Overview of the ATA

November 2011

Summary Presentation

January 2009: Prime Minster Meles meets with Melinda Gates and requests review of Ethiopia’s agriculture extension systems.

September 2009: Recommendation of extension diagnostic endorsed by PM. PM requests support for additional diagnostics in seeds, soils, irrigation, agricultural finance and key value chains

August 2010: Seven Diagnostics and integrated report submitted to Prime Minister.

August 2011: First Board meeting with Prime Minister and Transformation Council

December 2010: Council of Ministers pass federal regulation establishing Agriculture Transformation Agency

Jan 09 April 09 July 09 October 09 Jan 10 April 10 July 10 October 10 Jan 11 April 11 July 11 October 11

October 2010: Government decision to create an independent organization modeled after Taiwan and Korean “acceleration units”

The creation of the ATA is the result of a process that has lasted nearly two yearsThe creation of the ATA is the result of a process that has lasted nearly two years

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Support achievement of the Growth and Transformation Plan targets and sustainably improve the agriculture sector by:

– Supporting the MoA and other partners to make measurable and sustainable improvements to the prioritized program areas

– Building the problem solving, project management, and implementation capabilities of the MoA and broader agricultural sector for long term impact

• Leading problem solving efforts to facilitate identification of solutions to systemic bottlenecks

• Supporting implementation by providing project management, capability building, technical assistance and knowledge sharing, and

• Enhancing linkages and coordination among agricultural stakeholders in high priority areas to reach agreed upon milestones and objectives that transform the agriculture sector

• Clear, inclusive and widely consultative stakeholder engagement throughout the problem solving analysis and implementation support efforts

• Rigorous, objective, prioritized recommendations that are fact based and build on the diagnostics and other existing research

• Diverse staff bringing the best local and international analytical and technical expertise to bear on problem solving, implementation support and capability building

ATA’s high level objective, role and approachATA’s high level objective, role and approach

ObjectiveObjective

RoleRole

ApproachApproach

Ministry of Agriculture

Public sector

• Federal partners

• Regional partners

Civil society

• Local / intl. NGOs

• Local/intl. Research & academia

Dev Partners

• RED-FS

• Multi / bilaterals, foundations

Private sector

• Inputs, outputs and service providers

ATA’s partners ATA’s principles

• Strengthen the Ministry of Agriculture as the ATA’s primary partner

• Identify and strengthen the institutional capacity of partner organizations

• Align objectives with national targets for poverty reduction, food security and growth

• Ensure a strong and equitable regional focus in strategies and implementation support

• Act as a high performance change agent defined by strong analytics and stakeholder engagement

• Seek scalable solutions with tangible improvement in productivity and livelihoods of smallholder farmers

• Ensure an integrated approach to gender and the environment across all work areas

ATA fits within a set of complex partnersATA fits within a set of complex partners

Independent federal organization: Reports to a Transformation Council chaired by the Prime Minister and including Minister of Agriculture (Deputy), Minister of Finance, Minister of Water & Energy, DG of EIAR and Bureau heads of four largest regions

1

3 Specified time frame: while the ATA will aim for annual and five-year targets aligned with national plans, successful experiences from other countries suggests a 15-20 year time frame for change

4 Hybrid staffing model in initial years: the long-term view is for the ATA to be fully staffed by Ethiopian civil service, however, for at least the initial five-years a hybrid model of international staff, locally hired analysts/functional staff, and seconded “fellows” from the public sector will be needed

National organization but need to prioritize: as a new organization, the ATA will need to focus on priority set of systems, value-chains, and geographies (regions and woredas)

2

How does the ATA function?How does the ATA function?

Providetechnicalsupport

Coordinate activities &

partners

Provide catalytic funding

Lead imple-mentat

ion

Manageperformance

Engage stakeholders

Problem-solving

Two core areas of work Two core areas of work

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Summary PointsSummary Points

• Focus on systems change but must be grounded and benefit specific crops that are important to Ethiopia’s farmers

• Integrated approach will facilitate integration and coordination to achieve sectoral transformation

• Prioritized focus areas to ensure long term effectiveness and achieve sustainable results

• Key issues such as Gender and Technology Access & Adoption must inform, influence and catalyze all program activities

INPUT MARKETS

COOPERATIVES

OUTPUT MARKETS

EXTENSIONS

RESEARCH

SOIL

SEEDSWHEAT

LIVESTOCK

OILSEEDS

MAIZE

PULSES

RICE

TEF

TECHNOLOGYACCESS & ADOPTION

CLIMATE ADAPTATION

TECHNOLOGYACCESS & ADOPTION

ENVIRONMENTALSUSTAINABILITY

MEASUREMENTEVALUATION &

LEARNING

OILSEEDS

MAIZE

PULSES

RICE

MEASUREMENTEVALUATION &

LEARNING

Integrated Approach to the WorkIntegrated Approach to the Work