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The IAC report Realizing the Promise and Potential of African Agriculture: Science and Technology Strategies for Improving Food Security and Agricultural Productivity in Africa was released in June 2004. The recommendations and action agenda in the report were addressed to universities; national agricultural research systems and institutions; the private sector; regional and subregional intergovernmental organizations; academic, scientific, and extension staff; nongovernmental and community-based organizations and the mass media.
An Ad Hoc Follow-up Committee was appointed by the IAC Board in October 2004. It was tasked to help transfer the responsibilities for follow up of the reports recommendations and action agenda to more appropriate national and regional organizations; and to communicate and inform target groups and others on the analysis, diagnosis, and recommendations formulated in the report and adopted by the IAC. The Committee was asked to coordinate its activities with other initiatives, such as the Hunger Task Force, the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program (SSACP) of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Science Council of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the World Bank-supported International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).
This Ad Hoc Follow-up Committee consisted of the following members:
- Rudy RABBINGE, Dean, Wageningen Graduate Schools, The Netherlands
- Jim RYAN, Visiting Fellow, Economics Division, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
- Peter MATLON, Deputy Director for Food Security, Rockefeller Foundation, USA
- Mohamed BESRI, Professor Hassan II Institute of Agronomy & Veterinary Medicine, Morocco
- Bongiwe NJOBE, Director General National Department of Agriculture, South Africa
- Wilberforce KISAMBA-MUGERWA, Director, International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR)
- Monty JONES, Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
- Huub LOFFLER, Team Leader, Food and Health, BU Genetics and Breeding, Wageningen Agricultural University and Research Centre, The Netherlands
Following is a summary of the activities of the Ad Hoc Follow-Up Committee:
Dissemination of the IAC report. Dissemination of the report through presentations and discussions by Committee members has brought the recommendations to the attention of various stakeholders, as perhaps among the most efficient ways to promote implementation. Committee members have made presentations and initiated discussions to take advantage of the momentum raised by the launching of the report in June 2004.
Coordination with other panels, task forces, and working groups. During its working period, the IAC Study Panel had intensive contacts with other related initiatives, such as the Hunger Task Force (HTF) of the UN Millennium Development Goals Program, the SSACP/FARA, CGIAR, and the IAASTD. The Study Panel did so because it realized that the various activities may complement each other, leading to a multiplier effect. As a result of these interactions, a number of similar recommendations have been adopted by other organizations. Coordinating the implementation of these activities is still necessary.
Transfer the responsibility for the recommendations to appropriate regional and national institutions. The Ad Hoc Follow-up Committee has been committed to the implementation of the recommendations, as was the IAC Study Panel. Yet the Committee acknowledges the fact that the actual implementation is not and cannot be a task for the Committee or for the IAC. Many permanent organizations and institutions are better suited to bring the recommendations into action. Therefore the Committee assisted organizations and institutions in formulating their strategies and articulating their initiatives and in the process, encouraged implementation of the recommendations by the institutions.
Final reporting of the Ad Hoc Follow-up Committee. The Ad Hoc Follow-up Committee reported a growing international focus on African agriculture and the inter-related role of science and technology. It also found encouraging that the initiatives of many organizations are complementary and strengthened by each other. The African Union; the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD); and other multilateral organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), have made policy statements and declarations demonstrating political will in agriculture and science and technologyyâ€at least at the continental and international levels. To enhance its priority to support development in Africa, the Government of the United Kingdom also has established a Commission on Africa. The Ad Hoc Follow-Up Committee concluded that these activities are all needed to create the enabling environment and strategies in which science and technology will flourish. What is needed now is a stronger political and institutional commitment at national levels by African countries themselves.
The Ad Hoc Follow-up Committee issued a final report to the IAC Board in October 2005, for consideration at its Annual Meeting in February 2006.