(Picture taken at a Kaleidoscope model training by IFPRI-Pakistan colleagues in Peshawar)
Introduction
This blog describes the capacity strengthening activities conducted between 2018-2021 by IFPRI country programs. It documents the nature of activities undertaken, alignment to country program objectives, and related impact. This kind of monitoring and reporting helps in promoting IFPRI’s capacity strengthening activities and getting support from development partners for existing and potential future collaborations.
IFPRI’s Capacity strengthening (CS) strategy focusses on three levels of capacity: systems level, organizational and institutional level, and individual level. The Capacity Strengthening Program (CSP) executes strategic elements identified under the IFPRI’s CS strategy. CSP provides support for conducting capacity needs assessments, institutional and organizational reviews, policy process reviews, monitoring and tracking capacity development activities, donor reporting, performance reviews, and developing best practices guidelines and international public goods. Starting 2021, CSP strengthened collaboration with IFPRI country offices by streamlining CS activities by IFPRI researchers at the country and regional levels for better outreach, exposure, and impact. As a first step, CSP has been tracking CS activities in the last three years in different countries including Bangladesh, Ghana, Malawi, Myanmar, and Pakistan. Several types of CS activities have been undertaken in the countries ranging from research topics, data and statistical analysis tools, enumerator trainings, and policy writing and communication. Such trainings have been provided to a broad range of stakeholders including policy researchers from think tanks, national and local research systems, academic institutions such as universities, government policy analysts and officials, extension workers, and private sector players working in agri-food sectors.
Brief Description of Capacity Strengthening Achievements of IFPRI Country Programs in 2018-2021
- Bangladesh
IFPRI has been working in Bangladesh for over three decades. Since then, several programs have been implemented to improve agricultural development, food security, and nutrition in the country. For instance, IFPRI scaled up its involvement in Bangladesh under the USAID-funded Bangladesh Policy Research and Strategy Support Program (PRSSP) for Food Security and Agricultural Development (2010-2020). PRSSP filled the need for demand-driven food and agriculture research in response to Bangladesh’s country investment plan for agriculture, food security, and nutrition by generating evidence on critical issues, strengthening analytical capacity, and stimulating policy dialogue. Another major program—the World-Bank-financed Integrated Food Policy Research Program (IFPRP), implemented by the Ministry of Food combines policy research with capacity strengthening to tackle all four aspects of food security – availability, access, utilization, and stability – in a holistic and sustainable approach. Across IFPRI-Bangladesh’s growing country office portfolio, several CS activities were undertaken under different programs to strengthen analytical capacity for policy research, dialogue, and decision making between 2018-2021. Trainings focused on technical topics like quantitative methods, Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) multiplier, and Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modeling; research topics such as conceptual, theoretical, and empirical food and nutrition issues; and survey enumerator trainings. IFPRI also conducted trainings on the use of research/analysis in policymaking/program development/interventions, some of which were specifically designed for government officials to improve the research capacity of key policy actors. Based on the existing and future analytical capacity needs, IFPRI’s programs in Bangladesh will continue to conduct specialized trainings and assist in strengthening the policy creation, implementation, and evaluation process in Bangladesh. For more information, please click here.
