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MINUTES OF THE 4TH MEETING OF THE CONTINENTAL STEERING COMMITTEE ON

ECOLOGICAL ORGANIC AGRICULTURE (EOA) INITIATIVE IN AFRICA

HELD AT MIDRAND CONFERENCE CENTRE, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

9TH – 10TH DECEMBER 2015

Prepared by EOA Secretariat

Supported by Biovision Africa Trust and PELUM Kenya

Nairobi, Kenya

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MINUTES OF THE 4TH MEETING OF THE CONTINENTAL STEERING COMMITTEE ON ECOLOGICAL ORGANIC AGRICULTURE (EOA) INITIATIVE IN AFRICA

1. Opening Remarks by the Chairperson, Dr. Janet Edeme – Head of Rural Economy Division and acting Head of Agriculture and Food Security Division, African Union Commission

Dr. Edeme started the meeting by welcoming members of the steering committee to Johannesburg, South Africa, for the fourth meeting of the Continental EOA Steering Committee. She conveyed regrets that Jonathan could not attend the meeting due to problems with his passport which was not readable by the immigration scanning machines. She conveyed greetings from Her Excellency, Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, the Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture. She commended the BvAT secretariat for the excellent job done in organizing logistics of the meeting in 2015.

She noted that good strides had been made in a bid to promote ecological organic agriculture in Africa. As had been agreed during the previous CSC meeting held in Arusha Tanzania, Dr. Edeme informed the committee members that she had included the EOA Strategic Plan (2015-2025) as one of the agenda items for the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Water and Environment held on 7th - 9th October 2015. The EOA strategic plan was presented and endorsed by Honorable Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Water and Environment. She noted that the STC meeting coincided with the organization of the 3rd African Organic Conference held in Lagos, Nigeria in October 2015 and she was thus unable to attend the Organic conference. She had been informed that the conference was well attended, ended successfully with the adoption of the Lagos Declaration on “Achieving Social and Economic Development though Ecological Organic Agriculture Alternatives”, and also the honoring of the twelve (12) eminent persons which this steering committee had put forward for recognizing their contribution to Ecological Organic Agriculture in Africa. Dr. Edeme stated that the Africa Union Commission supported the conference by financing participation of some participants from member states and by also footing some other conference bills.

Dr. Edeme stated that a crucial task ahead of the team was the mobilization of financial resources for the implementation of the EOA Action Plan and the EOA Strategic Plan. She added that she had made steps in resource mobilization by contacting some potential donors or partners in Norway (NORAD), Sweden (SIDA) and Finland for a visit to discuss possible support for the EOA initiative in Africa. She however expressed her concerns that so far the response by the donors was not very encouraging pointing out that only NORAD responded positively to the request to have a meeting with them but also indicating the timing for the meeting was not right at the time of inquiry.

Further, the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) of the AUC had continued with its training programmes for organic farmers and practitioners in the year 2015 with support from the European Union (EU). A training programme was held in August 2015 for participants from the East African Community in Kigali, Rwanda, during which 23 farmers and practitioners were trained, noting to date a total of 90 organic farmers and practitioners from AU member states having benefited from such training.

Dr. Edeme also indicated that the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative in Africa was another important activity scheduled to be coordinated by the lead coordinating agencies of EOA (Biovision Africa Trust and PELUM Kenya). The terms of reference for this review had been circulated, reviewed and finalized. She voiced her hopes that the outcome of the review would help the team in developing future EOA programmes and projects. She informed the members that the sub-committee of the CSC members which meets to review EOA work plans and budgets for EOA held their meeting the previous day (8th December, 2015) and carried out the

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review of the EOA achievements so far, as well as the plans for 2016. She stated that she looked forward to partner funds being released in good time in the year 2016 so that the approved work plans can be carried out efficiently.

Dr. Edeme concluded by guaranteeing to committee members that at the African Union level, every effort was being made to promote the EOA initiative in Africa and stated that the vision was to see organic products consumed by as many Africans as possible and having an increased share of exported African organic products. She closed her opening remarks by urging all members of EOA to share in every platform available in promotion of ecological organic agriculture in Africa and wished members fruitful deliberations and an enjoyable meeting.

