FARA visits AAU

by | Mar 21, 2022 | News And Events, Uncategorized

 

The Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, paid a courtesy call on the Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU), Prof. Olusola Oyewole, for bilateral talks between the two continental bodies. Accompanying the FARA boss was Ms. Ama Pokua Asenso, Human Resource and Administration Manager. From the AAU side, the Director of ICT, Communications and Knowledge Management , Ms. Nodumo Dhlamini, joined the Secretary General to receive the delegation.

FARA is Africa’s apex organization responsible for coordinating and advocating for agricultural research for development and also serves as the technical arm of the African Union Commission on agriculture science, technology and innovation.

According to Dr. Akinbamijo, despite Africa’s huge natural resources, the continent remains brain rich but pocket poor because agriculture, the mainstay of the African economy, loses its graduates to other sectors. He expressed the fear that unless there is a paradigm shift towards the application of science, technology and innovation in the agriculture sector, the continent would continue to be a net importer of food. It is in light of these sector challenges that FARA has committed to raise the quality of post graduate education to strengthen agricultural production in Africa and seeks a collaboration with the AAU to actualize this vision.

Prof. Oyewole expressed the AAU’s readiness to partner with FARA on this noble course.  The two organizational heads agreed to implement this through a memorandum of understanding which will establish the key initiatives to be undertaken towards achieving the set targets.

FARA delegations pay a courtesy visit to the Ambassador of Brazil to Ghana.

by | Mar 14, 2022 | News And Events

The Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa Dr Yemi Akinbamijo today led a three-person delegation from FARA on a courtesy visit to HE Maria Elisa de Luna, Ambassador of Brazil to Ghana.

The FARA delegation spent the time with the Ambassador to bring the latter up to date on the status of implementation of the Agricultural Research and Innovation Fellowship for Africa (ARIFA) program. The ARIFA is currently supported by the TETFund of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a unique modality for the pedagogic re-tooling of Nigerian universities in a bid to generate a new crop of enterprise-oriented postgraduate fellows.

It will be noted that ARIFA currently has about 60 fellows on their post-graduate studies in various agro-allied fields largely in the Universidade Federal de Vicosa and seven others across the Brazilian federation.The Executive Director, Dr Yemi Akinbamijo was accompanied by Dr Aggrey Agumya (Director of Research and Innovation) and Dr Abdulrazak Ibrahim (Ag Cluster Lead for Institutional Capacity and future scenarios).

AU- Common African Agro-Parks Programme (CAAPs) proposed as an Agenda 2063 Flagship Programme for the next 10 Years Implementation Plan.

AU- Common African Agro-Parks Programme (CAAPs) proposed as an Agenda 2063 Flagship Programme for the next 10 Years Implementation Plan.

by | Feb 28, 2022 | News And Events, Press Release

The Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment of the AUC in collaboration with the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim Bank), the Secretariat of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) organized the Second meeting of the Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) Steering Committee (CAAPs-SC) on at the margin of the Intra-African Trade Fair in Durban (IATF 2021), Durban South Africa. The meeting was held on 18th November 2021 in Durban, South Africa.

In line with the mandate of the CAAPs-SC to initiate the necessary high-level engagement to build broader cooperation amongst AU member states and stakeholders for fast-tracking implementation of the CAAPs, this 2nd biannual meeting of the CAAPs-SC is organized with the objective to reflect on the progress of implementation of the CAAPs activities and the actions planned ahead for the CAAPs coordination organs (CAAPs-TCT and CAAPs-SC); and to endorse the CAAPs report and recommendations for onward submission to the Fourth Ordinary Session of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (ARDWE) scheduled for 13th – 17th December 2021.

In his opening remarks, Amb. Albert Muchanga, the Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry, and Mining of the African Union Commission (AUC), who represented H.E. Amb. Josefa Sacko, AU Commissioner, Agriculture, Rural Development Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, emphasized the need for the CAAPs-SC to be set up as an actionable platform. He noted that experiences from the past have shown our weaknesses that are characterized by a length of statements and ceremonies instead of focusing on concrete actions, which are sometimes coupled with the high number of targets in our commitments and declarations that have not been achieved. He urged the participants to learn from the past and take on an action-oriented approach to implement the CAAPs program.