- Egypt
The Egypt Strategy Support Program (Egypt SSP) is a policy research and communication and CS program with main objectives to reduce poverty and to improve food and nutrition security in Egypt. Egypt SSP is a joint program of IFPRI and the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA). As part of Egypt SSP’s effort to strengthen capacity and communication in the country, CS trainings on research and food and nutrition security topics were delivered to government officials and in academic universities between 2018-2021. Topics included economywide modeling, CGE, SAM, and online investment scenario tools. Trainings on these topics were conducted, for ministries or national institutes of agriculture or planning in Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and Yemen, under the Agricultural Investment Data Analyzer (AIDA) project, which builds on a previous collaboration, as well as the Ag-Foresight project, co-funded by the European Union, and the Evaluating Impact and Building Capacity (EIBC) project, funded by USAID. IFPRI provided three levels of CGE training courses - beginner, intermediate and advanced levels - which covered the main economic theories that underlie CGE models, running relevant policy simulations on issues such as: foreign capital inflows, changes in trade, increases economic activities’ efficiency, and introducing new taxes and changes in the transaction costs. Participants learned how to interpret simulation results, as they discussed interactively the likely impacts of these policy scenarios on the macro and sectoral levels as well as on the welfare of different household groups. Trainings of this kind, supported the development of modeling teams and strengthening their capacities and skills for the development and evaluation of evidence-based policy reforms in Egypt. Trainings on online mapping tools (MAP Egypt, Map Yemen, Arab Spatial, and SPADE), working with teams across ministries of agriculture or national institutions, also took place between 2017 – 2021, with support for the various projects provided by USAID, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), The European Union, and CGIAR- Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM). MAP Egypt and MAP Yemen trained a network of experts across the countries’ agriculture or planning institutions to track their portfolio of ongoing, previous and planned agriculture and rural development projects, including how to collect, process and upload project data onto the platforms. This came as a demand-driven effort for coherence across institutions and international partners’ interventions to optimize impact, avoid replication and stay informed. Both these tools allow for the overlay of socioeconomic indicators on the countries’ food and nutrition security status. Arab Spatial, more broadly, also displays data for indicators under the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) framework, across the 22 countries of the League of Arab States. Capacity strengthening training, for all these tools, included sessions on spatial data, data collection, processing and basic analysis, as well as application within the online tools. SPADE, a comprehensive digital database for agricultural statistics in Egypt and the latest tool developed by the Egypt SSP, also worked with the Digital Transformation Unit of ministry of agriculture. More in-depth training on working with spatial data and remote sensing images was provided around the platform, which houses a database of over 1000 data layers on agricultural production, agroecology, climate, demography, and urban area and markets, soil and water, including time series updated to most recent years. Additionally, the Egypt SSP provided enumerator trainings for the baseline (part I: quantitative and part II: qualitative) and endline surveys of impact evaluations of Egypt's national cash transfer program, Takaful and Karama, as well as a baseline survey of the pilot of its graduation program, FORSA. To maximize benefit, some trainings and online tools were also made available in Arabic, which is a strategy that may continue to be adopted by the Egypt SSP. The program plans to expand its CS initiatives in terms of range of targeted stakeholders and scale of the training events to reduce the capacity gaps and meet its overall objective of strengthening food systems in Egypt. For more information, click here.
- Ethiopia
The Ethiopia Strategy Support Program (ESSP) is a collaborative program undertaken by IFPRI and Policy Studies Institute (PSI). ESSP aims to help improve the policymaking process in Ethiopia by increasing the capacity of Ethiopian institutions to undertake sound economic analysis, and by working to improve public information and dialogue. It focuses on four key activities: collaborative research, robust knowledge management, capacity strengthening, and enhancing communications and institutional linkages between policymakers, policy analysts, civil society, and other policy and research actors. The recent CS efforts in the country by ESSP align with the four key focus areas of the program- i) transforming agriculture sustainably; ii) reducing malnutrition; iii) improving markets, value chains, and trade; iv) building resilience to climate change – drought induced crisis situations. The CS efforts included technical trainings on monitoring and evaluation, quantitative methods, project-level WEAI (pro-WEAI), software training under IFPRI led projects like Program for Biosafety Systems; efficiency and productivity analysis; workshops on policy formulation and implementation, research writing; and enumerator training for project-based survey design and implementation. These trainings were given to relevant stakeholders including government officials, academic staff and students, policy researchers, and enumerators. To ensure sustainability of its CS efforts, the program will continue to work closely with stakeholders to follow up on the impact of the training and develop future training programs based on the capacity gaps existing in the policy system. For more information, click here.
