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Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System

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The Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) was established in 2006 and compiles and analyzes information to help design and evaluate rural development strategies and monitor the progress of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).[1][2][3] CAADP is a program of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which aims to increase the share of national budgets allocated to agriculture.[4]

Background

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Especially in the agriculture-based economies of Africa, agriculture is the sector that can affect not only poverty reduction and food security, but can also foster economic growth and sustain the environment.[5] African countries have set up CAADP to reach these goals and a Mutual Accountability Framework (MAF) to measure the program's progress. ReSAKSS plays an important role in this monitoring system by collecting relevant data and undertaking systematic analyses.[6][7]

In November 2009 a conference was held to assess progress in implementing CAADP in African countries with several countries surpassing the target of 10% of their annual budgets to agriculture.[8]

Use of data

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Besides Strategic analysis, information and data management and capacity strengthening activities to support CAADP implementation and informing policy and decision-making processes in Africa more generally,[3] ReSAKSS data is used by various other actors to analyze and monitor African agricultural development.

For instance, the data has been used by the G8,[9] G20, the OECD,[10] USAID,[11] and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.[12]

Structure

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The initiative is governed by Steering Committees that are chaired by the African Union Commission (AUC) and AU–NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) at the Africa-wide level and by Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) for each of the African sub-regions. The Steering Committees with representatives of the different CAADP stakeholders provide political and strategic guidance to ReSAKSS.

The regional nodes are housed at three Africa-based centers of the CGIAR: the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria; the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya; and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Pretoria, South Africa in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides the overall coordination across the three nodes.[3]

ReSAKSS and its regional and local components have received funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[13]

Criticism

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The CGIAR, whose member organizations host and manage ReSAKSS, and its donors, namely the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have been criticized for their connections to Western governments and multinational agribusiness for furthering a technology-driven agenda that favors large agribusiness at the expenses of small farmers.[14][15] However, many mainstream sources recognize CGIAR as having support of smallholders and poor farmers central to its mission.[16][17][18][19][20]

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ Global Donor Platform for Rural Development. ReSAKSS and CAADP, accessed June 29, 2012
  2. ^ CTA. ICT Update. Farmer services: Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System, accessed July 4, 2012
  3. ^ a b c ASARECA. 2009. PAAP Electronic Newsletter 12/19. 2009.
  4. ^ African Union. 2003. Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa (Assembly/AU/Decl. 7(II)). Adopted at the Second Ordinary Assembly of the African Union in July 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique.
  5. ^ World Bank: World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development
  6. ^ ACORD, ActionAid, Oxfam. 2011. Synthesis Report: The 1st Pan-Africa Non-State Actors (NSA) Policy Dialogue Meeting on CAADP
  7. ^ Johnson, Michael, and Kathleen Flaherty. 2008. Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support Systems (SAKSS): A Guidebook for Practitioners ReSAKSS Working Paper No. 4.
  8. ^ Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). 2009. Africa-wide Conference to Discuss Strategies to Boost Agricultural Development, accessed July 2, 2012
  9. ^ G8 Camp David Accountability Report: Actions, approach and results
  10. ^ Sustainable Agricultural Productivity Growth and Bridging the Gap for Small-family Farms: Interagency Report to the Mexican G20 Presidency
  11. ^ USAID. 2010. Feed the Future Implementation Plan 2010: Southern Africa
  12. ^ Heinrich Böll Foundation. 2009. High Commodity Prices – Who gets the Money? A Case Study on the Impact of High Food and Factor Prices on Kenyan Farmers
  13. ^ ReSAKSS Website: About Us, accessed June 29, 2012
  14. ^ SciDev Net. 2010. Are Gates and CGIAR a good mix for Africa?, accessed on July 4, 2012
  15. ^ Lobbywatch Profile CGIAR - Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, accessed on July 4, 2012
  16. ^ The Economist. (2-18-2012) “The nutrition puzzle: Why do so many people in poor countries eat so badly—and what can be done about it?” “Marie Ruel, of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, DC, ticks off some of the tasks: focus on the first 1,000 days of life (including pregnancy); scale up maternal-health programmes and the teaching of good feeding practices; concentrate on the poor; measure and monitor the problem.”
  17. ^ Tran, Mark. (2011-09-02) “Investment in pastoralists could help combat east Africa food crisis” The Guardian. "The ILRI, based in Nairobi, is a proponent of pastoralism and asserts that herding in dry areas makes better economic sense than irrigation."
  18. ^ The Economist (4-23-2000) “Biting the silver bullet” “CGIAR… help poor farmers”
  19. ^ New Agriculturist (1-2007) “Confronting the Challenges of Change” “The CGIAR has a very long and successful history of providing agricultural science for the benefit of poor people across the world, and that remains our core mission.”
  20. ^ New Agriculturist (1-2005) “The CGIAR: A Bridge to the Future?” “Tropical agriculture has benefited very significantly from the work of the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research)….the CGIAR's impact, since its founding in the 1970s, is an estimated US$9 return on every US$1 invested.”
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