dynamic is the organisation in taking advantage of new opportunities and defending itself against threats
What key skills do you need to develop
Do you have a learning workforce, an obedient one or a ineffective one?

1.5 Strategic Thinking

If strategic analysis is about where you were in the past, how you arrived at the present, the shift to strategic thinking, comes when you consider where you are going to be in the future. Some tips to strategic thinking include:-

· Casting off a risk adverse culture where things that are “not traditional” are dismissed.

· Being able to think about new ideas, brainstorming on possibilities.

· Recognising that the old faces will probably have old ideas, and therefore if you want to know what the market currently needs, bring in some young blood and listen to what they have to say.

· Nurture some creative thinking, let people have some time and space to consider options, whether they appear fantastic or not.

· Challenging old assumptions and suspending judgement that new ideas don’t fit.

· Trying out some new things, this may mean conflict, as many people prefer to stay with the way things are.

The key steps in the process of strategic planning are outlined in Figure 1

Figure 1. The basic blocks of the strategic planning process

Analysing context and trends

Defining a future direction

Choosing strategic actions

Preparing for implementation.

Environment

Organisation

Trends

Mandate

Strategic issues

Mission

Strategic objectives

Future vision

SWOT analysis

Change matrices

Constraints analysis

Priority setting

Gap analysis

Monitoring and evaluation

Responsibilities

Resources

Structures

This review will collate information on the framework conditions. For a public sector agricultural organisation, national development policies should play a major part of the thinking such that the planning effort is compatible with government policy and trends in the sector. The analysis of the internal environment naturally focuses on the organisation, its current mandate, mission, priorities, achievements and resources within the context of strengths and weaknesses. Check GFAR references for some of this information.

Analysis of the external environment is an excellent next step in considering changes in the sector, which can be used to guide the ideas on changes for the organisation undergoing the strategy planning process. Here it is important to consider to roles and responsibilities of other players in the sector. A sound analysis of the capacity and linkage opportunities with collaborators or competitors is vital in the development of new plans and developing more efficient ways of working. Any problems and inconsistencies between members should be discussed and resolved.

At this stage, ideas to consider are the relative merits of basic, strategic and applied research, the needs of the client, and the urgency of “technology” development versus “technology” delivery. The implications of regional research, which focuses resources in, target countries and projects with the aim of supplying outputs to neighbouring countries.

Discussions with other organisations, in this case starting with the organisations present, provides information on how other organisations have adapted to the new environment, how changes have led to advantages within the sector, how competitor or partner institutions have made changes which led to increased investment and also the decisions that were made by other organisations and complementary efforts being made by privates and public partners. Capacity analysis is also useful in terms of reviewing the ability of other organisations to support new initiatives or to cause drag.

1.6 Critical challenges

The analysis of this information should lead to identifying central strategic issues that the organisation needs to address for effective change.

Point. One must know where one is going and the barrier to that path or the bridges to accelerate progress.

These issues often referred to as “critical challenges” are those that the organisation will respond to in compliance to the desires of higher authorities, clients, partners and stakeholder interests. Issues are only STRATEGIC, i.e., of real importance, if there are important consequences for not addressing them. Therefore, extracting the “critical challenges” from the discussions that will be held during the planning process are the vital. It is around these critical issues that the potential actions (i.e., strategies) can be developed. Looking at the challenges and “Doing nothing” is a decision and should not be considered as a safety net. The world is becoming more competitive, there are more options and increasing numbers of effective players in the sector, particularly agricultural research and development and therefore defining your role within the market place is important for growth if not survival.

Avoiding difficult questions, entirely defeats the object of the strategic planning process and this highlights the need for a strong committee and a careful selection of facilitators who can hold open debate on difficult ideas and decisions. The facilitator needs to work with the groups involved, towards rational and practical consensus.

