Our Programs
The three core programs of AKADEMIYA2063, ReSAKSS, AGRODEP and MaMo, bring to Africa a comprehensive and effective approach to linking data and analysis to policy design, implementation and innovation.
Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System
Established in 2006 under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) supports efforts to promote evidence- and outcome-based policy planning and implementation. In particular, ReSAKSS provides data and related analytical and knowledge products to facilitate CAADP benchmarking, review, and mutual learning processes. AKADEMIYA2063 facilitates the work of ReSAKSS in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency), and leading regional economic communities.
By providing policy-relevant data and analysis, facilitating dialogue among stakeholders, monitoring progress in achieving goals, and strengthening mutual accountability processes, ReSAKSS supports the successful implementation of CAADP. Key ReSAKSS activities include monitoring CAADP progress through its interactive website and Annual Trends and Outlook Reports; enhancing Mutual Accountability in African agricultural policymaking through Joint Sector Review assessments and support to the continental Biennial Review; support to the design of evidence-based National Agriculture Investment Plans; and strengthening country-level knowledge and analysis capacities by establishing country Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support Systems.
Monitoring CAADP progress
ReSAKSS fills critical knowledge gaps by helping African countries to assess their progress toward meeting CAADP and Malabo Declaration goals for transforming agriculture and improving livelihoods. Using innovative knowledge tools, ReSAKSS tracks progress on over 30 core CAADP indicators. The ReSAKSS website features an interactive map and chart and country and regional profiles to monitor progress across the continent by geographic region, regional economic community, economic category, and stage of CAADP implementation reached. The ReSAKSS website also features interactive country eAtlases for mapping and analyzing data at the subnational level and provides access to datasets, publications, and resources on CAADP mutual accountability processes. ReSAKSS also tracks progress on CAADP indicators through its flagship Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR). Launched in 2008, the ATOR is the official CAADP monitoring and evaluation report. In addition to tracking progress on CAADP indicators, each Africa-wide ATOR delves into a topic of strategic importance to the CAADP and Malabo agendas.
Enhancing Mutual Accountability
ReSAKSS, in collaboration with country stakeholders, the AUC, NEPAD Agency, and other development partners, facilitates agriculture joint sector reviews (JSRs) that are regular, inclusive, comprehensive, and technically robust. ReSAKSS conducts assessments of country and regional JSRs to evaluate both the institutional and policy landscape and the quality of current agricultural review processes and to develop action plans for improving or establishing best-practice JSRs. Outcomes of the assessments have been used to strengthen agriculture JSR processes where they exist and establish new JSRs.
ReSAKSS also provides technical assistance to the CAADP Biennial Review Process, which reviews country, regional, and continental progress toward meeting the 2014 Malabo Declaration commitments. ReSAKSS supported the inaugural Biennial Review of 2018 as well as subsequent reviews through development of technical guidelines, tools, and indicators; training of national experts from across Africa; development of a user-friendly interface for data entry and automatic generation of scorecards; and support to efforts by countries and regional economic communities related to data collection and analysis, data entry, and drafting of country reports, regional summaries, and the continental report. ReSAKSS also supports the AUC and NPCA in drawing lessons to strengthen the review process, methodologies, and tools.
Promoting evidence-based National Agriculture Investment Plans
As many countries’ first-generation national agricultural investment plans (NAIPs) have ended, the next-generation plans must achieve the goals and targets of the 2014 Malabo Declaration. Together with local and international actors, ReSAKSS supports the development and implementation of next-generation NAIPs that are Malabo compliant through the creation of (1) a NAIP Toolbox that outlines metrics, analytical tools, methodologies, and core programmatic components to guide NAIP design; (2) a NAIP Experts Group of over 200 researchers from across Africa to provide technical support to countries; and (3) a NAIP Task Force to provide training, backstopping, and quality control for the local experts. Analytical support provided by the Experts Group includes an evaluation of each country’s current situation with respect to the Malabo thematic areas; the identification of investment priorities to increase a country’s likelihood of achieving key Malabo commitments and goals; and a qualitative assessment of good practices and indicated actions to accelerate progress under the Malabo thematic areas.
Establishing country SAKSS platforms
ReSAKSS works with national governments, including CAADP teams, to set up and strengthen Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support Systems (SAKSS) rooted in local capacities and infrastructure. The country SAKSS is a critical instrument for supporting the review of and dialogue on CAADP implementation as well as providing country-level data and analyses.
