TAAT AARP presentation by Irene Annor Frempong at the "Effective and Efficient Research and Innovation Partnerships" seminar on March 14, 2017, AUC Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2. Emerging Initiatives in African Agriculture:
Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)
Africa Agricultural Research Program (AARP)
Irene Annor-Frempong (PhD)
Director, Research and Innovation, FARA

3. Background
Growing Challenges
One-third of all calories consumed in Africa is
imported, US $77 billion per year
Poverty is widespread; 49% of Africans fall below
the $1.25 per day
Youth bulge: 400-800 million young people; 40-
60% unemployed
Underdeveloped markets (input/output) & weak
VCs

4. Background…
Striking/widespread low agricultural productivity
Africa lags behind other regions in agricultural total
factor productivity (TFP) growth; around 1%, below
population growth rate (2.5%)
30% of crop & livestock farmers are non-commercial,
another 20-30% are semi-commercial, while 30-40% are
commercial; solutions are needed for all these
categories of famers
Growing Challenges 2/2

5. Import Competition
Source:
FAOSTAT
Total African Agricultural Trade Values, billions of constant 2005 US$
Background…
TAAT Workshop, 12-14 April, 2016

6. 1. Power and Light Up Africa
2. Feed Africa
3. Industrialize Africa
4. Integrate Africa
5. Improve Quality of Life of Africans
AfDB’s Strategic Response - AfDB’s “High 5” Priorities

7. Goals (Developmental outcomes) of the Feed Africa Initiative
(2025)
Eliminate extreme poverty
End hunger and malnutrition
Turn Africa into a net food exporter
Move Africa to the top of
global value chains
A
B
C
D

8. Thinking on context and solutions to usher in Agricultural
Transformation in Africa
Modified Dalberg analysis
Agenda 2063 (AU):
Landmark piece indicating
the AU’s and its member
states’ agenda to focus on
inclusive growth, political
and economic integration,
and sustainable
agriculture.
CAADP (NEPAD):
Inclusive and
government-driven
framework for allowing
countries to commit to
sustainable agricultural
development policies.
Feeding Africa (AfDB): High-
level conference organized to
share most up-to-date thinking
on context and solutions to
agriculture and to inform the
subsequent Agricultural
Transformation Agenda (Dakar,
Oct. 2015).
Sustainable
Development Goals
(UN): Major focus within
SDG and the previous
MDGs on eliminating
hunger, rural poverty,
and a variety of other
challenges linked to the
agriculture sector.COP 21 (UN): Develop
sustainable, resilient
and climate-smart
agriculture and
improve access to
climate finance to
build adaption and
mitigation measures
TAAT: Mobilization of the
output of science and
research for real impact on
the ground
S3A: Mobilization
the power of
science to deliver
sustainable
agricultural growth
in African countries
AARP: Research
program to support
TAAT commodities and
value chain

9. Transformation & Sustained Inclusive Growth of Agriculture
1
Increased
agriculture
production
and
productivity
2
Better functioning
national agric. and
food markets &
increased intra/
inter–regional trade
3
Expanded
local agro-
industry and
value
addition
4
Improved management
and governance of
natural resources for
sustainable agricultural
production
Outcomes: Wealth creation & poverty reduction; Improved
Food and Nutrition Security, Resilience; and Environmental
sustainability
Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A)
STISA &
Agenda
2063
Alignment of TAAT with S3A , STISA and CAADP RF

10. What is TAAT all about ?
Scaling proven technologies & innovations
Fine-tuning of promising research findings
Moving - Concept to Investment
Operations
Modernizing farming in Africa targeting 8
VCs

11. Objectives of TAAT
 Scale up ‘proven’ technologies & innovations
 Contribute in engendering transformation needed to
address the background context and stem these from
worsening
 Create widespread and real impact on the ground and in
many realms – Productivity, Food security, Market
access, Income, Etc.
 Assist AfDB’s RMCs to derive greater value from
agricultural produce

12. Vision of Success for TAAT Value Chain
1. Achieving self-sufficiency in African rice production
2. Intensifying cassava production and agro-processing
3. Achieving food security in Sahel, emphasis on sorghum, millet,
livestock (Three key commodities)
4. Transforming Africa's savannas into bread baskets, emphasis
on maize, soybean, dairy, poultry, & beef (Five key commodities)
5. Restoring and expanding plantations of three high value export
crops, cocoa, coffee & cashew (Three key commodities)
6. Expanding horticulture, particularly vegetables, dessert
bananas and bio-fortified sweet potatoes (Three key
commodities at least)
7. Reducing Africa's massive importation of wheat;
8. Achieving self-sufficiency of inland fish production through
aquaculture

