Opportunities

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) has received a grant from NORAD in support of “Sustaining the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) momentum”.

FARA intends to use part of the proceeds to undertake the following consultant services:

Consultant to identify barriers to scaling up/out climate smart agriculture practices and to develop a policy framework to enhance adoption of CSA practices in Africa

FARA is Africa's apex institution for giving direction to, and, coordinating agricultural research on the continent. The Forum has a pivotal responsibility in the articulation of strategies for the continent’s agricultural transformation.  FARA’s mandate is continental. To this end, it leads agricultural research and contributes to the development of the required systems of innovation in the agricultural sector. The Forum is poised to continue to play a visible and significant role, in alignment with the African Union Commission and NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, in the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa's Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), having served as the lead institution for Pillar IV of CAADP strategy. FARA is thus a strategic continental institution with strong and enduring   relevance   in   Africa's   agricultural   transformation   strategy,   agenda   and programmes.

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the AU NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) has, within the framework of the Sustaining CAADP Momentum, launched the CAADP 10-year Results Framework (CRF) to guide and accelerate implementation of CAADP at the country level. The framework underscores the need for tangible parameters to benchmark advancements in agricultural performance and reinforces the need for evidence to promote investment in agriculture. The framework aims to achieve five key

results1  by (i) increasing agricultural production and productivity with the aim of doubling

agricultural total factor productivity by 2025; ensuring better functioning national agricultural and  food  markets  and  increasing  intra-inter-regional  trade;  (iii)  expanding  local  agro- industry and value addition; and (iv) improving management and governance of natural resources for sustainable agricultural production.

To achieve these results, the AUC and AU NPCA have requested the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) to lead a series of actions that will contribute to the CRF sub- result (i) on doubling agricultural total factor productivity. FARA’s goal is to contribute to sustainable reduction of food insecurity and poverty in Africa through the promotion of broad-based agricultural productivity, competitiveness and markets. FARA has developed the  Framework  for  African  Agricultural  Productivity  (FAAP)  and  the  CAADP  Pillar  IV Strategy to enable agricultural research and development to contribute to agricultural productivity. FARA has also reoriented it’s strategy for increasing agricultural productivity and  competiveness  to  focus  on  three  strategic  priority  areas:  (i)  Visioning  Africa’s agricultural transformation – with foresight, strategic analysis and partnerships; (ii) integrating capacities for change – by connecting and learning; and (iii) creating an enabling policy environment for implementation by advocating and communicating. The Science Agenda  for  Agriculture  in  Africa  (S3A),  developed  by  FARA,  serves  as  the  overall framework for operationalizing the new strategy.

Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA)2 is one of the areas identified in the S3A for accelerating growth in agricultural productivity. In collaboration with AU NPCA, FARA is currently implementing a CSA project funded by the Government of Norway (NORAD) to enhance understanding of local political economy factors and drivers that stimulate or hinder expanded adoption of climate smart agriculture. The project promotes knowledge support for enhanced adoption of CSA and strengthening of the capacity of African research institutions  to   deliver   proven   CSA   technologies   that   help   to  increase   agricultural productivity. It generates baseline data and information on CSA issues and principles that can be used to support evidence-based CSA policy and programme design as well as performance monitoring in the context of the CRF.

1.       Addressing barriers to scaling up/out climate smart agriculture practices

1 The five result areas are: (i) wealth creation; (ii) economic opportunities and prosperity – jobs and poverty alleviation; (iii) improved food security and nutrition; (iv) resilience; and (v) environmental sustainability

2     According    to    FAO    (2010),    CSA    involves    agriculture     that     sustainably     increases     productivity    and    resilience     (adaptation),

reduces/removes  GHGs  (mitigation) and  enhances  achievement  of  national  food  security  and development  goals. From the perspective of the Africa CSA Alliance, CSA offers triple wins, which include: significant potential to enhance food and nutrition security for all people at all times, taking account of the need for adaptation in response to current and near term effects of climate change and, where in the interests of smallholder farmers, mitigation to reduce the future threats to global food security (ACSA, FAQs, 2014).

Agriculture is undoubtedly the most important sector in most African countries. It contributes about one third of the GDP, 40% of total export value and provides employment to about

70% of the population. Except for a few large farms, agricultural production is subsistence in nature with a high dependence on rainfall. Climate change is one of the factors constraining agriculture in Africa. Prolonged periods of drought and/or floods have had significant negative impacts on agricultural production and productivity; and have adversely affected the food security, incomes and livelihoods of smallholder producers in Africa.

Climate smart agriculture has been shown to address some of the adverse effects of climate change and transform agriculture into a more sustainable and profitable sector. A wide range of CSA innovations have been developed and are being applied in different parts of Africa with varying degrees of success. Some of the innovative CSA practices have been shown to increase agricultural productivity, helped to build resilience and mitigate the effects of climate change as well as reduced the levels of greenhouse gasses (GHG). For example, conservation agriculture involving minimum soil disturbance, good soil cover maintenance, rotation and intercropping has delivered higher and more stable maize yields and incomes and enhanced resilience to climate change in Malawi compared to conventional production methods.

