THE CONTRIBUTION OF ISNAR TO POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE WEST AFRICAN REGION

1. THE CONTRIBUTION OF ISNAR TO POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE WEST AFRICAN REGION by Francis Idachaba

2. The Evolution of ISNAR’s contributions • ISNAR’s partnership with and support for national agricultural research systems(NARS), 1981-98 in the areas of: • National agricultural research policy • Research organization and • Research management • When NARS retool, ISNAR’s new Strategy, 1998-2002 • Vision • Strategic objectives • Strategic thrusts • institutional strategies

3. ISNAR’s New Roadmap • ISNAR’s new roadmap, 2002 • The new mission: “to facilitate institutional innovations that enhance the contribution of research to agricultural development for the poor” ISNAR’s goals with the explicit focus on the needs of the poor are to: • Build policy making capacities that support institutional innovation for agricultural research • Increase the contribution of research to agricultural development by enhancing the

4. ISNAR’s new focus on the poor influence of developing country stakeholders on the research agenda and its implementation and by improving the responsiveness of research organizations to stakeholders’ needs, particularly those of the poor • Strengthen the human capacity to contribute to institutional innovation in agricultural research • Put in place together with partnership organizations in developing countries new institutional arrangements that ensure that biotechnology and information and communication technology are used to increase

5. ISNAR’s focus on poverty alleviation food security and alleviate poverty 5) Strengthen the capacity of research organizations to respond effectively to new demands for knowledge arising from social, economic, and environmental changes beyond those traditionally associated with agricultural production, and 6) Expand ISNAR’s capacity to provide timely and cost-effective services to strengthen agricultural research through innovative partnerships and collaborative arrangements Examples of ISNAR’s projects on poverty reduction

6. ISNAR’s work in the region on poverty reduction in the West African region: i. Institutional Innovation and Development Support for African Agricultural Research: ISNAR as Transition Manager for the SPAAR/FARA transformation into the new FARA that is Africa-based(Accra, Ghana), African-led and African-managed, June 2000-March 2002 • ISNAR produced new FARA constitution ratified by FARA General Plenary, Maputo, March 2002 • ISNAR produced Memorandum of Agreement

7. ISNAR as Transition Manager for FARA Transformation formally establishing the new FARA and • coordinated the signing of the agreement by the Chairpersons and Executive Secretaries of the three SROs(ASARECA, CORAF/WECARD and SACCAR) in Addis Ababa, April 2001 • ISNAR initiated and coordinated recruitment process culminating in the appointment of Dr Monty Jones, formerly of WARDA as Pioneer Executive Secretary, FARA • Establishment of FARA Secretariat in Accra will provide forum for information exchange on best practices for poverty alleviation applicable to the West African region

8. ISNAR’s work on poverty reduction in the West African region • ISNAR coordinated the FARA transformation project form the ISNAR Office, Ibadan in collaboration with the SROs, NARS, SPAAR, FARAS, World Bank and FAO • ISNAR-WARDA Workshops on Research Partnerships and Collaborative Platforms for African agricultural research , Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire to mainstream Universities in developmental research and enhance their relevance for poverty reduction in the region • ISNAR Participation in CORAF/WECARD/ IARCs Consultations on Agricultural Research

9. ISNAR focus on poverty reduction in the WCA region Program integration in the West and Central African region, Dakar Jan 27-28, 2001 and IITA, Ibadan, Sep 10-12, 2001 involving IITA/WARDA/ICRISAT/ISNAR/NARS with possible role for ISNAR in the management of institutional change, development of criteria for regional priorities, management of economies of scope and cross-cutting issues and the allocation of functional responsibilities to hierarchies of institutions and organizations v. Linking Agricultural Research and Rural Radio in collaboration with University of Guelph,

10. ISNAR focus on poverty reduction in the WCA region FAO, Developing Countries Farm Radio Network, an NGO. Research and radio organizations in the pilot phase from Cameroon, Ghana, Mali and Uganda. Training needs assessment and organizational constraints in linking research and rural radio in Accra, March 27-30, 2001 • Training workshops, Sep 18-30 2000, ICRISAT Sahelian Training Center, Niger on Strengthening Project Development Donor Relations and Resource Mobilization in Agricultural Research as part of capacity building for poverty reduction

11. ISNAR focus on poverty reduction in the WCA region • ISNAR-INTG Training Workshop on Research Management covering leadership in the management of research, research program formulation, planning, monitoring and evaluation and financial management to be applied in making research more effective for the benefit of the poor • ISNAR-IPGRI collaboration on evaluation of capacity development in research and development organizations in Ghana

12. CONCLUSION • Institutions matter, especially for the poor(ISNAR’s MTP 2001-2003) • Institutions matter, but the capacity of the NARS to manage institutional innovation in response to trends and changes in the domestic and external environments even matters more(ISNAR’s new Roadmap, 2002) • ISNAR’s focus on capacity building • The new opportunities for greater synergies and collaboration between ISNAR and the World Bank much more than in the past: explore ways in which ISNAR can be keyed into the project

13. CONCLUSIONS Pipeline • ISNAR’s focus on the management of change requires a primary focus on human capital, the development of human capacity through training( production of modules, training materials, etc) • The key to sustained reduction of poverty lies in the sustained ability of NARS to respond to change, the ability to manage change and exploit the new opportunities that emerge in domestic and external markets through enhancement of institutional and human capacities for the successful management of change. ISNAR’s niche