Steering Committee Meeting WA Project

4 February 2014, Bamako, Mali

I. Hoeschle-ZeledonCoordinator, ESA and WA projects

Late submission of work plans for timely submission to SC

Respect of reporting deadlines Poor quality reports Acceptance of workplan and reporting templates Fund confirmation by donor, reimbursement of

2013 expenditures

Management issues

Withdrawal of AfricaRice from Ghana component Travel restrictions and ban on government

institutions Difficulty to align all researcher with Program

Framework and Africa RISING research approach (site and activity integration)

Baseline surveys in Ghana and Mali still missing, limited presence of regional M&E specialist

No timely execution of work plans Fluctuation of partner key staff

Implementation issues

Some key partners not present in action countries; implementation by remote control

Difficulty to recruit suitable project economist Change in Comms officer Efforts to involve Nutrition Innovation Lab fruitless Growing need for alignment with other USAID

initiatives: how to operationalize these partnerships

Implementation issues

Request for proper branding to improve visibility; everybody to work under Africa RISING umbrella, not home institutions

Urgency for Science Advisory Group Easy to address intensification, but difficult to deal

with sustainability, need for indicators, Africa RISING should pioneer a sustainability framework

Need for visualization of integration of activities Need for standardized tool for data management;

PMT should be made applicable

ESA Steering Committee, Sept. 2013

Quarterly meetings held ToR for SAG developed, SAG established, first

meeting??? Finalizing rules of engagement with farmers

including handling their data Gender strategy at Program level; specific project

level strategies optional Working group on sustainability indicators Regional log frames by end of February Program evaluation to be discussed with SAG Next learning event Sept. in Arusha, Tanzania

Program Coordination Team

Change of CORAF representative Change of IFPRI representative New Comms officer Vacant seat for CGIAR to be filled; when? Suggestions: ICRAF, AVRDC (Farid)

IWMI (Jerry)AVRDC (Kehinde)

CSIR is a silent member

Steering Committee membership

Regional log frame (28 February) Preparation of 2014 work plans (15 March) Approval by Steering Committee (31 March) New partner contracts (15 April) PCT meeting March SAG meeting ??? Exchange visit to Tanzania (late April) Technology descriptions ??? Project document ??? Program Learning Event (Sept.)

Next activities and events

Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation

africa-rising.net