February 28, 2018, Nairobi, Kenya
Africa Lead supported the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation to hold a two-day workshop on Kenya’s agriculture institutional architecture. The event was attended by 75 participants from state actors (government ministries, departments, units and agencies), and non-state actors (Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), farmer organizations, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), private sector partners, and the donor community including USAID/Bureau for Food Security representative Courtney Buck. Other notable guests were the Agriculture Rural Development (ARD) Donor Group chair, Mr. Michael Nicholson (USAID/Kenya and East Africa Deputy Chief, Office of Economic Growth and Integration); the Kenya Agriculture Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Madam Anne Onyango; Eng. Jasper Nkanya, Council of Governors (COG) representative; and Mr. Justus Monda, the Agriculture Council of Kenya (AgCK) chairperson.
This was one out of a series of meetings Africa Lead has supported the ministry to convene since the commencement of the IAA activity in 2015.
The workshop’s goals were to build a shared understanding of institutional architecture and its link to the National Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP), the Joint Sector Review (JSR) and Biennial Review (BR) processes; to identify the elements of a good NAIP and BR; and to identify ways in which robust institutional architecture contributes to a successful NAIP process. Participants also deliberated and scored each of the IA elements to identify priority areas for improvement and reach consensus on recommendations and an IA Improvement Plan. This information was gathered through group discussions, presentations, plenary sessions, and an online survey.
The overall result of this meeting was a compiled action plan highlighting recommended activities to bolster the IA process. These activities cover issues such as building the capacity of the private sector and CSOs to effectively participate in the process, refinement of the existing policy development schedule and a “pathway” to improving alignment with government budgeting cycles, integration between national and county processes, strengthening data collection, monitoring and evaluation, as well as domestication of the JSR, NAIP, MTP, and the IA.
These recommendations will inform the final action plan currently being drafted by the technical advisory committee.