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Agenda item:

Issues Discussions, Decisions & Immediate Follow Up Actions Responsible Deadline

2. Consideration of Adoption of the Agenda 3. Confirmation and approval of the minutes of the 3rd Meeting Of the Continental EOA Steering committee held in Arusha, Tanzania AND Matters arising from the minutes

3.1 Generic Fundraising proposal template for EOA programmes 3.2 Revision of the Action Plan and Development of an SP 3.3 Panel of EOA Champions 3.4 Sensitization on EOA initiative

AfroNet was introduced as Agenda item number 10 to be discussed before the last agenda on AOB. AFSA Agro ecological meeting proposed to be part of AOB agenda The agenda is attached to these minutes as Appendix 2. With these the committee adopted the Agenda with the proposed amendments. The Minutes of the 3rd Meeting of the Continental EOA Steering Committee were read through page by page led by the Chair and amendments made where necessary. They were confirmed and approved with some proposed amendments. Guidelines to development of an EOA fundraising proposal template had been developed by the committee assigned to this work. Dr. Amudavi would make a presentation of this during the meeting and thereafter circulate a template to members on email. This activity had been carried out successfully and the documents had been generated. All members confirmed receiving the two documents. A panel had developed a list of Champions (and 12 were finally selected and the list compiled by Dr. Sarah Olembo. They were honored and presented with certificates during the 3rd African Organic Conference in Lagos, Nigeria held in October 2015. As part of sensitization, Dr. Amudavi who attended the global workshop in Sweden had shared the report arising from the workshop as requested by committee members. David to share it again just in

Dr. Janet Edeme Dr. Amudavi, Jonathan Ocran, Zachary Makanya and Dr. Olugbenga Sarah Olembo Dr. Amudavi

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in Africa 3.11 Harmonization of SDC and SSNC Funded Projects

case some members missed it. The chair informed the committee that the EOA Strategic Plan was presented to the AU Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment during its meeting in October 2015, and it was endorsed with some few comments that will be shared. Action: Dr. Edeme to share the STC comments with CSC secretariat The committee was informed by Zachary that a letter was sent to Dr. Edeme from SSNC head office. In this letter Ms. Karin Hook, Advisor and Expert for agriculture and food security at SSNC on behalf of the SSNC team expressed their appreciation and commitment to support the efforts into EOA initiative. She had purposed to participate in the CSC meeting but had to cancel due to the heavy workload within SSNC. She recognized that PELUM Kenya had experienced challenges in the coordination of EOA in Eastern Africa without formal commission and TOR from SSNC which was largely due to the reorganization of the new SIDA Civil Society support period 2013-2015 in order to have a more efficient administration. In the letter Ms. Karin Hook committed to look into and try to address some of these challenges and setbacks that have delayed harmonization process of EOA related activities between the funding agencies in planning, implementation and reporting. She would plan early and anticipate participating in the next CSC meeting in 2016. Due to the challenges indicated above, the meeting was informed that there was still no clear mechanism on how work plan and budgets for both SSNC and SDC supported components of EOA could be harmonized. Regarding the linking of CLOs to CAADP country teams, it was reported

Dr. Janet Edeme Dr. Amudavi, Mr. Zachary Makanya

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Agenda item:


3.6 Satellite Centers to provide Training and Extension Support 3.7 Regional EOA Steering Committee

that a list was yet to be presented to Mr. Jonathan Ocran for linking partners at the country level. Action: Continental Secretariat to provide a list of contacts for country partners to Jonathan Ocran, and Dr. Janet Edeme to request Jonathan to share the updated list of CAADP Country Contact points. It was also reported that TOAM had established successful linkages with the CAADP team in Tanzania. Mr. Zachary Makanya informed the meeting that he communicated with SSNC regarding the possible meeting to discuss funding and had received advice from SSNC to contact the Swedish Embassy in Kenya as well for possible support. In addition to this, it was agreed that there was still need to travel to Stockholm and have a face-to-face meeting with SSNC on harmonizing the SDC and SSNC supported projects. The members were informed that two (2) reports on the two training workshops organized in 2014 in Zambia and Botswana for organic farmers and practitioners from the COMESA and SADC regions, respectively were shared with the committee from Jonathan Ocran through David Amudavi. The meeting was informed that support was given for the formation of the Eastern Africa Regional EOA Cluster comprising Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, and a Steering Committee was established. The report of this Regional Steering Committee was shared earlier and is still available. It would be re-circulated to members of the Continental Steering Committee. The committee had held two meetings in 2015, in July and August 2015 where a side meeting was held during the write-shop on gender and M&E guidelines, and a full meeting respectively. The two reports would also be shared with members of the CSC.