1.7 Strategic planning Why do it??

Research organisations engage in strategic planning for different reasons. These are due to several and almost overwhelming causes;

(i) For an organisation such as GFAR, action plans need to be built up from the stakeholders at the national level. Therefore this current process, is a means to engage as many stakeholders as possible in the development of a global initiative, such that when plans are funded, the actions are relevant and meet the needs of both the actors doing the R&D and the target beneficiaries.

(ii) The new trend towards more consolidated funding and action means that local or national organisations are now required to think and act on regional and global terms. Developing and implementing these new types of programmes takes careful planning in terms of how best to use scarce resources, what criteria are used to select partners and where best to spatially locate intervention that can catalyse perceivable impact in more than one country.

(iii) The trend in strategic development for sub-regional organisations such as ASARECA show a clear shift towards more commercialised, market-led approaches, which are a reflection of the changing economic framework in which we operate, particularly in the liberalised economies of Sub-Saharan Africa.

(iv) For the postharvest sector there is an increasing recognition that more funds should be invested in this area as it becomes increasingly apparent that production based interventions alone will not solve the problems with identifying markets and develop efficient, effective and dynamic supply chains to capitalise on these opportunities.

1.7.1 Who are the beneficiaries of the process

The target clients for agricultural research organisations such as FARA / GFAR are the farmers, farmer associations, extension, NGOs, input suppliers, the Ministries of agriculture and government agencies. To be universally accepted, the strategic planning process needs to hold open debate with these partners to take on board their views. Therefore any ideas should have a forward consultative process.

1.8 Visions and Missions

As part of the early stages in the process, the organisation needs to define its goal. This is typically achieved by developing a vision and mission, which are precise statements of its “reason d’etre”. These statements should manifest the products, priority clients, objectives and activities.

The challenge of the top management is to articulate how the organisation can best contribute to the national development. This highest order statement is typically referred to as a Vision, which reflects the highest level of potential achievement, a state of future capacity, a Nirvana.

A mission statement is a concise description of how the organisation will achieve its objectives and work towards its Vision.

Slogans, are a more recent innovation, which provides a snappy, “sound bite” to promote the organisation. Although this may appear trite, it does help to imprint the institutional drive on the employees / stakeholders and also serves as a means of imprinting the organisation in the minds of the clients.

Goal	Purpose	Outputs	Activities	Inputs	Indicators
What we contribute towards	What we aim to achieve our highest level of accountability	What we will deliver or produce	What we DO, these are the studies and field activities	What we need to provide to make the activities operational	How we verify that we are achieving our outputs

1.9 Preparing for Change

The reason for comparing the current versus the future state is to compare the state of affairs with the preferred situation. Developing change matrices on critical issues can assist in focusing on the issues and making suggestions for change. As with the SWOT analysis, focus on real issues and do not consider the exercise as a listing-making endeavour.

Change analyses matrix

Current status

Preferred status

What is needed to get there?

Appraisal is based on publication of results in and international journal

Performance is reviewed on issues related to the objective of the position

Establish a clear set of guidelines which can appraise action against the needs of the job

Develop clear terms of reference for the position

Work with the employee to design a fair scheme of appraisal focussing on the specific task being set

1.10 Implementing Change

The key aspects related to implementing change include:-

Governance
Leadership
Planning, monitoring and Evaluation
Management of information, financial, human resource and physical resources
Technology development, dissemination and transfer
Support services including accounting, purchasing, maintenance, travel, computer services and logistics.

Having dealt with framework ideas, the strategy should logically move onto more detailed analysis of how the desired changes can practically be made. The results of this more functional analysis and definitions of the programmatic research areas will allow for projections to be made of the financial investment required over the strategic planning period and the institutional changes that are required to implement the plan.

1.10.1 From Strategy document to Planning

Typically a strategic planning process leads from the development of a strategy document to a functional planning process in which action plans are designed. This stage is often referred to as developing a mid term plan. The length of the plan depends on the ability of the organisation to see into the future, short, medium and long term being 0-2 years, 3-5 years and up to 10 years. It is very unlikely that a plan will stand for more than 2 years as the environment changes too rapidly but having a long term vision often helps in working towards more difficult change areas.