To improve analysis and visualization of policy data, ReSAKSS has been developing country eAtlases. These are a core tool of the SAKSS platforms for mapping highly disaggregated data on agricultural, socioeconomic, and biophysical indicators in a centralized and interactive system. The eAtlases improve country data and knowledge management and help policy analysts and policy makers access and use subnational-level data to guide agricultural policy and investment decisions. In addition, with an eye to building institutional and technical capacity, ReSAKSS shares best practices for data collection and analysis; collaborates on strategic analysis with in-country partners; and organizes trainings, workshops, and conferences.
African Growth and Development Policy Modeling Consortium
The African Growth and Development Policy (AGRODEP) Modeling Consortium, established in 2010, is a network of Africa-based experts supported to take a leading role in addressing strategic development issues across the continent, including the analytical needs of the CAADP implementation agenda. AGRODEP facilitates the use of economic modeling tools, promotes access to data sources, provides training and research grants, and supports collaboration between African and international researchers.
The AGRODEP Modeling Consortium pursues three essential activities:
- Promote access to and use of state-of-the-art economic modeling tools to meet the demand for high-quality, locally based research.
- Facilitate access to existing data sources for research and policy analysis, improve the quality of available datasets, and identify and bridge data gaps.
- Support collaboration among leading African scientists and their peers outside Africa and build a dynamic research community that can respond to the emerging and long-term needs of the CAADP growth and poverty reduction agenda.
AGRODEP provides a shared modeling infrastructure which assembles a broad range of economic models dealing with sector, national and international policy issues; a common database platform which brings together disparate statistical, economic, and geospatial data in one central clearinghouse and develops shared standards, formats, and exchange protocols that facilitate access to high quality data; a network of experts which provides opportunities for collaboration and the exchange of data, modeling techniques, joint analysis, reporting, and strategic debate; and communities of practitioners grouped around common thematic interests to serve as a forum for scientific exchange, training, and capacity building.
In 2018, AGRODEP’s Policy Analysis and Advisory Services (PAAS) component was established to put the expertise of network members to use in providing policy advice to state and nonstate organizations that are active in development work in Africa. With the increasing recognition of AGRODEP as a major network of African experts, several members are being mobilized to use their expertise in ReSAKSS-led activities as well as projects and proposals carried out in collaboration with international organizations and universities.
Malabo Montpellier Panel
The Malabo Montpellier (MaMo) Panel convenes 17 leading experts in agriculture, ecology, nutrition, and food security to encourage the development of meaningful policy innovations by African governments in order to accelerate progress toward food security and improved nutrition in Africa as part of the CAADP agenda. The Panel’s core mission is to promote and guide exchanges among high-level policymakers to encourage the scaling-up and replication of successful policies and programs from the best-performing African countries in various Malabo priority areas. The MaMo Panel is facilitated by AKADEMIYA2063, the University of Bonn, and Imperial College London.
The MaMo Panel supports evidence-based dialogue though its technical reports that identify areas of progress and positive change across the continent as well as the institutional and policy innovations that can be replicated and scaled up in other countries. The Panel publishes two technical reports per year, with each report accompanied by around five to seven country case studies. The easily accessible and readable research reports provide expert knowledge and guidance for policy, based on careful analysis of literature, scientific evidence and practical experience on the ground.
The related Malabo Montpellier Forum (MaMo Forum) uses the evidence produced by the Panel to facilitate dialogue and exchange among high-level decision-makers on African agriculture, nutrition, and food security. Held twice per year in a different African country, the forum provides a platform for informed dialogue and exchange among African policymakers at the highest level. The forum is cochaired by the Rt. Hon. Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, former vice president of the Republic of Malawi, and H.E. Abdoulaye Bio-Tchané, minister of state in charge of planning and development of the Republic of Benin. Under the leadership of its cochairs, the forum seeks to create a space for busy executives to discuss issues of strategic importance in a context that is free from domestic pressures.
MaMo Panel members and staff organize and participate in national and international events and fora to discuss and disseminate findings from the Panel’s reports. In addition, Panel staff carry out extensive communication and media activities to reach out to broader constituencies, including the private sector, non-state actors, and other stakeholders involved with or interested in the broader development agenda in Africa.