BvAT, Dr. Janet Edeme, Jonathan Ocran Jonathan Ocran Dr. Charles

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3.8 EOA Continental Secretariat 4.9 EOA Partnership Platform 4.10 Update on the 3rd West African Conference on EOA

In West Africa, the meeting was informed that the planned visit to the ECOWAS Secretariat and the CAADP Regional Office in Abuja in 2015 by the West Africa Regional EOA Steering Committee was not possible. Dr. AdeOluwa was working on the appointment details of the visit to take place in 2016. The meeting was also informed that the 2 chairpersons of the Regional Clusters will present the reports of their work carried out in 2015 during the meeting. The chairlady reported that discussions had been held with the Director of Programmes at NEPAD but felt that they have too much on their hands right now to take over and host the EOA secretariat since they were being requested to host too many initiatives and programmes. The continental sub-committee meeting held on 8th December 2015 had a discussion on this issue and firmed up some suggestions previously floated which Dr. Amudavi will present to the committee later. The committee members agreed that the African Organic Conference should be elevated to the status similar to that of the CAADP Partnership Platform. It had been agreed that the 3rd African Organic Conference that was held in Nigeria in October, 2015 would be become the first EOA Partnership Platform. Members agreed there was need to make recommendations on the criteria required to elevate this to the proposed EOA Partnership Platform. The committee was informed that the 3rd African Organic Conference took place in October 2015 and attracted over 200 participants. Dr. AdeOluwa will present on the outcome of the conference through Skype as part of the agenda for this meeting.

Ssekyewa Dr. Janet Edeme Dr. David Amudavi Dr. AdeOluwa

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4. Report of the Sub-Committee on meeting held prior to the CSC meeting on 8th December 2015

3:11 CSC Sub-committee 4.1 EOA Strategic Plan (2015-2025)

The meeting was informed that Prof. Simplice Vodouhe had joined the CSC subcommittee following the subcommittee’s recommendations to have him join it. The Chairlady moved motion for the adoption of the 3rd meeting of the Continental EOA Steering Committee, which was proposed by Jordan Gama and seconded by Mr. Musa Muwanga. Dr. Amudavi informed the meeting that there was a brief write up on the implementation of the EOA revised Action Plan (2015-2020). Mr. Jonathan Ocran had shared Agenda 2063 with the members of the CSC as had been agreed during the previous meeting. Committee members confirmed receipt of the same. Dr. Edeme informed the meeting that the EOA Strategic Plan was shared and adopted by the honorable Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Water and Environment. She informed the meeting that comments from the ministers will be shared to the committee by Jonathan Ocran. Dr. David Amudavi gave a presentation on the comments and recommendations from the sub-committee members that held a meeting prior to this meeting on 8th December 2015 as follows: The sub-committee was hopeful that most project implementation

challenges will be addressed by the partner project management training which shared various good practices of project and financial management.

They proposed that in the future serious critical thinking needs to go into proposal development and budgets. This will avoid poor implementation and ensure there is coherence of activities.

It was recommended that a Results Based Reporting approach

Dr. Amudavi Jonathan Ocran Jonathan Ocran Dr. Amudavi All members of the steering committee

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rather than Activity based reporting should be used by all partners. Focus should be on what changes have been catalyzed by activities implemented. Development partners and donors want to see more of such achievements reported.

There was indication that some PIPs might not be ware of status and amounts of funds to be disbursed to them. It was stated that PIPs need to be made aware of amount and timelines on when funds are disbursed from the coordinating agency.

Setbacks with a lot of multi partner multi contracting can be monitored closely and tamed through quarterly monitoring to ensure delay set-backs like are addressed in time. However, it was recommended that flexibility in time lines is important and also giving partners enough time to execute and deliver.

It was noted that some partner organizations did not undertake annual audits and thus the committee recommended that Partners should be advised yearly that doing organizational audits is a mandatory requirement for funds disbursement.

Regarding monitoring of partner project implementation, BvAT was advised to undertake regular monitoring by coming up with a visits monitoring plan with timeline frequencies.