1.10.2 Relevance for agricultural research

Strategic planning is often initiated at the request from donor organisations rather than Government, as donors require that funding, particularly repeat funding, is clearly linked with performance and that this can be measured against realistic indicators. The process of donor funding also aims to transform organisations into a new mode of operation which is more able to design, and deliver efficient and effective products and services to their clients. The strategic planning process therefore services a number of functions including:-

Orienting the organisation with regard to the environment and its desired functional state.
Evaluating the organisations strengths and weaknesses
Determining goals and how to reach them
Orienting the organisation towards clients needs and demands
Addressing ideas related to major social changes such as market reform, sustainability and being able to withstand shocks.
Establishing various elements of direction and management in particular the vision, mission, objectives and structure and translating strategies into action plans
Determining necessary changes and adjustments within the organisation, including policy, administration, management and good governance.
Incorporating experiences gained through a continual process of review, ensuring that the strategic plan reflects lessons learned and environmental changes.

The final point being that most research managers need to find ways of using and distributing their scarce resources more efficiently in order to contribute more effectively to agricultural development in their countries. For this reason, strategic thinking is likely to play a more important role in the evolution of agricultural organisations in the future.

1.11 Why change fails

The way it was introduced may cause a sense of threat and fear of the unknown. Problems in the implementation may lie in the upper levels of the organisation or in other linked organisations and these are generally captures in the following pitfalls:-

Lack of understanding of what the business is about in operational terms
Lack of direction
Lack of vision
Resource shortcomings are overlooked
Goals are too distant
Performance guides are ignored
Training is overlooked
Management is unable to sell change to higher authorities
Lack of trust in the organisation hinders agreed upon shifts
Basic or fundamental lack of understanding of the process
Lack of competitive nature within the organisation

Good luck

Annex 4 About the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR)

Introduction

Key players in agricultural research around the world are joining forces in a dynamic new initiative-the Global Forum on Agricultural Research, or GFAR. Relying on cost-effective partnerships and strategic alliances, GFAR aims to promote a Global System for Agricultural Research to reduce poverty, achieve food security, and conserve and manage biodiversity and natural resources. GFAR was founded on 31 October 1996 by representatives of:

· developing-country national agricultural research systems (NARS)

· advanced research institutions (ARIs) and universities

· regional and subregional organizations

· non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

· farmers' organizations

· the private sector

· international agricultural research centres (IARCs), and

· the donor community.

The first plenary meeting of GFAR took place in Dresden, Germany, May 21-23, 2000,covering the topic of " " (GFAR 2000)
The GFAR-2000 conference adopted a Declaration for Global Partnership in Agricultural Research.

Three basic premises lie behind GFAR's work:

Science and knowledge are essential to the future of agricultural development in contemporary societies.
Today more than ever, the systematic creation of knowledge and its practical use depend on transnational research systems and networks.
Differences in the capacity to access and use improved technologies can lead to inequities between and within countries that can and should be avoided.

Mission and goals

GFAR's mission is to mobilize the world scientific community in their efforts to alleviate poverty, increase food security, and promote the sustainable use of natural resources. Its goals are to:

Facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge;
Foster cost-effective, collaborative partnerships among the stakeholders of agricultural research and sustainable development;
Promote the integration of NARS and enhance their capacity to produce and transfer technology that responds to users' needs;
Facilitate the participation of all stakeholders in formulating a truly global framework for development-oriented agricultural research;
Increase awareness among policymakers and donors of the need for long-term commitment to, and investment in, agricultural research.

Program of Work and Budget

GFAR is concentrating on five high-priority areas:

information and communication technologies;
support to regional fora and NARS sub-regional groupings;
genetic resource management, biotechnology and intellectual property rights;
natural resource management and agro-ecology;
international cooperation for agricultural research on commodities outside the CGIAR mandate.

