Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)
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ASARECA Secretariat
Plot 15 John Babiiha Road
P.O. Box 765, Entebbe – Uganda
Tel: 256 41 320212 Fax: 256 41 321126
Email: asareca@asareca.org
Description
The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) is a non-political organization of the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) of ten countries: Burundi, D. R. Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. ASARECA was established, following the approval of the "Framework for Action for Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa", by a meeting of stakeholders held in Kampala, Uganda, in November 1993. This stakeholders' meeting was attended by leaders of the NARIs and faculties of agricultural research, as well as representatives of development agencies active in agricultural research in the region. ASARECA's primary goal is to facilitate agricultural research in ECA that promotes agriculture oriented towards markets and income generation. It is the main forum where strategies and ideas for agricultural research and their relationship to agricultural development in the sub-region are conceived and exchanged.
The National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) that are members of ASARECA are: Burundi: Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU) ; DRC: Institut National Pour l'Etude et la Recherche Agronomiques (INERA) ; Eritrea: Department of Research and Human Resource Development (DARHRD); Ethiopia: Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR); Kenya: Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI); Madagascar: Centre National de Recherche Appliquée au Développement Rural (FOFIFA) ; Rwanda: Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda (ISAR) ; Sudan: Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC); Tanzania: Department of Research and Development (DRD); Uganda: National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO); Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC); Department for International Development (DFID); European Union (EU)–Delegation of the European Commission in the Republic of Uganda; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); The African Development Bank (AfDB); USAID Africa Bureau office of Sustainable Development (USAID/AFR-SD); and USAID/East Africa.
Track Record
ASARECA is an umbrella body linking the national agricultural research systems (NAROs) of ten Eastern and Central African countries and their partners. ASARECA currently manages 17 networks and programs working on key commodities as well as on policy and information.
ASARECA carries out its activities through 17 regional research networks, programs and projects (NPPs). Most of these NPPs focus on specific commodities (e.g. beans, bananas), while others deal with cross-commodity agricultural topics (e.g. post-harvest technology, biotechnology). Others focus on natural resources (e.g. land management, soil/water, plant genetic resources and trees), and two cut across all the above (i.e. policy, information).
- Demand driven technologies/ innovations generated and promoted.
- Enabling policy environment for agricultural transformation in the ECA.
- Regional and national capacity for implementing agricultural research in the IAR4D paradigm, strengthened.
- Availability of information on agricultural research and development enhanced.
The ASARECA-CGS was launched in 2004 as a research funding mechanism through which regional integrated agricultural research for development [IAR4D] projects are commissioned on a competitive basis. Successful applicants for CGS grants are selected through a process of transparent competition, to a fixed schedule with applications conforming to agreed formats, criteria and priorities. The CGS aims to sponsor creative, innovative, high quality regionally coordinated research that adds value to national programs. It is concerned with research results that address outcomes communicable to end-users and that enhance communication between researchers and end-users in the region.
A funding mechanism is in place to promote strategic agricultural research relevant for the Eastern and Central African region, with direct participation of the NARS of the countries of the region in priority setting and implementation of research projects.
In 1997, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) continued with its institutional development, including strengthening the coordination and supervision of ongoing collaborative sub-regional research programs and initiating new ones. At the pan-African level, ASARECA played a lead role in the formal establishment of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) during SPAAR Week 1997 in Bamako, Mali. The ASARECA Chairman and Secretariat had served as the interim Chairman and Secretariat for FARA, pending its establishment.
The organisation has facilitated a workshop on agricultural information policies and strategies involving agricultural research managers in the ASARECA sub-region. The objective has been to enable NARS leaders evaluate and adopt improved strategies in agricultural information. A proposed sub-regional project entitled "Integrated Information Program for Agricultural and Rural Development in Eastern and Central Africa", which has been submitted to the European Union (EU) for funding, will address most of the constraints identified at this workshop. ASARECA, with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and technical backstopping by SPAAR, launched the first issue of its quarterly newsletter, AgriForum. The newsletter covered highlights of ongoing and new research programs, national and sub-regional institutional developments and information about upcoming sub-regional activities. Another initiative of ASARECA in information and communication is the AfricaLink project, which links ASARECA members through email. The project, which is funded by USAID and managed by the International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), has made considerable progress in 1997.
ASARECA has established important contacts with sub-regional political organizations, namely the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the East African Cooperation (EAC). It has been recommended that ASARECA develop Memoranda of Understanding with these two regional political organizations.
The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) is devoted to enhancing the productivity, value add and competitiveness of the regional agricultural system to help increase economic growth and improve social welfare while enhancing the quality of the environment in Eastern and Central Africa.
The ASARECA is helping to rationalize and harmonize policies and standards in East Africa’s dairy industry to benefit the poorest milk producers, marketers and consumers. Starting in 2005 and working through its program for agricultural policy analysis (ECAPAPA), ASARECA has actively dialogued with the dairy boards of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda to develop a harmonized training and certification scheme for the region’s small milk traders.
ASARECA provides a forum for consultation and information exchange on the constraints to agricultural production in the region and laying out strategies to overcome the constraints through regional collaborative research. It also aims at establishing a regional strategy for the development and management of human resources and identifying and promoting the adoption of best practices in technology development and transfer, including the exchange of germplasm among its members and stakeholders.
Challenges
Agriculture looms large in national economies throughout Eastern and Central Africa, accounting for roughly 40 percent of regional gross domestic product (GDP). Agricultural productivity growth, however, has stagnated in recent years. Average yields for most crops fall below levels elsewhere in Africa. In most countries of Eastern and Central Africa, agricultural growth has not kept pace with population growth. Given that the bulk of the region’s population resides in rural areas and depends on agriculture for income and sustenance, hunger and malnutrition have deepened in recent years. The countries of Eastern and Central Africa are, therefore, progressively less able to meet the needs of their populations.
Opportunities
While there is now widespread acceptance of the need for Impact Assessment (IA) of agricultural research, its implementation is limited. Problems have been identified with regard to methodology, institutional capacity and organizational learning. By realizing the potential of regional cooperation, the workshop aimed to improve the implementation of Impact Assessment of Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa.