Types and number of communication materials and costing need to be broken down and provided by partners.

2016 to be planned independently of 2015 carryovers by assessing if the carryover is caused by under spending or failure of undertaking certain activities.

CLOs should indicate activities they will not be able to implement in 2015 as planned.

Work Plans will be approved earliest in the year 2016.

CLOs need to be brought together in order to be closely engaged after the outcome of the Mid Term Review report in so as to discuss with them mainstreaming strategies in the different countries and discuss the implications of the MTR report.

CLOs are advised to reduce overall budget by 10% for 2016

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including the carryovers.

Partner Project and Financial Management training • The subcommittee was impressed with the recently concluded

project management training and stated that it was looking forward to improvements in project implementation from 2016.

• They suggested the Training should be conducted on a yearly basis and thus planned as part of BvAT’s yearly activities.

• Data base needs also to be developed from the trainings to capture the trained aspects, host training materials and also provide a pool of various training experts.

AfroNet: The committee noted that there was need to clearly understand activities undertaken by AfroNet and hence should be slotted as part of the CSC agenda. A brief overview would be presented by the President of AfroNet Mr. Jordan Gama the following day. For Budgets and financial management, the sub-committee suggested the following: • Work plans and budgets need to be adjusted according to the

unspent balances. • The CEOs of all CLOs should hold respective country joint planning

meetings with their PIPs to ensure accountability and proper implementation.

• Partners need to be mandated to give yearly audit report accompanied by a management letter before funds are disbursed.

For Networking and support to non-EOA countries interested in EOA, the sub-committee made the following suggestions and comments: • An engagement strategy needs to be developed on how to engage

and bring on board non EOA countries like Cameroon that will be hosting 4th African Organic Conference; Burkina-Faso, Ghana, Burundi and Rwanda among others.

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• There is need to identify countries interested in the EOA agenda • There is need to establish ways of sharing EOA success stories on

what has been happening so far to the untapped countries. • The interim secretariats were tasked with the development of

criteria for bringing on board other countries.

Regarding Dr. Amudavi’s presentation, the following reactions and recommendations were made: It was pointed out that interim secretariats for CSC and Eastern

Africa RSC needed to be hosted by BvAT and PELUM Kenya

respectively. Additional support however would be required to

support extra human resource as a result of the additional tasks.

This was presented to committee for discussion and providing the

way forward.

It was also noted that the proposal on 10% deduction of funds

allocated to partners was not practically possible. Key observation

from partners is that funds currently allocated for project

implementation at country level are not enough. The meeting was

informed that the unspent balances were funds carried over from

2014 to 2015 arising from delays in signing of partner contracts in

July 2014, and start of implementation of activities with some

partners starting as late as December 2014. However majority of

partners had recovered their time and financial statements for

December 2015 should reflect very minimal balances. A 10%

deduction would affect implementation in 2016.

The meeting was thus informed that once BvAT submits annual

financial statements for 2015, the balances left unspent by

partners will be very minimal.

However Dr. Flury clarified on the need to ascertain the capacities

of all partners and their ability to implement activities with the

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Agenda item:


available resources. The need to ascertain whether it is weak

capacity to implement activities or it is due to late disbursement of

funds; an inquiry that was seconded by Dr. Edeme.

Mr. Musa Muwanga on the other hand argued that the issues

might not be about lack of capacity to implement activities nor

lateness in disbursement of funds but the need to critically look at

the practicality of the current disbursement and reporting

schedule being used. The current arrangement has 2 reporting

levels; from CLOs to BvAT and from PIPs to CLOs. Partners report

bi-annually and disbursement to CLOs done 2 times in a year. He

raised concerns that this kind of contracting might be causing the

delays given that CLOs within the same kind of time frame have to

release funds to 3 PIPs and get reports for compilation from them.

He noted that time lag in this flow between institutions was taking

too much time due to organizations’ own processes and policies

and suggested that to permanently solve the problem there was

need to look at these two levels of reporting and the structures

within.

Dr. Amudavi however informed the committee that the 2 level

structures of reporting is inevitable for now and was looking for

better kind of reporting after partners underwent project and

financial management training. However the committee could

request SDC to allow yearly disbursement of funds to CLOs and

this will enable BvAT release funds to CLOs once in a year. This

however will need first for BvAT to undertake organizational

assessment to ascertain if organizations have the needed capacity

to receive 100% of funds for 2016.

