The Feed the Future Mozambique Agricultural Innovations Activity (FTF Inova) made good progress on its interventions during quarter (Q) 2 of fiscal year (FY) 2019, facilitating the introduction and adaptation of a number of innovations with an increasing portfolio of partners. Testing of established probes continued, accompanied by the first set of learning, while new probes also emerged.

Climate change is threatening development gains and intensifying global inequities—putting peace and important gains in human well-being at risk.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded the Assets and Market Access Innovation Lab (AMA IL) to advance knowledge and understanding of development approaches and technologies in order to increase rural households’ ability to acquire, protect, and effectively utilize productive assets. This evaluation assessed AMA IL’s overall program performance across five themes: research quality; outreach and dissemination; policy; capacity building; program management; and future directions.

In 2016 and 2017, the Feed the Future Senegal Naatal Mbay project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), conducted a study on women’s empowerment in agriculture to determine the level of empowerment among participating households and to identify the main constraints to empowerment.

The IAR4D concept has generated a large volume of success stories on many Innovation Platforms where it was implemented for the proof of concept and on the platforms of Complementary projects. It is noteworthy that in course of developing the IAR4D concept FARA engaged is series of trial efforts to arrive at a valid framework for the implementation of the IAR4D concept, the Innovation platform was developed from these thoughts and harmonization of knowledge and experience.

Angola has so much potential as an agricultural country, with up to 50 million hectares that could be cultivated. But why

There was a need for change in agricultural development in Angola, and CDAIS has been appreciated. Results show positive outcomes in a number of areas, including the acceptance of the benefits of strengthening functional capacities across different levels. And, although it is still too early to see the full benefits of the approach, many involved said they would continue to apply it in their other activities. This story begins with views and experiences from rice growers and their partners, as an example of one of the three innovation niche partnerships in Angola.

The goal is to improve capacity for joint innovation, and strengthen this capacity at partnership, organizational and institutional/policy level, through an iterative process with the different stakeholders involved i.e. action and reflection, consolidation of lessons learned and re-planning. Preparatory actions must be well coordinated to ensure success and continuity of the CDAIS project.”
 

Flyer on CDAIS in Angola: seeds cooperative, rural entrepreneurship and rice development.

The CDAIS ‘marketplace’ to promote agricultural innovations in Burkina Faso took place on 6 July 2017 in ouagadougou. It was a rich event involving more than 80 people who are working directly with, or interested in working with, different partnerships. The marketplace allowed stakeholders in the six selected partnerships to get to know and develop relationships with suppliers of agricultural support services. It also provided an opportunity for service suppliers and other participants to show their interest in accompanying the partnerships on their respective journeys.

For many years, rural women have been creating their own food processing companies that promote local agriculture by bringing to the market original foods in products that are accessible to urban populations. The aim of CDAIS is to support these companies’ develop- ment by strengthening their capacities to experiment and learn together, as well as to negotiate and make contracts with suppliers and traders. And Dakoupa in Bobo-Dioulasso is one of many small family businesses supported by CDAIS through the women-led agri-food processing micro-enterprise innovation partnership.