The first two priorities are more institutional in nature as they are crucial to ensuring the full and equal participation of all GFAR stakeholders. The other three areas, unanimously recognized as critical, urgently need specific action programs based on new partnerships and strategic alliances.

Guiding principles

Subsidiarity Programs and projects are planned and managed at the lowest level at which they can be effectively executed.
Complementarity GFAR strives to develop a global agricultural research system by drawing on the complementary strengths of the stakeholders.
Additionality GFAR supports programs and projects that aim specifically to add value to what each stakeholder can do on its own.
Involvement of all stakeholders GFAR operates through its stakeholders and mobilizes all stakeholders in planning and executing its programs and activities.
Partnership GFAR's work program supports the evolution of the development-aid concept towards that of full partners with common interests collaborating for mutual benefits. The NARS of the developing countries along with their regional and subregional fora are the cornerstones of the global agricultural research system that GFAR aims to create.

GFAR Organization

GFAR operates through a GFAR Steering Committee, working together with the GFAR Donor Support Group. It also coordinates activities related to NARS through the NARS sub-committee.

Originally the GFAR and NARS Steering Committees were supported by two separate Secretariats hosted respectively by the World Bank’s Rural Development Department (RDV) in Washington D.C. and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome. Since the 1^st of June 2000, the two secretariats have been merged into a single unified GFAR Secretariat hosted by FAO in Rome.

The GFAR Donor Support Group (GFAR-DSG), under the leadership of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), mobilizes the international community in support of the GFAR initiative.

A GFAR plenary meeting is convened once every three years. The two steering committees and the donor support group meet twice annually, in conjunction with the meetings of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

The GFAR Secretariat provides support to the GFAR and NARS Steering Committees and to all stakeholders in their active involvement in the Global Forum. It assists in the convening of the various types of meetings of the GFAR, in the formulation of the GFAR Mid-Term Plan, in the implementation of it through an annual Programme of Work, and in the preparation and organization of the triennial plenary meetings of the Global Forum.

For further information

GFAR Secretariat, c/o FAO/SDR, viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Roma, ITALY, Tel.: +39-06-57053413, Fax: +39-06-57053898, E-mail: GFAR-Secretariat@fao.org

GFAR Donor Support Group, c/o IFAD, via del Serafico, 107, 00142 Roma, ITALY, Tel.: +39-06-57053413, Fax: +39-06-57053898, E-mail: GFAR-Secretariat@fao.org

Annex 5 About ASARECA

The "Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa" (ASARECA) is a not-for-profit, non political organisation of the national agricultural system (NARS) of the ten countries in the Eastern and Central African (ECA) region:- Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. ASARECA together with similar organisations in Africa (i.e., SACCAR for Southern Africa and CORAF for Western Africa), are the main sub-regional organisations for agricultural research on the continent and they are members of the Forum for Agricultural in Africa (FARA) and the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR). The main objective of ASARECA is to enhance agricultural productivity in the ECA region through regional collaboration in agricultural research.

ASARECA undertakes its activities through a number of collaborative regional agricultural research networks and programmes. These include 10 commodity and factor based regional networks and programmes currently operating including, among others, for: cassava, beans, agroforestry, potatoes, maize and wheat, livestock, natural resources management, agricultural policy analysis, technology transfer and electronic connectivity. New networks under planning or about to be started include those for sorghum and millet, rice, postharvest processing, agricultural information and documentation; coffee and soil and water management.

The activities of ASARECA are superintended by its' Committee of Directors (CD), made up of the Directors of the National Research Institutes / Organisations from the 10 member countries, and co-ordinated by a Secretariat, headed by an Executive Secretary, located in Entebbe, Uganda.

The collaborative research projects of the regional networks / programmes are undertaken by scientists of the NARS with, in many cases, technical backstopping from scientists of the International Agricultural Research Centres (IARCs) as well as in some cases, support from Advanced Research Institutes (ARIs). Funding for the regional networks / programme activities comes from a multiplicity of sources including national governments, donor agencies as well as core support from IARCs and ARIs.

