The document discusses the development of an open agricultural data system in Africa aimed at enhancing technology impact assessments for agricultural investment plans in alignment with the Malabo Declaration goals. It outlines a framework that integrates various analytical tools and models to evaluate the feasibility and impacts of agricultural technologies, alongside strengthening the analytical capabilities of local partners. The initiative leverages regional partnerships and aims to facilitate evidence-based decision-making to improve food security and productivity across African nations.

1. Scientific & Technical
Partnerships in Africa
An Open Agricultural Data
System and Analytics
Framework for Systematic
Ex-Ante Technology Impact
Assessment
Case Studies
In 2017, many African countries are on course
to finalize the second generation of National
Agricultural Investment Plans, aligning their
agricultural transformation agenda with the food
security targets defined in the Malabo Declaration
– including the goal of doubling productivity by
2025. Building on Technology Platform’s technical
partnership with Sub-Regional Organizations
(SROs: ASARECA, CORAF/WECARD, and CCARDESA),
three country-level ex-ante technology impact
assessment studies are being developed to: 1)
assess the feasibility of doubling productivity of
major agricultural commodities in study countries, 2)
assess the role of selected technologies for achieving
the targets and their current and potential adoption
levels, and 3) formulate enabling policy interventions
to help countries to achieve the Malabo target.
These case studies use IFPRI’s ex-ante bioeconomy
modeling framework and technology adoption data
from primary and secondary sources. Country-specific
adoption constraints will be identified through
regression analyses and used to formulate key policy
recommendations to address them. The nationally
targeted activities will also work to strengthen the
analytical capacity of partners and enhance their use
of certain tools and technologies in moving forward.
Further information
Kerri Wright Platais | k.w.platais@cgiar.org
Program Head, Scientific and Technical Partnerships in Africa
Cultivating Science in Agriculture through Partnerships
IFPRI, April, 2017
Acknowledgements
IFPRI is pleased to acknowledge the following contributions to the Scientific
and Technical Partnerships in Africa brief on the Technology Platform.
Scientific and technical contributors: Jawoo Koo, Katherine Downie and Kerri
Wright Platais, IFPRI.
Editor, S&T Partnerships in Africa briefs: Gabrielle Persley, Doyle Foundation.
Design: Eric Ouma and Kamau Wanyoike.
Photo credits: Shutterstock.
The development of the Technology Platform has been supported by USAID
and the CGIAR Policy, Institutions and Markets (PIM) program. The three
Case Studies on country level, ex ante technology impact assessments are
supported by IFAD and PIM.
The financial support of the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) and the CGIAR Program on Policies, Markets and
Institutions (PIM) to this program is gratefully acknowledged
SEED PRODUCTION
Figure 2 Rice Impact Pathway

2. Introduction
Recent progress in rapid data collection methods and analytics has
widened access to new datasets and research tools that were not
readily available to the research community and policy practitioners in
the past. For agricultural development, we envision policy analysts and
decision makers will soon be able to self-analyze potential tradeoffs of
various strategic investment and policy options, while monitoring the
sector performance and overall food security status at near real-time.
The Technology Platform aims to provide a comprehensive, robust, and
systematic basis for evaluating potential impacts of strategic investment
on research and development of agricultural technologies with a range
of commodities, geographic focuses, beneficiary groups, and adoption
potentials and help prioritizing the options in the context of achieving
development goals at country and regional levels.
IFPRI’s Technology Platform is a technical partnership, providing data and
analytical assistance for strategic partners to improve data collection and
management, increase evidences and knowledge on technology impacts,
and create an analytical environment to enable better strategic investment
planning for achieving food security targets and goals. The Platform has two
layers of the face-to-face investment decision processes at the country and
regional levels and the virtual information platform that provides data and
analytical tools. The Platform-generated data and tools have been widely
used in agricultural development initiatives and research.
Research Framework
and Components
Synergizing the strengths of interdisciplinary research themes
at IFPRI and with other research partners, the Technology
Platform team coordinates and implements an analytical
framework including a suite of ex-ante modeling tools,
capable of assessing agricultural research and development
investment impacts on technologies and policy options at
multiple levels, building on the geospatial data systems and
impact pathway analysis.
1. DATA SYSTEMS for spatial characterization of farming
landscape. IFPRI’s granular, geospatial baseline indicator
database serves >700 data layers spatio-temporally
harmonized across four thematic topics of agroecology,
production, demographic and health, and markets.
2. IMPACT PATHWAY MODELING for identifying effective
entry points of intervention. Impact pathway narrative
and the accompanying theory of change help deciding
the most effective entry points for the investment
and policy options, as well as identifying the system-
monitoring datasets and their measurement strategy.
3. BIOPHYSICAL MODELING of technology impacts on the
field-level productivity. IFPRI’s grid-based crop modeling
platform uses DSSAT Cropping System Model to simulate
crop growth and yields on 5 arc-minute (10 km) grids
over the Africa South of Sahara (SSA). The platform
integrates HarvestChoice’s grid-level geospatial data
layers and simulates crop productivity changes under
various what-if scenarios of changes in agroecological
conditions and farmers’ management practices.
4. BIOECONOMY MODELING of technology impacts on
the farm-level profitability. Using the site-specifically
estimated technology’s potential impacts, a suite of
bioeconomic modeling analyses is applied to assess in-
depth look of technology adoption implications on the
resilience and profitability at micro- and macro-level.
5. EX-ANTE MODELING of technology adoption on
subnational-level economy. IFPRI’s ex-ante research and
development impact evaluations uses DREAM (Dynamic
Research Evaluation for Management) model to help
deciding priority value chains and tradeoffs amongst
technology investment options for the country-level
targets.
6. FORESIGHT MODELING of technology impacts on
the national and regional economy. IFPRI’s IMPACT
(International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural
Commodities and Trade) is a linked foresight modeling
framework that finds equilibrium prices that clear
world markets, equating projected supply and demand
across all commodities, as well as the measures of food
availability, changes in gross revenue to farmers, water
use, land use change, and the estimates of welfare
measures such as supply of nutrients, population at risk
of hunger, and numbers of malnourished children in
each country.
Activity Clusters
Technology Platform has two clusters of key activities:
1. The Platform team coordinates with regional and
country-level initiatives to participate in the face-
to-face decision-making platforms and provide
technical inputs for facilitating evidence-based
informed discussion and capacity strengthening
activities for building in-country/region self-
assessment capability. The team also actively
participates and provides input to the National
Agricultural Investment Plan (NAIP) Appraisal
Processes, including participation in the consultation
meetings and providing training workshops.
2. The Platform provides a virtual information platform,
a decision-supporting platform that provides data and
analytical tools for evaluating potential investment
impacts. The Platform-generated knowledge products,
including harmonized data and analytical tools
have been widely used in agricultural research and
development initiatives, such as training courses
at academic institutions, grant proposal writings,
and agricultural investment strategy developments.
More than 100 published journal articles were found
using the Platform’s data in their academic studies
for geospatial targeting, hotspot mapping, clustering
analysis, and spatially-explicit agroecological and
economic modeling.
Figure 1 Conceptual Framework: Impact Pathway for Supporting Investment Decision Making Process
An Open Agricultural Data System and Analytics Framework
for Systematic Ex-Ante Technology Impact Assessment
Scientific & Technical Partnerships in Africa