A new research and development intervention designed to contribute to building resilient communities in West and Central Africa is set to go operational soon.
Funded by the European Union and administered by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the Science led climate-relevant agricultural transformation in West and Central Africa (SISTA) will help CORAF and partners to leverage science, technologies, and innovations to advance food productivity targets agreed under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
SISTA is part of the Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) – an initiative of the European Union designed to deploy science and innovation to achieve an inclusive, sustainable, and climate-relevant transformation of agriculture and related food systems in partner countries across the globe.
Besides CORAF in Africa, there is a consortium of actors who have been mobilized to implement this program across the continent. This includes Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, FARA, the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services – AFAAS, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), and the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development Eastern and Southern Africa (CCARDESA).
The total amount of the four-year grant is roughly 30 million EUROs for all implementing partners with potential co-funding from IFAD as well as other organizations.
Overall, the goal of SISTA is to contribute to the implementation of Agenda 2030, particularly goals 2 (zero hunger), goal 5 (gender equality), goal 10 (reduce inequality) goal 12 (responsible consumption) and goal 13 (fight climate change) as well as 2063 Agenda of the African Union and the Malabo Declaration.
CORAF will be held accountable on five broad outcomes:
- The capacity to successfully implement the program;
- The ability to enhance multi-stakeholders’ collaboration across sectors, geographies and agricultural value chains;
- Developing and establishing policy, Advocacy, and Market Linkages;
- The ability to Use relevant knowledge and communication to support decision-making; And
- Effective planning, coordination, monitoring, evaluation, Learning (MEL) & Reporting