Recap of first day Proceedings

CCARDESA General Assembly

Session 1: Welcome and Exhibitions

• ED of CCARDESA welcomed the delegates and outlined the objectives of the GA

• The vice chairperson of CCARDESA board introduced the board members, read the CV of the ES of SADC and invited her to speak

• The executive secretary of SADC addressed the GA and officially opened the exhibitions

Official opening of GA

• The ED of CCARDESA

• The CCARDESA board vice Chairperson gave a brief speech

• The development partners: EU, WB, USAID, recommended CCARDESA and made their commitments for the support

• The PS for Agriculture requested the guest of honor to officially open the GA

Official Opening of CCARDESA GA

• CCARDESA GA was officially opened by the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. C. de Graaff

Session 3: CARDESA Historical Perspective

Presenter TopicDr. Y. AkinbamijoED of FARA

The African Agriculture Transformation Agenda: A

socio-economic imperative for Enhancing and Sustaining Africa's Growth

Key issues • SSA GDP growth rate is at 5% • 48.5% people living below $1.25 per day•Progress is being made but in Africa is still lagging behind in food security• Pathways to transformationImproving production and productivityIncreased value-addition and access to betterfunctioning markets and tradeFood and Nutrition Security for allResilience to climate change and other risks Public-private engagement and investment financing

Presenter TopicDr. L. Gakale Historical perspective of Agricultural research

coordination in Southern Africa: From SACCAR to CCARDESA

SACCAR was established in 1984 by SADC with the following objectives:To promote regional agricultural research among the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) of Member StatesTo facilitate the exchange of information among the NARSTo promote the development of human resources necessary to man the members states national research institutions; andTo promote coordination of agricultural research and training within the region

SACCAR Supported:• Research in various crops and livestock build capacity•To build capacity of NARS

In August 1996 SACCAR was phased out by the Council to become Crops Sector in FANRThe establishment of CCARDESA is hoped to resume the good regional cooperation that had been established by SACCAR

Lessons learnt from SACCAR

• Regional cooperation is the best way to address issues ofresearch resource constraints -finance and human capital

• Networking and collaboration with IARs offers uniqueopportunities for human resource development andtechnology transfer

• Research cooperation brings regional researchers togetherthus fostering integration and sharing of information.

• Public research institutions produce public goods andtherefore the issue of non-state actors, especially the privatesector, should be engaged with caution least member state

lose their intellectual property rights

Presenter Topic/IssuesDr. Patrick H R Tawonezvi,Agriculture & Rural Development Consultant

Milestones in the establishment of the SRO, CCARDESA , 2006 - 2012

Key principles in CCADESA Establishment included:An SRO with autonomy in human and finance resourcemanagementAll stakeholders to participate in CCARDESA governanceInvolvement of stakeholders in determining regional R&D agenda

•Milestone 1: Endorsement of the SRO establishmentDecember 2007 Endorsement of SRO establishment in a Maputo WorkshopMarch 2010 CCARDESA sustainability plan was approvedNov. 2010 CCARDESA Charter was approved at a ministerial meeting held in Windhoek.By July 2011, all SADC countries had signed the Charter

Milestones in the establishment of the SRO, CCARDESA , 2006 - 2012

•Milestone 1: Endorsement of the SRO establishmentJuly 2011 Official launch of CARDDESA and appointment of the board August 2011 Handover of responsibilities to the new boardDocuments handed over included the following:

1. CCARDESA operational manuals/documents (9):Charter establishing CCARDESA, Governance Manual, Finance Manual, Grants Manual, Draft HR Manual, Procurement Procedures Manual, Draft staff recruitment procedures, and Job descriptions for all positions on CCARDESA staff establishment

2. Reports (5)SADC MAPP Document, CCARDESA Proposal Document, 1st Draft MTOP Document, Sustainability Plan, and Priority setting study by IFPRI/ReSAKSS

Reactions from House

• The poverty indicator keep on moving it was at $1.00/day and now is shifted to $1.25/day

– Need to establish our baseline and target

– Need to establish our performance criteria

• There were fears that what killed SACCAR may end up also killing CCARDESA

Reactions from the Stakeholders

• Farmer

– Applauded the concept of R&D and encouraged the research scientists to improve to continue working hard to help improve Africa’s agriculture

– Appealed to the development partners to continue supporting the SROs

• CGIAR Representative

– Assured the house of the commitment of the CGIARS networking in research and Development with NARS and NGOs:

• Key outputs: supported to sustain the Genebank and Seed harmonization

– Continue developing technologies relevant to the region:

• Public goods

Nomination of a chairman for the GA

• The following names were nominated:

– Dr. Mick Mwala

– Mr. Motsepe Matlala

– Mr. Enock Dlamini

– Dr. Moses Mwale

• Winners of Elections

– Dr. M. Mwala: Chair

– Mr. M. Matlala

Launch of a FARA Book and Cocktail

• A FARA book title:

‘Integrated Agricultural Research for Development – From Concept to Practice’

END OF DAY ONE