Context
The “African-European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD)” project is a European project implemented by a consortium of eight African and European partners. The African consortium of PAEPARD is coordinated by the “Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa” (FARA) and the European consortium by the “European Forum for Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD)” PAEPARD aims to build a multi-actor partnership between Europe and Africa in Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) in order to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More specifically, the project aims for a broader, more equitable, mutually beneficial and demand-driven collaboration with the goal of achieving the MDGs. The main beneficiaries of the project are European and African ARD actors, including members of FARA and EFARD, who will be better organized, coordinated and empowered to participate in research programs through more efficient partnership mechanisms.
The project is structured into seven complementary work packages:
(1) mobilize European players;
(2) mobilize African actors, particularly outside research;
(3) information and communication;
(4) capacity building;
(5) partnership for innovation;
(6) pleadings, and
(7) project management and coordination.
Each component is led by a leader and a co-leader combining African and European organizations (Annex 1)
PAEPARD commissioned two consultants, one African and one European, to develop a methodological guide for setting up innovative partnerships between African and European actors on the one hand, and research and non-research on the other. The aim of the guide is to clarify the concepts of innovative multi-actor partnerships between Africa and Europe, to define the principles and methods for setting up equitable partnerships. It should also propose mechanisms to facilitate partnerships built on a long-term commitment of actors and ways and methods to put these principles into practice.
Clarification of key concepts
The literature gives various definitions of the key concepts of PAEPARD. The work carried out aims to clarify these concepts according to the objectives of PAEPARD, in particular by making more explicit the notion of innovative partnerships for rural innovation; multi-actor arrangements for ARD; demand-driven research and the facilitation of multi-stakeholder arrangements
Agricultural research for development (ARD) is research that integrates the actions of all stakeholders involved in the value chain of a product, from production to consumption, and includes advisory and regulatory services. The RDA considers that innovation and change are the results of an interactive exchange of knowledge, experiences and technologies between the different actors of the sector.
The multi-actor concept refers to groups, organizations and networks representing civil society and the productive sector and working on a matter of common interest. In the case of PAEPARD the issue of common interest refers to ARD innovations for improving the living conditions of African farmers.
Partnership is an alliance (collaboration) between organizations representing at least two sectors that are committed to working together to implement sustainable research for development. This collaboration involves the sharing of risks and benefits and the revision of the terms of the partnership if necessary.
Innovative partnership for innovation: innovation is the implementation of a novelty (idea, technology or process) in an innovative way in order to produce social and economic benefits for the actors involved and, more broadly, for society . Innovation is the result of a process of networking and interactive learning between heterogeneous actors. The innovation partnership brings together various talents and complementary expertise accelerating co-learning and the development of creativity. Partnership innovation is reflected by the adaptability of the partnership, in particular in relation to strategic orientations on issues of present and future common interest.
Demand-driven research means that the research relates to expressed needs for the users of the research who may be from the public sectors, civil society or labor.
Partnership facilitation: A “facilitator” is a factor that provides an interface between the “right” partners on a matter of common interest and manages the collaboration harmoniously in order to achieve collectively defined goals.
In summary, PAEPARD is a collaboration for the building of capacities aiming at the autonomy (empowerment) of actors outside research by improving the equity of the partnership and strengthening the commitment of actors with the objective of improving the impact of ARD. . The engagement of African and European actors is the major mechanism and capacity building. The latter is based on co-learning within a framework of improving the impact of ARD.
Partnership is a process comprising different phases and stages. Partnerships are organic, they reveal themselves, flourish, end or transform through internal evaluation processes, their relevance and their interests in terms of profit. PAEPARD aims to engage actors outside of research in order to link it more to demand. Two long-term partnership establishment processes are proposed: a fast-track and proactive process and a process based on responsiveness to opportunities. The first (fast-track) gives more space to actors outside research and commits the latter to focus on their requests and the second responds to the opportunities and timing of RAD calls for tenders.
The process of implementing the two options is similar, it consists of three phases: exploration, construction and maintenance of the partnership. The main difference between the two is in the way of determining the research and development objective: in the first option this objective results from the negotiation between partners and in the second, the definition of the objective is based on a existing partnership or funding opportunity.