- Ghana
The Ghana Strategy Support Program (GSSP) was implemented in 2005. Program activities consist of a combination of applied, policy-relevant and demand-driven research, regular engagement with policymakers, and capacity development programs benefiting government and non-government analysts or policymakers. The capacity development component of the program was implemented through workshops and training activities over the years. Between 2018 and 2021, IFPRI researchers organized learning labs on research topics like pro-WEAI, integrating gender into agriculture, commodity market analysis, nutrition, and health research. During the same period several enumerator trainings were also conducted to train people on survey instruments, protocols, data collection, monitoring and evaluation techniques, and project implementation. Research trainings were also provided to government stakeholders as part of ongoing projects like FAO’s Strategic Program “Reduce Rural Poverty” and under IFPRI led projects like Program for Biosafety Systems. The program will continue to enhance its capacity strengthening activities to support agricultural growth, rural development, and economic transformation in Ghana. For more information, please click here.
- Malawi
Malawi Strategy Support Program was established in 2008. The program conducts evidence-based research, advises government and development partners on strategic agriculture and food policy, as well as strengthen institutional and individual capacity for stakeholders in the country. Several CS activities were undertaken in Malawi between 2018-2021. These included enumerator trainings to government staff, Bunda Grant Scheme (BGS) mentorship program for students, policy communication training for media persons, and workshops on research topics including poverty mapping methods, SAM building, and food and nutrition issues for government officials. Research training was provided under IFPRI led projects like Program for Biosafety Systems. Workshop presentations were also made as part of the ongoing USAID funded Titukulane project in Malawi. The capacity strengthening activities in Malawi were aligned with the program’s thematic focus areas-i) strengthening agricultural markets and institutions; ii) social safety nets and breaking the humanitarian cycle; and iii) priorities for agricultural investment. The program plans to continue strengthening policy research and implementation capacity under the three thematic areas for key stakeholders in the policy system to achieve its overall objective. For more information on Malawi activities, click here.
- Myanmar
The Myanmar Strategy Support Program (MSSP) is a joint program of IFPRI and Michigan State University (MSU) designed to enhance national capacity for conducting holistic policy and strategy analysis and promoting evidence-based policy making to support agricultural transformation and other broad development goals in Myanmar. IFPRI researchers have strengthened capacity of relevant stakeholders in Myanmar under the ambit of the MSSP as well as through other projects, programs, and engagements. IFPRI researchers have provided trainings to government officials, researchers, and enumerators. A large proportion of the trainings focused on survey design including CS activities under the Feed the Future Myanmar Agriculture Policy Support Activity (MAPSA), which is MSSP’s flagship project funded by USAID. The objective of MAPSA is to improve governance in the agricultural sector, through building national capacity to prioritize and implement strategic organizational and policy reforms that improve food and nutrition security; and facilitate broad stakeholder participation in policy dialogue and advocacy. In line with the MAPSA’s objective, training activities have focused on design and implementation of the Myanmar Household Survey on agriculture, gender and nutrition to observe dietary quality and nutritional status in Myanmar and integrate data on nutrition and agriculture at scale. A few trainings developed policy research skills of stakeholders on policy tools like Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT), GIS, and testing and application of pro-WEAI and implementing and analyzing Minimum Dietary Diversity of Women of Reproductive Age Women(MDD-W). The country program will continue to build on existing national and local capacity to conduct research, develop and advocate for strategic agriculture policies will create an enabling environment for agriculture and food sector growth. For more information on Myanmar activities, click here.
- Nigeria
Since its inception in 2007, the Nigeria Strategy Support Program (NSSP) aims to strengthen evidence-based policymaking in Nigeria in the areas of rural and agricultural development. The program works closely with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and supports the implementation of Nigeria’s national development plans by strengthening agricultural- sector policies and strategies. In addition, the program supports food and agriculture plans at the sub-national levels by collaborating with State Ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources to develop and implement such plans. The program’s research areas are agriculture policy and finance, nutrition, public expenditure, youth engagement, gender, land governance, institutional capacity, and political economy. To accomplish the objective set out by the program, several CS activities have been undertaken over the years for government and non-government stakeholders. The trainings have ranged from policy writing and communication, group dynamics, STATA, monitoring, evaluation and learning techniques, group dynamics, budget and budgeting process, and extension approaches and implementation strategies. Training was also provided under IFPRI led project Program for Biosafety Systems. Enumerator trainings were also conducted between 2018-2021. All the CS activities are closely aligned to the program’s research areas. Several CS activities conducted by the program were under the Feed the Future Nigeria Agricultural Policy which is a joint effort between Michigan State University (MSU) and the NSSP funded by USAID-Nigeria and aimed to promote inclusive agricultural productivity growth, improved nutritional outcomes, and enhanced livelihood resilience for men and women through an improved policy enabling environment. The project is now completed. Going forward the NSSP will continue to focus on enhancing policy, institutional, and individual capacity in Nigeria with the aim strengthen agriculture development in the country. For more information, please click here.