For more information about ASARECA contact: The Executive Secretary, ASARECA; Plot 5, Mpigi Road, P.O. Box 765, Entebbe, Uganda. Phone No 256-41-320212/320556. Fax 256-41-321126, email asareca@imul.com.

Annex 6 About FOODNET

The FOODNET project is a new type of regional agricultural research and development network focussing on market-oriented research and sales of value added agricultural products.

Researchers working with FOODNET will use market survey techniques to identify market opportunities and thereafter work in close collaboration with a range of public and private sector partners to develop agro-enterprise projects, using innovative postharvest technologies and products to supply both new and existing markets. The project proposal, summary results framework and progress reports are linked.

The current project portfolio being developed by FOODNET is shown under the projects section.

Agro-enterprise activities will be developed using commercial models through the integration of market studies, improved technologies and the development of partnerships with the various agents involved in the production to sales marketing chain.

To build capacity in this type of research, the network will seek to strengthen links between the private and public sector agencies and provide regional training in market studies and agro-enterprise development to accelerate the process of change towards market oriented research.

Overall Project Goal: Strengthening regional capacity in value added, agro-enterprise technologies for increased income, improved nutrition and sustainable food security in eastern and central Africa

Project Purpose: To identify market opportunities for existing and novel, value added products, and optimise appropriate postharvest technologies to enhance the income generating capacity of small and medium scale entrepreneurs from the private sector and promote products to improve nutrition.

Project Partners: ASARECA networks, National programmes, Universities, International Agricultural Research Centres, NGOs, CBOs, farmers, processors, manufacturers and other agricultural sector stakeholders within the ASARECA region.

Project Objectives:

Enterprise Development

Identify market opportunities for increased sales of value added products.
Identify varieties with specific nutritional / processing qualities for germplasm enhancement.
Identify, adapt and promote improved postharvest technologies with private sector partners
Diversify product range from locally available crops for market expansion and improved nutrition

Capacity Building

Provide training to strengthen the capacity of the Network to deliver profitable agro-enterprises
Develop postharvest information systems for increased access and exchange of information
Catalyse the process of change from production to market oriented research in partnership with the ASARECA networks and private sector partners
Enhance local, regional, Inter-centre and International co-operation in postharvest activities

Address

IITA-Foodnet

P.O. Box 7878

Telephone: 00256-41-223460
Fax: 00256-41-223459
Email: FOODNET@imul.com

Annex 7 A Global Initiative Toward Strengthening the

Post-harvest Sector

The post-harvest system should be thought of as encompassing the delivery of a crop from the time and place of harvest to the time and place of consumption, with minimum loss, maximum efficiency, and maximum return for all involved (The Hidden Harvest, 1976)

1. Background

Post-production operations account for more than 55 per cent of the economic value of the agricultural sector in developing countries and up to 80 per cent in developed countries. Although they are the basis of socio-economic development in rural areas and are of critical importance in meeting the food security and nutritional requirements of populations, relatively little public sector and developmental support is targeted to addressing these fundamental concerns and the growing and changing trends within the sector. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) for example has less than 4 % of its total funding allocated to post-harvest development.

Three decades have elapsed since the last major conference geared toward soliciting developmental support for the post-production sector. The focus then was on the reduction of post-harvest losses. Considerable growth in the sector, as well as changes in market demands and trade regulations point to the increasingly important dimension of produce and product quality, if developing countries are to gain advantages from the safety, security and potential trade benefits of a stable food supply. By and large, this growth and change is very poorly supported by developmental policies and strategies, and technical capacity within the sector remains very weak.

In recognition of these deficiencies in policies, strategies, and technical and financial inputs to address the fundamental and growing concerns of the post-harvest sector, the Agro-Industries and Post-Harvest Management Service of FAO (FAO/AGSI) with the endorsement of Ph-Action[1], embarked upon launching an international initiative geared toward facilitating development within the post-harvest sector of developing countries. This initiative will be implemented in two-phases:

· Phase 1- Developing a global perspective of the post-harvest sector, through the planning and implementation of five co-ordinated technical regional workshops.