The principles of a successful partnership
For the management of a fair and balanced partnership including actors and stakeholders from and outside research, nine generic principles are proposed:
1. A multi-actor partnership must be inclusive and driven by a concrete proposal guided by a specific objective but cross-cutting issues
2. A multi-actor process must ensure that all legitimate actors are involved
3. An African interest group should prepare its own internal environment in order to engage the European counterparts in a fair and strategic partnership
4. A balanced partnership is based on negotiation and designed in collaboration
5. A partnership is successful when it recognizes and uses complementary skills.
6. The partners recognize and appreciate their cultural differences and adapt their behavior so as to design actions in a multi-cultural environment.
7. The sharing of information, practices and co-learning are the determining elements of building partnerships
8. A successful partnership must give meaning to collective ownership and put in place a system for participatory monitoring and evaluation of the partnership.
9. A partnership is successful when the capacities of all partners are increased Increase to be able to cooperate and act according to the roles and responsibilities of each
Put the principles into practice, manage and facilitate partnerships
These new principles aimed at bringing together African and European stakeholders in agricultural research and outside it, must guide the construction of an effective partnership between Africa and Europe and its effective implementation for development in Africa. Therefore to follow the principles of the new paradigm of integrated research oriented towards human development, a model for innovation in partnership must be able to manage the complexity linked to the interactions between the bio-physical, human and socio-economic domains and their dynamics in the real context.
The management of complexity and diversity justifies the construction of multi-actor partnerships which are the necessary condition for the implementation of multidisciplinary and multi-scale methods. The proposed approach is inspired by local development theories which propose a series of tools and methods based on proximity to build and organize a system based on education in the broad sense. The multifaceted development of capacities proposed implies a collective commitment of actors in a common vision of the future and decentralized and equitable governance. What is targeted by the collective increase in skills is the ability to adapt, autonomy and increased citizen contribution of local actors to the development and implementation of public policies
The methods derived from “learning by doing” are recommended in order to build an effective and solid partnership based on tangible actions. The proposed system aims at an overall strengthening of skills and plans to target individuals, young people, the diaspora, preferably civil society, to play the role of “facilitators”. These people will have a central role to play in ensuring the interaction between local communities and external actors. For certain focal groups of actors such as women’s groups, civil society and the private sector, accelerated partnership-building processes based on market-oriented commercial issues or submissions to European or other calls for projects, are offered.
As innovation systems are dynamics responding to internal or external factors, a generic and rigid framework is not desirable to improve the impacts of innovation. We therefore suggest implementing a method based on the analysis of existing initiatives (Case Studies) to prioritize the issues to be promoted thanks to the methodological and financial support of PAEPARD. The model provides for innovative knowledge management recognizing local knowledge and know-how as well as scientific results in order to provide varied and adapted information and communication tools. This implies developing alternative tools that meet specific needs, for example for groups of women producers or engaged in the trade of food products who are often illiterate.
A three-phase action protocol is proposed:
Phase 1: Mapping of the partnership and mobilization
This phase aims to select representative situations in order to map the partnerships. The choice of these case studies will be based on the networks of PAEPARD partners. The PAEPARD project will have to ensure that the stakeholder profiles are representative of the actors in a given situation
Phase 2: partnership building and stakeholder engagement
The multifaceted capacity building process begins at this stage when a common vision begins to emerge. This step should make it possible to intensify exchanges between research actors and actors outside it, as well as between local actors and actors operating at other scales (media, political decision-makers, etc.). It should also make it possible to identify individuals who could play the role of facilitation and mediation. At this stage, a long-term process and an accelerated process of setting up a partnership can be envisaged in order to respond to European or other calls for projects.
Phase 3: Actions for a multifaceted capacity building
This phase aims to recognize, improve and create various forms of education, capacity building, knowledge acquisition and expertise. The methods implemented will be based on collective dialogue, knowledge exchange and learning. The resources and references will come from concrete analyzes and the achievements of previous phases.