Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)

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    Country level (Kenya) third-party projects supervisory/monitoring mission: Back to office report
    (FARA, 2023-12) FARA
    Prompted by problems found in an earlier Uganda mission, and because third-party projects hold 65% of AIRTEA's budget, FARA and EAFF visited the Kenyan projects to check technical and financial compliance with approved work plans and contracts and to resolve conflicts. The team met lead institutions, visited beneficiaries and held debriefings with TPP004 (Koppert), TPP001 (JKUAT), TPP008 (University of Nairobi), TPP010 (Cooperative Alliance of Kenya) and TPP009 (KeFAAS), and reported on the TPP003 potato site in Nyandarua. Projects were generally on track: hybrid solar fish dryers were working, certified potato seed and drought-tolerant maize had reached farmers, cassava processors were linked to growers, and digital connectors had started businesses. Weaknesses included financial reporting gaps (no malfeasance found) and "IPs" that were really farmer groups. Lessons call for routine meetings, financial reporting training and regular backstopping.
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    AIRTEA Project Implementation Plan
    (FARA, 2021-08) ASARECA, EAFF, FARA
    The Project Implementation Plan sets out how the consortium and its stakeholders, including the OACPS and the EU, will deliver AIRTEA's objective of sustainable agrarian livelihoods and rural transformation in East Africa through inclusive research and innovation. It restates the project's theory of change: a research–policy interface creating a conducive policy environment for knowledge exchange, technology transfer and business development. The plan gives an indicative half-yearly work plan for Year 1 and a work plan for the following years, organized by task and activity across the four work packages: institutionalizing innovation platforms and virtual research–user platforms (WP1); collective learning and capacity development of women and youth as advisory service providers (WP2); Agribusiness Learning Alliances and agribusiness incubation (WP3); and partnerships, governance, calls for proposals, communication and M&E (WP4). Each activity names its implementing body and timing.
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    AIRTEA agribusiness and private sector training workshop: Consultancy to test Agribusiness Learning Alliances (ABLA) proof of concept towards enhancing the economic value derived from innovation platforms
    (FARA, 2024-06) Buruchara, Robin
    FARA held a three-day agribusiness workshop in Nairobi with 33 participants from the consortium, third-party projects, IP facilitators and private-sector partners. It combined two days of agribusiness training to support ABLAs with a one-day business consultative forum on mentorship and innovative financing for agricultural research businesses, and engaged projects in identifying women and youth to train as business development support personnel. Sessions covered the IP concept and its gaps, agribusiness opportunities, gap analysis and action planning per project, and a synthesis of a FARA learning event. Conclusions ask digital extension projects (TPP004, TPP007 and TPP009) to extend services to more IPs, and call for a central support platform for IP leaders, simpler training materials, direct market links, reporting of unexpected outcomes, and FARA–ASARECA action plans and tools to assess IP functionality and maturity.
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    Agribusiness Learning Alliance (ABLA) toolkit: For business development in agriculture research for development
    (FARA, 2024) FARA
    The toolkit explains how Agribusiness Learning Alliances build on innovation platforms to drive commercialization of agricultural research technologies, with emphasis on women, youth and persons with disability. It introduces agricultural innovation systems and the IP concept, then sets out the three steps for establishing an ABLA (connect, co-create, capacity). Further chapters cover business development services in agriculture; policy, regulation and standards; and operational guiding principles such as partnerships, multidisciplinary teams, and planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning. It closes with a checklist for planning interventions along a value chain node.
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    Proceedings of the AIRTEA project closeout and capitalization meeting: Final capitalization and evaluation meeting
    (FARA, 2026) EAFF, FARA
    As the first phase of AIRTEA ended, the consortium met to synthesize evidence from its pilots, assess progress against results frameworks, and prepare scaling proposals for a possible AIRTEA II. The meeting brought together 61 participants (40 men, 21 women) from the eleven third-party projects, the FARA–ASARECA–EAFF consortium, value-chain partners and the OACPS Research and Innovation Technical Assistance Unit; the guest of honour was the Acting Director General of KALRO. Methods included TPP results presentations, pitch sessions with expert panel review, clinics on theory of change, impact pathways and resource mobilization, and peer learning. Outcomes were refined scaling concepts for all eleven projects, draft outlines for an AIRTEA II proposal, stronger theories of change, and agreed schedules for reporting, audits and asset handover. Lessons stress quantified impact, private-sector engagement, institutionalizing IPs beyond project cycles, and co-financing.