· Phase 2- Conducting a five-day International Technical Consultation on Post-Harvest, with the objective of launching a Global Initiative on Post-Harvest Technology (GIPhT).

In order to ensure a common understanding of the breadth of scope of this international initiative, a concept note on the “Post-Harvest Sector” is attached as Annex 1.

FAO/AGSI will fully fund the implementation of Phase 1 activities, which will be executed in collaboration with the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR), during 2001. Funding is however currently being solicited in support of implementing Phase 2 Activities.

2. Phase 1 Activities - Planning of Five FAO-GFAR Regional Workshops

An appraisal of the current status of the post-harvest sector from both institutional and stakeholder perspectives in developing countries is of paramount importance to the identification of the problems, potentials and constraints of the sector. It would also provide a basis for initiating the development of an action plan geared toward facilitating these countries in keeping abreast of the changing requirements of the sector, while fulfilling their fundamental objectives of maintaining a safe, secure, and stable food supply. It is within this context, that FAO/AGSI, in collaboration with GFAR, embarked upon the planning and implementation of five Technical Regional Workshops.

Each of these Workshops will seek to:

· Identify and analyse the problems, potentials and constraints of the post-harvest sector in each region;

· Assess the technical, organisational, institutional and information needs of the post-harvest sector in each region;

· Identify major areas for improvement and development;

· Prepare a Regional Strategy for post-harvest;

· Identify concrete follow-up actions to be undertaken for implementation of this strategy.

Information derived from these Workshops will be used as a basis for the development of a GIPhT and a plan of action for its implementation. The development of Concrete Action Proposals by these Workshops is therefore critical.

FAO-GFAR Collaboration

GFAR is a stakeholder-led initiative aimed at promoting and facilitating research and development partnerships in key areas of agricultural and rural development. The collaboration of FAO/AGSI with GFAR in the conduct of these Workshops is based upon recognition by GFAR stakeholders of the critical importance of the post-harvest sector and of the need to increase local value-added through the development of rural agro-industries based on a commodity approach, as discussed at the GFAR-2000 Conference in Dresden, Germany[2]. It is also justified by the high priority given to post-harvest development by the Regional/Sub-regional Fora (RF/SRF), in particular the NARS, which have emphasised the importance of the role of the post-harvest system in assuring the effective contribution of the agricultural sector to economic growth.

3. Implementation of FAO-GFAR Regional Workshops

The FAO-GFAR Regional Workshops will be held in: Sub-Saharan Africa (sponsored by FARA), Latin America and the Caribbean (sponsored by FORAGRO), West Asia and North Africa (sponsored by AARINENA), Asia/Pacific (sponsored by APAARI), and Central Asia and the Caucasus (sponsored by the CAC Regional Forum). Stakeholders will be mobilised for this purpose within each Regional Forum. Preparation for and implementation of each Workshop will be co-ordinated by the respective Regional Forum that works within the GFAR framework.

Each respective Regional Forum for Agricultural Research will work in conjunction with its Sub-Regional Fora (SRF) on the organisation and implementation of a 3-day Regional Workshop. In order to ensure the involvement of a wide cross-section of stakeholders and to reflect the diverse characteristics and requirements of the various sub-regions, three sets of background documents will be prepared:

· Regional consultants will be contracted to prepare Sub-regional Papers on the status, challenges and opportunities of the post-harvest sector in each sub-region, seeking to identify conclusions and recommendations that can be derived from this analysis.

· Stakeholder Papers will be presented by interested stakeholders. These papers will analyze the main challenges and opportunities perceived from the perspective of each stakeholder. Suggested topics for the various stakeholder contributions are summarised in Annex 4. These topics must nevertheless be agreed upon by each stakeholder.