The President of Afrexim Bank, H.E. Prof Benedict Oramah, was represented by Mrs Oluranti Doherty, Director of Export Development of the Afrexim Bank, in her messages she reiterated the commitment of the Bank to support the CAAPs initiative and confirmed that a grand total of 500,000 USD will be disbursed for 2022 to 2023 to support the CAAPs-Secretariat at FARA for capacity building activities of the CAAPs.

Dr Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director of FARA addressed the committee and pointed out that there is need to restate the mandate of CAAPs-SC and enlighten the spectrum of partnerships required as well as the leadership engagement strategy of the CAAPs. He also presented a roadmap to the CAAPs-SC members in implementing the CAAPs leadership engagement activities.

H.E Wamkele Mene, the Secretary General of the AfCFTA, was represented by Mr Komla Bissi, Senior Advisor at AfCFTA,, He  stressed the need to move straight into business while avoiding heavy processes that may take too much time. “We can start something concrete based on what we already know, for example, we know the facts and the political environment of the cocoa sector, and we may not need to wait for an establishment of a financing mechanism before developing the cocoa-CAAP” he added. He aslo stressed that a schedule should be put in place in order to quickly start the CAAPs and allow it to happen in our lifetime.

In her remarks, Dr Janet Edeme, Head of Rural Development Division of the AUC and the Chair of the CAAPs Technical Coordination Team (CAAPs-TCT), presented the CAAPs progress report, and the draft decisions prepared for consideration the 4th Ordinary Session of the Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment of the African Union.

She further pointed out that the CAAPs will be developed on a continental scale similarly to AU PIDA programme. With the CAAPs, Africa will generate considerable quantum of foods to serve the inter-African trade of food commodities within the AfCFTA. We need to intensify the production systems with adequate logistics chains in Africa to make best use of the economy of scale in order to be competitive with the external markets. The Africa’s food scenario is really worrying, and if we do not do anything, nobody will do it for us.

A way forward and actions were proposed as follows;

  • The CAAPs shall be submitted as a Flagship Project of the Agenda 2063 for the next 10 Years Implementation Plan 2023-2033.
  • Refine the CAAPs Institutional Models and Leadership Engagement Strategy to include the orientations provided at this 2nd CAAPs-SC meeting
  • The CAAPs -TCT to engage with the Office of the Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry, and Mining of the African Union Commission to reach out to the President of African Business Council on the submission made on Private Sector Engagement.
  • The Afrexim bank’s Grant Agreement and the MoUs to be signed in at the 4th STC.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Janet Edeme | | Head, Rural Development Division | | African Union Commission | Tel: +251 11 551 77 00| E-mail: [email protected]  | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Mr. Haile Abebe, Directorate  of  Agriculture and Rural Development, Email [email protected]

For Media inquiries:

Ms. Peace Lydia Mutuwa, Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development, African Union Commission Email [email protected]

Mr Molalet Tsedeke, Directorate of Information and Communications; AU Commission Tel: 0911-630631; Email: [email protected]

Download Press Release

Mainstreaming the Continental Knowledge Management for Agricultural Development (KM4AgD) Agenda in Ghana.

by | Feb 24, 2022 | News And Events

By: Mr Paul Atsu (YPARD Africa, Accra, Ghana)

Despite the gains made towards achieving Agricultural Transformational development in Ghana, significant challenges remain in ensuring that the newly promoted Akosombo Integration Agenda to deliver sustainable services continues well into the future.

A recent scan on knowledge management in the Ghana agricultural sector reveals that Ghana’s agriculture sector was not knowledge-driven, and there was generally a lack of a learning culture. Investment in documentation, research, and information management is still low, though digitalisation is ongoing. To address this, the various institutions and stakeholders from across Africa who converged at the maiden KM4AgD Conference were mandated through the CAADP framework to adopt the new KM4AgD Agenda for Africa. This agenda is one way to achieve the Malabo goals, UN agenda 2063 and SDGs.

The Continental Data Capture Strategy2021 (CDCs)  developed by FARA in collaboration with experts and representatives of the CAADP-XP4 partners has established the significance of the Learning Alliance Approach in influencing learning and adaptive capacity in Africa’s agricultural sector. The strategy aims to ensure that the Ghana agrarian sector has become vibrant in experience sharing, documentation and dissemination. It recommends institutionalising a guiding model for a more systematic building up and deploying knowledge for policy, programming, and practice.

