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Strengthening Capacities for Collaborative Management of Rural Innovation in Senegal

Our Partners

This partnership has developed from an initiative originally started by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), to build on the success of their international programme on the collaborative management of innovation.

With support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a pilot project has been started to strengthen IFAD projects in Senegal, under the overall coordination of the Science and Environment Institute (ISE) of the University of Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), and with facilitation of field activities in the Matam Region by USE (Union pour la Solidarité et l'Entraide) and in the Groundnut Basin by ENDA-GRAF (Environnement et développement du tiers monde - Groupes recherches actions formations).

ICRA is providing technical assistance to the project, and took the lead to formulate a proposal to finance additional activities in Senegal, as well as extend the pilot project to Burkina Faso and Colombia, and involve more Northern Partners.

Objectives

The proposed capacity strengthening program will start with the systematization and development of content, drawing on materials by international and national partners to support collaborative management of innovation. The university level program will integrate face-to-face workshops and distance learning, which will enable participants to integrate learning with ongoing work commitments. Emphasis will be on field application of lessons learned in the course, and reflection on lessons learned in the field.

Achievements to date

From 2006, ICRA has supported partners in Senegal to implement an IFAD-funded project, which aims at strengthening capacities of research and development professionals for collaborative management of rural innovation.

• Activities first focused on developing a common understanding of objectives and strategy, with exchange of learning materials and experience between Senegalese and Partners from the North. A steering committee (Comité d’Orientation or CO) was formed with UCAD-ISE leadership and, with the involvement of other national partners mentioned above as well as IED-Afrique and the Senegalese Institute for Agricultural Research (ISRA).
• In 2008, two parallel learning cycles, each comprising field activities and face-to-face workshops were organised involving a total of 60 participants.
• The ground activities of the project ended late 2008 with two workshops, one in Matam and the other in Thiès. These workshops have been facilitated by the Senegalese partners of the project without direct intervention of ICRA.
• Due to some delay in implementation of planned activities, several “closure activities” were postponed to 2009:
  - Reporting for year 2 was achieved in January 2009, with input from ICRA.
  - A capitalization workshop was held in Dakar in February 2009, prepared and facilitated by ICRA and ISE: it gathered ground partners of the Project (Coordinators of the Project, implementing NGOs, Thiès stakeholders’ representatives and PRODAM Project staff).
  - Edition of pedagogical materials will be achieved late 2009.
• As a follow-up of this partnership, two Senegalese partners have participated in the preparatory workshop for the new Capacity Building programme for ARD Facilitators (Design & Management of ARD Learning) (held in September-October in Montpellier) in Cotonou in May 2009; their contribution has been very useful.