In spite of the several CSA technologies that have been developed and the positive gains arising from the technologies, wide scale adoption of CSA practices remains problematic. There are several barriers that prevent smallholder farmers in Africa from adopting CSA technologies and so far, existing policies and actions to remove these barriers remain inadequate. A good understanding of what these barriers are and how they impinge on adoption of CSA practices is essential. Equally essential is the need for a policy framework that favors the removal of these barriers while at the same time promotes adoption of CSA practices. For farmers to take up a particular CSA practice and for public and private sector individuals to invest in a given CSA practice, a policy framework accompanied by a set of actions to remove the barriers is needed. An identification and critical analysis of the factors that limit adoption of CSA practices and a policy framework will enable policy makers to come up with concrete actions to scale up/out adoption of CSA practices in Africa.

B. PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The  purpose of  this assignment  is  to  identify barriers  to  scaling  up/out  climate  smart agriculture practices and develop a policy framework and set of actions to remove the barriers and enhance adoption of CSA practices in Africa. In view of this, the REOI is aimed at soliciting for proposals from individual consultants who are interested in undertaking the assignment.

C. SCOPE OF WORK

The specific actions required of the individual consultant include, but are not limited to the following:

(i)     Examine climate smart agriculture in the context of Africa and assess its potential

to address Africa’s productivity challenges.

(ii)     Identify and critically analyze the key barriers to smallholder farmer adoption of climate smart agriculture practices in Africa; showing how each factor impinges on the adoption of the practices.

(iii)     Develop a policy framework that favors the removal of the barriers identified in (ii) above while at the same time promotes adoption of climate smart agriculture practices.

(iv)     Propose concrete actions to remove the barriers identified in (ii) above that limit adoption of climate smart agriculture practices in Africa.

(v)      Make recommendations on how the policy framework and actions can be used to scale up/out the adoption of climate smart agriculture practices in Africa.

(vi)     Prepare a policy brief that synthesizes the key messages and recommendations of the study.

In addition, the consultant will be expected to work closely with the FARA/NORAD Team supervised by the FARA Divisional Manager and Strategic Priority Leader, Advocacy and Policy in consultation with the FARA M&E Specialist and the Gender Specialist.

D. OUTPUTS OR DELIVERABLES

The consultant is expected to deliver the following output

• A draft inception report
• A  power  point  presentation  of  the  report  in  a  stakeholder  validation  workshop organized at the FARA Secretariat
• A detailed final report that incorporates comments/inputs from stakeholders to FARA Secretariat
• A policy brief that summarizes the key outcomes and recommendations of the case study.

E.  DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The duration of this assignment will be twenty two (22) working days spread over a period of two months. The stakeholder validation workshop shall take place at the FARA Secretariat.

F.  LOCATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

This is a desk top study. The consultant shall operate from his/her location.

G. PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

The Consultant is expected to undertake the services with the highest standards of professional and ethical competence and integrity.

H. REPORTING

The  Consultant  shall  report  to  the  Executive  Director  of  FARA  through  the  Divisional

Manager and Strategic Priority Leader, Advocacy and Policy.

I.   FACILITIES TO BE PROVIDED BY FARA

FARA will provide the following facilities to the consultant:

• Relevant FARA related information and reference documents
• Power point presentation equipment and materials
• Economy air ticket and DSA

J.  QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

The consultant should have the following qualifications:

• ·    A Ph.D. degree in agriculture/social sciences or related disciplines
• ·    Excellent quantitative skills in economic impact assessment with proven publications.
• A good understanding of climate change issues in the political, social and economic context of climate adaptation / mitigation in Africa. Good knowledge of the concepts and application of CSA in the context of Africa.
• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in agricultural development and climate change policy research, particularly in Africa. 
• A demonstration of high expertise in research / evaluation designs and methodology in      impact   assessment   and   evaluation   designs,   deep   knowledge   in   impact assessment and  evaluation instruments related to sampling, questionnaire design, field interviews, and quantitative / qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis
• Consultants should also present evidence of  their use  of statistical tools in the analysis and interpretation of field data, as well as proficiency in the articulation of impact assessment and evaluation reports.
• Consultants should have participated in a number of related climate change and agricultural/impact assessment and evaluation studies and should demonstrate attributes of teamwork, participatory impact assessment and evaluations and familiarity with the target countries.
• Fluency in English. Working knowledge of French will be an advantage

K. APPLICATIONS

Interested Individual Consultants should send (via e-mail) to FARA’s address (see further

below) the following documents:

(i)       Technical proposal detailing their understanding of the assignment and how they would go about conducting the desk top study. This should include good description of the methodology to be used including how the data and information