PAEPARD Reflection and Learning Workshop

27-30 April 2015. Entebbe, Uganda. Drawing lessons from 5-years’ experience of PAEPARD is critical for the way forward.

This workshop harvested the experiences of the consortia related to the Users'led process of PAEPARD (research steered by the beneficiaries: private sector actors and farmer organisations) and the consortia funded under the PAEPARD Competitive research Fund and the Dutch Applied Research Fund.

During the project’s Steering Committee meeting (held in Montpellier on April 16th and 17th), which considered a possible new phase of the project, the weakness of the project with regards to publications and documenting the PAEPARD story was highlighted. As a consequence, the process and outcome of this workshop will be documented in detail.

Activities:

1. Presentation of the survey on Capacity building needs (July-October 2014). This survey highlighted two main issues faced by the consortia: i) the weak implication of the European research stakeholders in the multi-stakeholders partnerships facilitated by PAEPARD, and ii) AIF insufficient support that brought consortia to develop their own facilitating “strategy”. Since that survey the situation changed with the launch of the PAEPARD Competitive research Fund and the PAEPARD Incentives Fund. The PAEPARD Competitive research Fund selected 4 consortia.
2. Building a timeline per consortia. Participants identified and began to analysis the breakthroughs achieved and the setbacks/challenges they had achieved so far within the framework of the PAEPARD program.

Participants’ assessment of the workshop was positive as they felt it had enabled them to identify and collectively express the breakthroughs they have achieved and the challenges they are facing within PAEPARD, to learn from this experience and suggest solutions for the way forward. Participants expressed their interest in holding such reflection and learning exercises on a regular basis to allow all PAEPARD members to meet, exchange and reflect on their situation, strengthen their collaboration and ownership of the programme.