 | This article'slead sectionmay need to be rewritten. Please review thelead guide and helpimprove the lead of this article if you can.(July 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
TheRegional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) was established in 2006 and compiles and analyzes information to help design and evaluate rural development strategies and monitor the progress of theComprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).[1][2][3] CAADP is a program of theAfrican Union and theNew Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which aims to increase the share of national budgets allocated to agriculture.[4]
Especially in the agriculture-based economies of Africa, agriculture is the sector that can affect not only poverty reduction and food security, but can also foster economic growth and sustain the environment.[5] African countries have set up CAADP to reach these goals and a Mutual Accountability Framework (MAF) to measure the program's progress. ReSAKSS plays an important role in this monitoring system by collecting relevant data and undertaking systematic analyses.[6][7]
In November 2009 a conference was held to assess progress in implementing CAADP in African countries with several countries surpassing the target of 10% of their annual budgets to agriculture.[8]
Besides Strategic analysis, information and data management and capacity strengthening activities to support CAADP implementation and informing policy and decision-making processes in Africa more generally,[3] ReSAKSS data is used by various other actors to analyze and monitor African agricultural development.
For instance, the data has been used by theG8,[9]G20, theOECD,[10]USAID,[11] and theHeinrich Böll Foundation.[12]
The initiative is governed by Steering Committees that are chaired by theAfrican Union Commission (AUC) and AU–NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) at the Africa-wide level and byCommon Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA),Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) andSouthern African Development Community (SADC) for each of the African sub-regions. The Steering Committees with representatives of the different CAADP stakeholders provide political and strategic guidance to ReSAKSS.
The regional nodes are housed at three Africa-based centers of theCGIAR: theInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria; theInternational Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya; and theInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Pretoria, South Africa in collaboration with theInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). TheInternational Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides the overall coordination across the three nodes.[3]
ReSAKSS and its regional and local components have received funding from theUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID), the UKDepartment for International Development (DFID), theSwedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[13]
The CGIAR, whose member organizations host and manage ReSAKSS, and its donors, namely theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation have been criticized for their connections to Western governments and multinationalagribusiness for furthering a technology-driven agenda that favors large agribusiness at the expenses of small farmers.[14][15] However, many mainstream sources recognize CGIAR as having support of smallholders and poor farmers central to its mission.[16][17][18][19][20]