PAEPARD meeting ar FARA@15

25-26 November 2014. Johannesburg, RCA. FARA@15. The objectives of the 10th PAEPARD
Management Team Meeting (MTM) was to to:

• Review the progress made in implementing 2014 work plan;
• Reflect on the reporting system: the mechanism of the improvement of the financial report so that the consolidated report is submitted on time at the same time;
• Discuss the progress made by then in implementing the Competitive Research Fund (CRF) and Innovation Fund (IF);
• Update the Monitoring and Evaluation framework to capture CRF and IF;
• Discuss any other business raised by partners.

During the second day the MTM was attended by
the FARA vice-board chair: prof. Paul Mafuka
(DG INERA DRC).

Background
Since the end of year 2011 PAEPARD has changed the brokerage mechanism in building the multi-stakeholder partnerships that were based on calls in first years of the implementation of the project. The new and ongoing brokerage partnership is known as the Users Led Process (ULP). It allowed users of research to define themselves the federating theme, select who (researchers and research-users) will form the consortium around the federating theme and undertake other steps of the process The outcome of the process was the formation of 5 Users led processes (ULP) conducted by PAEPARD non-research partners as follows:

1. EAFF: Extensive Livestock value chains in Eastern Africa with Specific focus on Kenya and Uganda 
2. PROPAC: Urban horticulture crops value chain with specific focus on Congo Brazzaville, DRC & Cameroon 
3. ROPPA: Rice value chain in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali 
4. FARNPAN/SACAU: Ground nut value chain in Zambia and Malawi 
5. COLEACP: Adding value to Mango non-food uses in West Africa (Burkina-Faso, Ivory-cost, Senegal). 

The ultimate objective is to establish a framework of a permanent dialogue between researchers and research-users that will lead ARD agenda in different sub-regional organizations (SROs).

Concurrently to the ULP, PAEPARD is implementing activities regarding the Competitive Research Fund (CRF) and Incentive Fund (IF) to support the 19 consortia created through the 2 calls launched by PAEPARD in 2010 and 2011. Under CRF, PAEPARD four years extension will fund 4 best proposals and up 10 best concept notes under the IF.