- Pakistan
IFPRI-Pakistan currently manages the Pakistan Agriculture Capacity Enhancement Program. The program provides research based policy support and builds capacity of the federal and provincial governments in agriculture on a range of economic and agricultural issues such as agriculture research, nutrition, markets, trade, food production and outlook, water governance, climate change, rural transformation and social safety nets. In line with the overall objective of the program, CS trainings were provided to government officials, students and faculty at universities and research and training institutes. The trainings focused on managerial and financial topics like public financial and developing a SAM. Policy research and writing topics such Kaleidoscope model for policy management, General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) training for data analysis and forecasting, STATA, ARIMA Model, and technical proposal writing were also conducted during 2018-2021. These training activities will continue with follow up trainings scheduled with stakeholders to refresh basic skills and provide advanced skills on the aforementioned policy research and managerial topics. For more information on Pakistan activities, click here.
- Rwanda
The Rwanda Strategy Support Program (Rwanda SSP) was launched in 2019 and supports the implementation of the 2018–2024 Strategic Plan for Agricultural Transformation (PSTA 4) through policy analysis, capacity development, and partnership. Capacity development and knowledge sharing, a key program activity, is focused on undertaking timely and relevant policy analysis, communicate actionable findings to policymakers and their development partners, and build linkages for knowledge sharing across research, government, civil society, and other stakeholder communities. As part of this program activity, between 2018-2022, several SAM multiplier and CGE modeling trainings were conducted in Rwanda by IFPRI researchers for policy researchers from government ministries and other key stakeholders to understand economywide modeling approaches. Over this same time period, learning events were also provided on monitoring and evaluation techniques, data collection and analysis, and ethical approaches to policy research. The process of building capacity is ongoing as the program continues to collaborate on timely policy analysis on topics which include the prioritization of policies and public investment for agricultural transformation, sustainable agricultural intensification and modernization, strengthening agriculture–nutrition linkages, agricultural export diversification and agri-food system development to create jobs and income, expanding inclusive growth opportunities, and integrating gender and youth as a cross-cutting theme. For more information on Rwanda activities, click here.
Lessons Learnt
Given the impact created by IFPRI’s CS activities at the country level, it is necessary to adequately recognize and promote them. Besides, it is evident based on the CS achievements by IFPRI’s country programs that CS provides an entry point into policy systems and mapping of existing resources. Strengthening institutional level capacity and arrangements helps in conducting better policy research and identifying policy priorities. Since, many CS activities invite different stakeholders to participate, it helps in developing partnerships and multi-stakeholder engagements. Additionally, CS activities which focus on building human capacity on conducting policy research, create a network of policy researchers and analysts who are both users of policy research as well current/future collaborators in shaping a policy agenda for the country. The creation of such networks and collaborations signify that the impact of strengthening human capacity goes beyond the initial investment made by IFPRI country programs for conducting CS activities.
Concluding Remarks
Going forward, monitoring and reporting on IFPRI’s CS activities undertaken by country programs will continue and updated every year. By doing so, country programs will receive recognition for their achievements, and this will create awareness in the donor community about the impact of IFPRI’s CS activities in developing countries. The documentation of the achievements will also help IFPRI researchers in their outreach efforts to expand their network, undertake collaborations, and pursue future donor funding opportunities.
(This blog is based on inputs provided by country programs)