Summary Recommendations from Plenary

6th Africa Agriculture Science weekAccra, 15-20 July 2013

Subtheme 1: Education and Human Resource Development to enable

Africa feed Africa

1) Invest in wider systems and institutional capacity development for agricultural innovation and document evidence of impact

2) Create critical mass of context-relevant agricultural professionals and ‘agri-preneurs’ through an appropriate mix of tertiary and middle level education and technical and vocational training

Subtheme 1: Education and Human Resource Development to enable

Africa feed Africa

3) Inter-connect platforms and networks to enhancejoint planning, implementation, resource mobilization and leveraging strengths

4) Support uptake of new initiatives, new technologies and policy for sustainable capacity development that mainstream gender and youth

Subtheme 2: Innovations to improve productivity and resilience

5) Mainstream the IAR4D into ARD structure through increasing awareness , policy and capacity development.

6) Technological innovation needs to give attention to issues of postharvest, agricultural-nutrition nexus and sustainable water and nutrient use.

7) Wheat is an important commodity in Africa, as such there is a need to support the establishment of an Africa led partnership mechanism for coordinating and managing wheat initiative in Africa.

Subtheme 2 Innovations to improve productivity and resilience

8) The Science Agenda discussions need to broaden the consultations to involve the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIS) and the various science based networks; it also needs to develop a funding mechanism.

9) The foresight tool is very vital for sustainability and for the future of ARD in Africa. There is however need for capacity building

Subtheme 2 Innovations to improve productivity and resilience

10) Develop capacity and increase investments for sustainable livestock, crop, land use intensification, aquatic agricultural systems and EverGreen Agriculture for increased agricultural productivity and resilience

11) Formulate guidelines and approaches for the implementation of climate smart agriculture at national and regional level

Subtheme 3 Moving beyond competition to collaboration

13) Leverage on the improvements in ICT awareness and infrastructure in Africa to build strong partnership among all players for improved delivery of services and enable innovation in AR4D.

14) Bridge the gap between policy pronouncements and implementation by national governments through strong advocacy by CAADP implementation agencies to guarantee effective AR4D programme.

Subtheme 4 Innovative Financing and Investment in Agriculture

15) Proven initiatives (i.e Innovative Fund for Agricultural Transformation (IFAT)) that leverage investments in agriculture should be promoted and out-scaled to other countries.

16) Public and private sector investments should focus on youth oriented initiatives that would make agriculture more attractive to the youth.

Subtheme 4 Innovative Financing and Investment in Agriculture

16) FARA and its partners should develop evidence-based tools to support investment decisions in agriculture e.g. studies on total factor productivity (TFP) to determine the potential contribution of each factor of production.

17) Innovative financing options provided by ICTs such as Mobile Money Transfer and Google Farmer should be promoted.