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    Scaling the delivery of digital agriculture tools to enhance adaptation to a changing climate: Experiences and lessons learned from Uganda
    (ASARECA, FARA, 2025-08) Okonya, Joshua Sikhu; Luzobe, Beatrice; Antwi, Kwaku Dei
    This brief presents lessons from the AIRTEA DC4FC project, which trained and equipped ten youth digital connectors to provide fee-based, climate-smart advisory services, inputs and market links to nearly 10,000 members of two innovation platforms in Luweero and Bugiri. Connectors mainly use WhatsApp, which works for non-literate members through audio and video, to offer subsidized weather-index insurance, solar irrigation, drought-tolerant seed, soil testing, machinery hire, post-harvest services and produce aggregation. Moderation by not-for-profit organizations builds trust, and assured off-take raises production. Barriers include distrust of pre-payment, reluctance to pay for services, and side-selling against contracts. Policy recommendations cover digital literacy for women and people over 35, phones on credit, rural connectivity, zero-rated agricultural content, ROI models for private extension, seed capital for youth agritech, and tax incentives.
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    Digital Connection for Farming Communities (Uganda)
    (AFAAS, 2025) AFAAS, UFAAS
    The brief reports a district policy dialogue and innovation platform needs assessment held in Luwero and Bugiri with civil servants, politicians, technical staff, farmers, farmer organizations and financial institutions. Participants reviewed national policies relevant to digital extension, including the National Strategy for Youth Employment (2017), the ICT Policy (2014), the MAAIF ICT strategy for agriculture (2019–2023) and Vision 2040, and found that they support the digital connectors model. Uptake of e-extension remains low because of the cost of devices, internet and electricity, poor rural networks, limited digital skills and weak collaboration between NGOs, government and research. Recommendations include capacity building for digital connectors and farmers, cheaper rural electricity, subsidized ICT devices and digitally accessed inputs, lower taxes on internet services, digital hubs and multi-stakeholder platforms.
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    Harnessing multi-stakeholder innovation platforms for knowledge transfer and aquaculture value chain development in Uganda
    (Abi ZARDI, 2025) Abi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Abi ZARDI), National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO)
    Aquaculture supplies 22% of Uganda's fish production but is held back by poor access to extension, inputs, post-harvest facilities and markets, and by disease and weak value-chain coordination. The project surveyed aquaculture stakeholders across Uganda's nine agro-ecological zones and set up nine zonal innovation platforms and one national platform linking farmers, hatchery operators, traders, extension workers, researchers, input suppliers, local leaders and financial institutions. Farmers ranked high feed cost and poor feed quality as their main constraint; extension officers cited under-funding, and financial institutions cited poor farm records. The brief recommends standardized record-keeping tools promoted by MAAIF, public–private partnerships for extension and research, training on quality feed and fingerling production (including black soldier fly as a fishmeal substitute), and farmer awareness through extension and social networks.
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    Report of the AIRTEA Third-Party Kick-off Meeting, Nairobi, 28th March – 1st April 2022
    (FARA, 2022) FARA
    The five-day kick-off meeting launched implementation of AIRTEA's eleven third-party projects. It aimed to build a shared vision of the project, review EC/OACPS contracting and reporting rules, strengthen the projects' logical frameworks and the overall M&E framework, revise Year 1 work plans and budgets, explain communication and visibility requirements, and let the KCB Foundation present co-financing opportunities. The report summarizes opening speeches by the leaders of FARA, ASARECA, EAFF, the OACPS Technical Assistance Unit, the KCB Foundation and Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture. It records each project's presentation with participants' comments, plus sessions on M&E, fiduciary rules, ABLA and communication strategy. Agreed actions included revised logframes, work plans and budgets by 15 April 2022, contracts by 30 April 2022, consortium agreements and project fact sheets.
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    Final report on Agribusiness Learning Alliances workshop: Feedback and recommendations from stakeholders
    (FARA, 2024-03) Buruchara, Robin
    AIRTEA found that private-sector involvement in its innovation platforms was weak, and adopted the Agribusiness Learning Alliance (ABLA) approach to co-create business solutions and strengthen entrepreneurship in third-party projects. This report consolidates stakeholder feedback from three activities used to build an ABLA proof of concept: a brainstorming meeting in Accra (28–29 August 2023), a baseline assessment of AIRTEA projects, and the Agribusiness and Private Sector Engagement training workshop (17–19 October 2023). It traces the approach to FARA's IAR4D concept and PABRA's demand-led bean model. Consolidated recommendations call for a stronger commercial focus with off-takers and financiers, business-skills training, structured knowledge exchange, strategic partnerships, an M&E framework built on the baseline, policy advocacy for private-sector engagement, support tailored to IP maturity, stakeholder mapping, clearer governance, and incentives for commercialization.