The CAADP-XP4 institutional Partnerships Development on Knowledge Management and Sector Learning for Africa seek to ensure solutions are informed by evidence for achieving sustainable agricultural transformation services. It also aims to contribute to the African agriculture sector KM Strategy and strengthen sector learning at the regional level, including Ghana. Through the Knowledge Management conference in Accra 2021, there have been mapping of demand and needs for knowledge management and sector learning in the programme countries. The enthusiasm to mainstream the KM4AgD at the country level and the deployment of country KM4AgD plans and policies has become imperative.

It is worth noting that the key challenges as identified by a study on Ghana’s sector in 2021 persist. These challenges include: (1) how district learning can be up-scaled and linked to the national sector level; (2) how the learning lessons can more effectively influence sector policies and programming; and (3) how the initiative and sector learning more broadly can become financially sustainable. The recent 3 Ghanaian KM4AgD Certified Champions on the CAADP-XP4 partnership are ready to support the Ghana learning initiative to develop a plan for any organisation to address the above challenges, among others.

A team of 3 certified young Ghanaian KM4AgD experts (Paul Atsu of Footprints Bridge International, Zainab Abdulai, an Agricultural Extensionist Officer at MOFA, and Marilyn Yeboah, a researcher at CSIR-STEPRI ) have stepped forward to help tackle these challenges. These young KM champions, also members of the Africa Chapter of the Young Professionals for Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD), were certified through the KM4AgD Challenge organised by FARA and partners in 2021. The team has begun developing a national knowledge management work plan to address the challenges mentioned, including improving areas in extension service and research that are quite active in sharing knowledge but less organised in other learning cycle components. The team recognises the need for a learning framework to be institutionalised to improve sector learning. The starting point shall be adopting the KM4AgD agenda by various sectors and institutions.

Request for Proposals: Provision of various training programmes to FARA Staff – Re-advertisement

Request for Proposals: Provision of various training programmes to FARA Staff – Re-advertisement

by | Feb 22, 2022 | Career, Consulting Services, Jobs, News And Events

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

(RE-ADVERTISEMENT) 

Technical Services: Provision of various training programmes to FARA Staff
Name of Project: CAADP-XP4
Procurement Ref: FARA/TrainProGs/RFPs/2022/01
Date: Monday, 21st February 2022
Submission Deadline Tuesday, 8th March 2022
  1. The human resources of FARA comprise the primary asset the organization relies upon to perform its mandate. The management of these resources and specifically the attraction, retention, motivation, and maximization of the productivity of high calibre employees is a critical function of the Secretariat. Therefore, a core objective of the Secretariat’s Human Resource Management function is to enhance the skills and capabilities of the personnel to ensure delivery through the provision of various training programmes for its staff.

 

  1. The central objective of this activity is to conduct various training programmes for FARA secretariat staff in Leadership & Management; Advanced Microsoft Excel and Word, Internet Security; Partnership Management and Negotiation Skills; and Corporate Communication and Media Engagement.

 

  1. This request for proposals aims at engaging consulting firms and individuals to carry out the following functions:

 

No Training Programme Expected Commencement Date Duration of Assignment
1 Training of FARA Staff on Advanced Microsoft Excel and Word End of March 2022 10 man-days
2 Training of FARA Staff on Internet Security Second week of April 2022 3 man-days
3 Training of Staff in Leadership & Management Second week in June 2022 5 man-days
4 Training of FARA Staff on Partnership Management and Negotiation Skills Second week in August 2022 5 man-days
5 Training of FARA Staff on Corporate Communication and Media Engagement Second week in October 2022 5 man-days

 

The detailed terms of references for each of them are in the links below:

    1. TOR – Training in Advanced Microsoft Excel and Word
    2. TOR – Training in Corporate communication & media engagement
    3. TOR – Training in Internet Security
    4. TOR – Training in Leadership and Management
    5. TOR – Training in Partnership Management and Negotiation Skills
  1. The Executive Director of FARA invites interested firms/individuals to submit proposals in carrying out these assignments.

 

  1. Interested Firms/individuals shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to provide the services (proposed methodologies, supporting documentation, reference for similar services, experience in comparable assignments, availability, and CVs of qualified staff, etc). Interested Firms/individuals should provide a detailed financial proposal with budget lines and resources for activities to be performed.

 

  1. The anticipated periods of performance for these assignments are indicated in the table above.

 

  1. The firms/Individuals shall be selected based on procedures defined in the Procurement Guidelines of FARA and the requirements stated in the respective TORs. Proposals will be evaluated and contract awarded to the most respective firm or individual per training programme.

