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Feed the Future Developing Local Extension Capacity (DLEC) Project Regional Community of Practice Convening with RESCAR-AOC

24-25 June 2019 Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Theme: The Future of Agricultural Advisory Services in West and Central Africa: Evidence and New Directions Objective of Event: The ultimate aim is to improve agricultural advisory services in the region through:

• Sharing results and recommendations of various evidence on advisory services in the region • Agreeing on priority areas to take up at national and regional levels • Developing ideas for partnerships to take up priority areas

Background Agricultural advisory services play a crucial role in knowledge brokering and facilitation of interactions between actors and stakeholders of agricultural innovation systems. Advisory services are meant to provide adequate and customized support (access to innovation and technologies, capacity building, facilitation, support to decision-making processes) to value chain actors. They facilitate not only the identification and expression of demands for agricultural knowledge, innovations and technologies, but also the participatory development and efficient use of solutions. In West and Central Africa, efficient agricultural advisory services are essential for the achievement of increasing and unprecedented efforts undertaken at country and regional levels to make agriculture more productive, profitable and sustainable. This requires that various stakeholders involved have a good knowledge and consideration of recent and ongoing evolution, but also emerging challenges and opportunities and shape accordingly agenda for advisory services the near future in West and Central Africa.

The Feed the Future Developing Local Extension Capacity (DLEC) project measurably improves extension programs, policies, and services by creating locally-tailored, partnership-based solutions and by mobilizing active communities of practice to advocate for scaling proven approaches. DLEC conducts diagnostics in Feed the Future countries to evaluate the advisory services ecosystem, providing insight into the strengths and challenges faced by the national extension systems. The diagnostics also review the extent to which the system is market-oriented, how the system engages different communities, including youth and women, and how it supports overall livelihood strategies of farmers. During 2016-2018, diagnostics were conducted in five West African countries: Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal. These were shared at the 2018 GFRAS Annual Meeting at a side event convened with RESCAR-AOC and CIRAD.

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Concurrently, a consortium involving CIRAD, Inter-reseaux, IRAM, and CER-France and funded by AFD conducted a study to generate elements for the new AFD agricultural advisory services strategy. Furthermore, raising the responsiveness of agricultural advisory services is one of the key focus of the West and Central Africa Network of Agricultural and Rural Advisory Services (RESCAR-AOC). In line with its vision “Effective agricultural and rural advisory services mobilized in line with demand to facilitate sustainable development in West and Central Africa,” RESCAR-AOC has partnered with DLEC to take action on the findings of recent diagnostics on advisory services in the region. The aim is to build multi-actor regional initiatives for capacity development and reshaping of advisory services, leading to a sustainable improvement of their essential contribution in facilitating positive changes and innovations required for agricultural value chains with higher technical, economic and environmental performances in West and Central Africa. Structure The one-and-a-half-day meeting will take place in partnership with RESCAR-AOC, AFAAS, ANADER and GFRAS and it will be linked to several related events: a meeting on RESCAR-AOC working groups, a meeting of Master Trainers on the New Extensionist Learning Kit, and a regional AFAAS meeting under the Last Mile Programme. The DLEC-RESCAR meeting will have three main sessions:

1. Overview of recent findings the status, challenges, and opportunities for advisory services in West and Central Africa

2. Pathways for the transformation of advisory services in West and Central Africa with a focus on outlining and operationalizing recommendations for capacity development in the region

3. Way forward and strategies to keep the momentum generated by the convening going Participants will include funding and implementing partners of agricultural advisory services, directors of extension, country forum members, and resource persons on advisory services and related institutions from the region and beyond. About the Conveners DLEC. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded DLEC to target Feed the Future countries to measurably improve extension programs, policies and services by creating locally-tailored, partnership-based solutions and by mobilizing active communities of practice to advocate for scaling proven approaches. The five-year (2016-2021) project is designed to diagnose, test and share best-fit solutions for agricultural extension systems and services across the Feed the Future countries. Led by Digital Green in partnership with Care International, the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services, DLEC is an action-oriented, evidence-based learning project that generates evidence through diagnostic studies and engagement activities, which in turn are used as a catalyst for mobilizing global and country-level communities of practice to advocate for improved EAS.