13. TAAT Workshop, 12-14 April, 2016
Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)

14. Prospect of Investing in the eight VCs
Priority VC Production
increase /yr by
2025 (Billion tons)
Investment
required (US $
Billion)
Returns
(US $
Billion)
B/C
ratio
Self-sufficiency_rice pdn 77.0 22.0 61.0 2.8:1
Cassava intensification 214.0 11.0 27.0 2.4:1
Sahel food production:
Crop 47.0 10.6 27.0 2.5:1
Red meat 3.0
Savanna transformation 31.0 14.0 54.0 3.8:1
Renovating plantations 3.2 4.1 20.0 4.8:1
Expanding Horticulture 118.0 14.0 85.0 6.2:1
Africa’s Wheat production 30.0 3.7 15.0 4.1:1
Fish farming 2.0 3.1 16.0 5.3:1

15. Target & Coverage in terms of Agro-Ecologies & CG Centers

16. TAAT Clearinghouse
The Clearinghouse brings under one roof the Bank’s
five "Is“ for Agriculture Transformation:
Incentives
Infrastructure
Innovation
Institutional capacity &
Investment

17. TAAT Clearinghouse
M&E within the Clearinghouse operates at four basic
levels:
 CG Centers to underline their ability to adjust & deliver
technology intervention demands of AfDB & its RMCs
 Feed Africa Clearinghouse to underline its effectiveness
in delivery of technologies offered by CG Centers and
the impact at country level
 AfDB Country Officers & RMCs to examine & report how
effectively they react to the range of technologies and
services being offered to them by these CG Centers via
the C-House
 Country Project level to track investments & technology
interventions and deployment at this level

18. Partnership and TAAT
 Critical (embracing all relevant stakeholders)
 Apart from CG Centers, their partners, & FARA, other
partners involved/to be involved must be listed
 Partner(s) responsible for each listed activity should be
clearly identified
 All major partners should clearly indicate if they have roles
to play within VC, indicate the role in clear terms, and what it
needs to effectively deliver the role
 Which institutions in Africa are contributing to developing
technologies that are relevant under each VC (difficult for
some VCs, simple for others)?
 May consider a TAAT partnership platform/forum (probably
for coordination purposes)
TAAT Workshop, 12-14 April, 2016

19. Private sector & TAAT
Mobilization of a well-funded private
sector capable of scaling (up & out)
emergent agribusiness successes is one
of the four main features of successful
transformations
By so doing, the private sector drives
long-term sustainable agribusiness
growth TAAT Workshop, 12-14 April, 2016

20. FARA & TAAT
FARA Activities in TAAT:
 Leadership in capacity dev’t - grassroots to
policymakers
 Organizing/assisting in design/implementation
of outreach campaigns
 Advocacy in support of TAAT priorities &
actions, & in support of the larger ATA, and
 Intermediation with other organizations/
initiatives, e.g, SROs

21. AARP
Africa
Agricultural
Research
Program
Is a strategic research
program to complement
the Technologies for
African Agricultural
Transformation (TAAT)
program by providing by
providing a pipeline of
technologies to drive a
sustainable agricultural
transformation agenda

22. Implementation of the AARP
National agricultural research systems (NARS) shall be the main
implementation actors working in partnership with CGIAR
centres, international agricultural research institutions,
advanced research institutions (public and private) & SROs +
FARA.
– Definition of roles shall be guided by the subsidiarity principle and
comparative advantage.
– Research partners in TAAT PIAs and value chains shall have leading
roles in implementation of research for respective domains
– The strengthening of capacities (human and physical) of NARS
primarily as well as SROs and FARA to perform their roles effectively
and sustainably is a key feature of AARP

23. Implementation of the AARP …2/
• Implementation shall draw on collective actions:
– sharing of science capacities across countries through,
for example, African centres of excellence (hence
attention to building excellence in selected institutions)
– sharing of knowledge and information (taking full
advantage of ICT)
– mobility of expertise across countries.
• This move to build critical mass is intended to
overcome the fragmentation in Africa’s agricultural
research landscape.

24. Implementation strategy
• Continental research programmes to address constraints and
opportunities in each value chain shall be inclusively developed
based on national priorities, regional priorities and trans-
boundary issues
• Similarly regional and sub regional Enabler research programmes
shall also be developed
• Lead institutions to develop and spearhead implementation of
these programmes shall be objectively and transparently selected
during programme preparation
• These programmes will then be domesticated at country level
into AARP research projects

25. African Development
Bank
FARA AARP Coordination
unit
Sub regional AARP
coordination units
PIA/value chain research
lead institutions
Enabler Research lead
institutions
Country AARP PIA/value
chain research projects
Enabler research
projects
Country AARP Coordination
team/unit
Coordination, Advocacy,
Communication Governance, M&E
Regional/ Sub
regional enabler
projects

26. AARP conceptual framework

27. Conclusion
• TAAT and AARP are complementary research and
development program developed to foster the
development of Africa agricultural through
technologies.
• The two initiatives clearly build on existing continental
frameworks and seeks implementation at the country
level.
• Sustainable intensification is an important research
theme to Africa agriculture.
• The outputs from PROIntensAfrica offers good
knowledge source for the implementation of TAAT and
AARP.

28. THANK YOU