 

  1. Interested firms or Individuals may obtain further information from the HR and Administration Manager, Ms Ama Pokuah Asenso [[email protected]], and copy the Procurement Expert, Callistus Achaab [[email protected]], during the following hours: 9h00 to 15h00 GMT.

 

Please download the Terms of References below for further information on this opportunity.

    1. TOR – Training in Advanced Microsoft Excel and Word
    2. TOR – Training in Corporate communication & media engagement
    3. TOR – Training in Internet Security
    4. TOR – Training in Leadership and Management
    5. TOR – Training in Partnership Management and Negotiation Skills
  1. Proposals should be submitted electronically to [[email protected]] and addressed to Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director of FARA, No 7 Flower Avenue, New Achimota, Mile 7, Accra, Ghana, no later than Tuesday, 8th March 2022, at 16h00 GMT. Tel: +233 302 772823/744888

 

  1. FARA Affirmative Action Statement on Recruitment: there is no discrimination based on gender race, religion, ethnic orientation, disability, or health status.

 

Executive Director of FARA

Request for Proposals: Provision of various training programmes to FARA Staff – Re-advertisement

Request for Proposals: Provision of various training programmes to FARA Staff

by | Feb 10, 2022 | Career, Consulting Services, News And Events

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

 

Technical Services: Provision of various training programmes to FARA Staff
Name of Project: CAADP-XP4
Procurement Ref: FARA/TrainProGs/RFPs/2022/01
Date: Friday, 9th February 2022
Submission Deadline Friday, 18th February 2022

TORs for Training Programmes

  1. The human resources of FARA comprise the primary asset the organization relies upon to perform its mandate. The management of these resources and specifically the attraction, retention, motivation, and maximization of the productivity of high calibre employees is a critical function of the Secretariat. Therefore, a core objective of the Secretariat’s Human Resource Management function is to enhance the skills and capabilities of the personnel to ensure delivery through the provision of various training programmes for its staff.
  2. The central objective of this activity is to conduct various training programmes for FARA secretariat staff in Leadership & Management; Advanced Microsoft Excel and Word, Internet Security; Partnership Management and Negotiation Skills; and Corporate Communication and Media Engagement.
  3. This request for proposals aims at engaging consulting firms and individuals to carry out the following functions:
No Training Programme Expected Commencement Date Duration of Assignment
1 Training of FARA Staff on Advanced Microsoft Excel and Word End of February 2022 10 man-days
2 Training of FARA Staff on Internet Security Second week of March 2022 3 man-days
3 Training of Staff in Leadership & Management Second week in June 2022 5 man-days
4 Training of FARA Staff on Partnership Management and Negotiation Skills Second week in August 2022 5 man-days
5 Training of FARA Staff on Corporate Communication and Media Engagement Second week in October 2022 5 man-days

 

The detailed terms of references are in the link below:

  1. The Executive Director of FARA invites interested firms/individuals to submit proposals in carrying out these assignments.
  2. Interested Firms/individuals shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to provide the services (proposed methodologies, supporting documentation, reference for similar services, experience in comparable assignments, availability, and CVs of qualified staff, etc). Interested Firms/individuals should provide a detailed financial proposal with budget lines and resources for activities to be performed.
  3. The anticipated periods of performance for these assignments are indicated in the table above.
  4. The firms/Individuals shall be selected based on procedures defined in the Procurement Guidelines of FARA and the requirements stated in the respective TORs. Proposals will be evaluated and contract awarded to the most respective firm or individual per training programme.
  5. Interested firms or Individuals may obtain further information from the HR and Administration Manager, Ms Ama Pokuah Asenso [[email protected]], and copy the Procurement Expert, Callistus Achaab [[email protected]], during the following hours: 9h00 to 15h00 GMT.

Please download the Terms of References below for further information on this opportunity.

  1. Proposals should be submitted electronically to [[email protected]] and addressed to Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director of FARA, No 9 Flower Avenue, New Achimota, Mile 7, Accra, Ghana, no later than Friday, 18th February 2022, at 16h00 GMT. Tel: +233 302 772823/744888
  2. FARA Affirmative Action Statement on Recruitment: there is no discrimination based on gender race, religion, ethnic orientation, disability, or health status.

Executive Director of FARA