RESCAR-AOC. The West and Central Africa Network of Agricultural and Rural Advisory Services (RESCAR-AOC) aims to bring together all actors of the agricultural advisory services. RESCAR-AOC provides a unique framework to ARAS actors to strengthen their capacities, share and learn from their experiences, harness synergies to address challenges and opportunities for higher and efficient harnessing

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of the potential of ARAS in the elaboration and implementation of agricultural development policies. For investors and development agencies, RESCAR-AOC is an interface to interact more efficiently with professionals of agricultural advisory services and improve development initiatives. RESCAR-AOC places its activities in the context of coordinated efforts for an accelerated and inclusive transformation of African agriculture. RESCAR-AOC is a member of the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) and do adhere to principles of subsidiarity for activities conducted at global, continental or national levels. www.rescar-aoc.org Proposed Agenda

DAY 1: 24th JUNE, 2019

Time Activities 8h30 – 9h00

Registration and installation of participants Organizing committee

Session 1: Official Opening and Framing of the Convening

9h00 – 9h30

1.1/ Introduction of participants, presentation of the objectives and agenda Convening facilitator

1.2/ Welcome and opening remarks Dr Sidiki Cissé, Director General of ANADER

1.3/ Regional context and RESCAR-AOC strategy overview Dr Patrice Djamen, Facilitator of RESCAR-AOC

1.4/ Background from USAID/DLEC Dr Kristin Davis, Co-Director of DLEC and Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI

1.5/ Official launching The Minister of Agriculture or his Representative

Session 2: Recent Evidence on the Status, Challenges, and Opportunities for Agricultural Advisory Services in West and Central Africa

9h30-10h30

2.1/ Synthesis of DLEC diagnostic assessments in the region (15 min) Dr Kristin Davis, Co-Director of DLEC and Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI

2.2/ Overview of results of the AFD strategy study (15 min) Dr Guy Faure, Director of the Joint Research Unit on Innovation, CIRAD (tbc.)

2.3/ Overview of the PAIRED Program of CORAF (15 min) Dr Hippolyte Affognon, Coordinator PAIRED, CORAF (tbc)

2.4/ Open discussions and complementary information from participants (15 min) Convening facilitator

10h30-11h00 Group picture, coffee-break & networking

11h00-12h45

2.5/ Group work on complementary evidence and key recommendations for developing AAS in Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal (1 hr of group work, 45 min for plenary presentation and discussion of outcomes of group work) Convening and group work facilitators

Session 3: Pathways for the Transformation of AAS in West and Central Africa

12h45-13h30

3.1/ Summing up: Discussions on priority areas for AAS development in WCA Convening facilitator

13h30-14h30 Lunch-break and networking

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14h30-16h00

3.2/ Operationalizing priority areas for AAS development in WCA Group work (session 1): on the three key priority areas: each group work to discuss: (i) Implications for RESCAR-AOC Working Groups, (ii) operational actions and implementing partners at national and regional levels, (iii) roles of regional and country platforms – 1h30min Convening and group work facilitators

16h00-16h15 Coffee-break & networking

16h15-17h00

3.2/ Operationalizing priority areas for AAS Development in WCA (continuation of group work)- 45 min Convening and group work facilitators

DAY 2: 25th JUNE, 2019

8h30-10h00

3.3/ Plenary presentation of results of different group work (10 min presentation, and 20 min general discussion for each group) – 1h30min Convening and group work facilitators

10h00-10h30

3.4/ Operationalizing priority areas for AAS development in WCA. Group work (Session 2): Definition of: (i) expected outputs, outcomes and; (ii) partnerships at regional and national levels to take up priority areas -1h30min Convening and group work facilitators

10h30-11h00 Coffee-break & networking

11h00-12h30

3.5/ Operationalizing priority areas for AAS development in WCA. Group work- (Session 2 cont.) + plenary discussion: Definition of: (i) expected outputs, outcomes and; (ii) partnerships at regional and national levels to take up priority areas -1h30min Convening and group work facilitators

Session 4: Way forward

12h30-13h30

4.1/ Development of a roadmap for the follow-up of results of the Practice Convening Convening facilitator 4.2/ General comments, observations and announcements from the organizers

- Dr Sidiki Cisse, Director General of ANADER - Dr Patrice Djamen, Facilitator of RESCAR-AOC - Dr Kristin Davis, Co-Director of DLEC - Dr Silim Nahdy, Executive Director of AFAAS

4.3/ Concluding remarks and closing of the Practice Convening The Minister of Agriculture or his Representative

13h30-14h30 Lunch, networking and end-of the Practice Convening

14h30-16h30 RESCAR-AOC internal meeting

Contact for more information on the event:

- Dr Kristin Davis, email: K.Davis@cgiar.org - Dr Patrice Djamen, email: p.djamen759@gmail.com