· A Regional Summary Report will be prepared on the basis of the inputs provided by the sub-regional papers. This summary report will emphasize concrete actions that can be carried out by the various stakeholders, individually or in partnership, in order to respond to both the challenges and the opportunities faced by the post-harvest sector in the Region.

All background documents together with the results and recommendations of each Workshop, as well as a strategy for development of the post-harvest sector at the regional level, will be compiled and documented in a Workshop Report which will be prepared in accordance with the outline in Annex 6.

In order to accomplish the above, either the Regional Forum, or the executing agent that it may identify among its member organisations, will undertake the following activities with the support of FAO/AGSI and the GFAR Secretariat:

Date	Sept		17th		18th		19th	20^th	22^nd
Time	Sunday		Monday		Tuesday		Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
07:00			Breakfast		Breakfast		Breakfast
08:00 – 10:30		08:00 08:15 08:30 08:45 09:00 09:30 10:15	Welcome to GIPHT Introductions Opening Dr. J. Aluma Remarks Prof. G. Mrema Background and objectives of the workshop S. Ferris Dimensions of the Post-Harvest Sector Rose Rolle Postharvest strategic development C. Wheatley Discussion	08:00 08:20 08:40 09:00 09:20 09:40 10:00	Economist – B. Boatang Policy – G. Ebong Marketing – D. Nyangi EAD Bank - John Kaggwa NGO – JP de Sousa Research – A. Agona Educationalist – O. Tewe Chairperson – R. Best	08:30 08:45 09:00 09:15 10:00	Presentation of 4 thematic groups back to the Plenary Chair – Cornelius Mokgoko Facilitator C. Wheatley	Writing committee meets to delegate tasks and write up sections of the report for submission to FARA	Review
10:30		10:30	Coffee	10:30		10:30
	*Arrival of participants*	10:45 11:15 12:15	Agro-enterprise R&D in Uganda - Clive Drew West African Regional overview Prof. O. Olorunda Discussion Chair C. Wheatley	10:45 11:30	Development of Goal and Purpose for the Strategy SWOT analysis by Sub-regions in working groups Discussions regarding key thematic areas Facilitator C. Wheatley	10:45 10:30 10:45 11:00 11:15 12:30	Ph Action update. R. Best Foodnet ASARECA regional network S. Ferris New groups Discussions held on Focus on Regional strategy themes	Writing tasks in progress C. Wheatley
Lunch		12:45	Lunch	12:45	Lunch	12:45	Lunch
14:00 – 15:30	*Arrival of participants*	14:00 15:00 15:15	Southern African regional paper Dr. A. Mosha Chair R.Best Discussion and card writing to identify key thematic areas	14:00 14:00 14:30	Working Groups dicsuss key thematic areas from SWOT Policy Facilitator C. Wheatley	14:00 14:00 14:30 14:45 15:15	Groups resume as Sug-reigons to discuss Recommendations and framework for follow up Facilitator C. Wheatley	*Review meeting will depend on availability of sub-regional representatives*	Final decisions
15:30		15:30	Coffee	15:30	Coffee	15:30	Coffee
15:45 – 17:30	Registration at BBH 17:00 – 19:00 hrs	15:45 16:45	Eastern African Regional paper Prof. E Karuri / S. Ferris Chair person Discussion and card writing to identify key thematic areas	15:45	Groups prepare talks on: 1. Policy and Information 2. Commodity chains, markets and business development 3. Technology and quality 4.,Capacity building		Groups provide and discuss recommendations to be entered into the regional report Rapporteur – TBN Chair – G. Mrema		Report completed and emailed to all delegates
17:00		17:30		17:30		17:00
			Sub meetings within specialists to prepare talks for morning session,– highlight key aspects of work to Postharvest activities		Chairpersons of groups meet to refine ideas based on feedback from talks onto power-point presentations		Meeting of report committee

Date

Time

Sunday

Welcome to GIPHT

Chairperson – R. Best

Prof. O. Olorunda

Chair C. Wheatley

Facilitator C. Wheatley

Dr. A. Mosha

Chair R.Best