It was also pointed out that there was no clear link between

reporting and capacity to spent allocated funds. Dr. Charles

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Agenda item:


5. Reports from the Regional EOA Steering Committees (Eastern Africa, Western Africa, Southern Africa)

Ssekyewa noted that the delays could be caused by poor planning

by partners. He urged partners to be aware of how much funds

should be spent and plan to spend it effectively and efficiently.

Manuel however clarified to the committee that SDC doesn’t make

advance payments to its partners. Payments are made only after

financial and operational reports are submitted and approved. He

stated that this being an exploratory phase SDC can cut down on

funding where spending by a partner is seen to be lagging behind.

The chair pointed out that given the successful project and

financial management training for partners, there was need to give

a grace period of 6 months in 2016 for a start to work on

improvements on project delivery and execution, and to monitor

the trends of project delivery. Countries could also consider not

implementing all the 4 Pillars but only implement the critical pillars

to take advantage of their technical and other comparative

advantage. There is need for reprioritization based on comparative

advantage of partners, their technical capacity, soundness of

systems, etc where they can make maximum impact with available

resources.

Eastern Africa Regional Cluster The report was presented by Mr. Zachary Makanya The meeting was informed that the Regional (Eastern Africa)

Stakeholders held a meeting in November 2014. The meeting was

supported by BvAT and PELUM Kenya. During this meeting, the

delegates appointed the members of the Regional Steering

Committee and Dr. Charles Ssekyewa was appointed to be the co-

chairperson.

The meeting was informed that the 1st RSC meeting was held

Zachary Makanya

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where members of the RSC were confirmed as follows:

i. AfroNet represented by regional actors (1)

ii. National platform steering committee representatives - these are representations from the ministries of agriculture or related sectors (4)

iii. Country Lead Organizations (CLOs) 4 - ISD, KOAN, NOGAMU and TOAM (their representatives)

iv. Regional farmer organizations (2) – ESSAF, EAFF (2)

v. Regional Economic Committees (RECs) 2 – EAC and IGAD

vi. Regional research institutions - ASARECA (1)

vii. Universities & Tertiary institutions - Inter University Council of Eastern Africa and Mekelle University (on rotational basis)

viii. Agricultural Colleges (1)

ix. Private sector- East African Business Council

x. Standards and certification- Ugocert (1 on a rotational basis)

xi. Lead Coordinating Organizations (BvAT and PELUM Kenya) - 2

The 2nd meeting of the RSC was held in August 6-7, 2015 with the

following key highlights:

i. The meeting created awareness on EOA Initiative to the new

members of the RSC.

ii. The members proposed PELUM Kenya to officially host the

Regional EOA Secretariat. This was to be on interim basis and

is also subject to approval by the CSC.

iii. The EOA-I Regional Work Plans for 2015 were reviewed.

iv. Members also agreed to popularize EOA-I in their respective

countries and institutions.

A key challenge noted was that there has been a lull on who takes

over the role of hosting and coordinating the RSC secretariat. Thus

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Agenda item:


it has not been clear on roles of members. However it was noted

that the interim host of the Regional Secretariat is PELUM Kenya

and hence it is expected to work in close consultation with the

Regional Executive committee members.

Future plans of the RSC for the Eastern Africa cluster is to

popularize the EOA initiative in Eastern Africa and undertake

fundraising initiatives.

The Regional (Eastern Africa) Secretariat requires additional HR

support and therefore presents financial implications. PELUM

Kenya would work around the available budgets and present to

the Regional Steering Committee for recommendations and

approval considering the requirements to run effectively and

efficiently.

West Africa Cluster Updates were presented by Prof. Simplice Vodouhe as follows: The Regional Stakeholder for the West Africa Cluster held their 2nd

meeting during the 3rd AOC in Nigeria in October 2015. During this

meeting three officials were elected; Prof. Simplice Davo Vodouhe

(Chair), Ibrahima Seck (vice chair), and Dr. Olugbenga AdeOluwa

(Secretariat).

He also informed the meeting that members have proposed that

the West Africa Regional Secretariat be hosted in Senegal by one

of the suitable organizations and that the deliberations are

ongoing.

Prof. Simplice informed the committee that due to the challenges

being faced in EOA implementation in Mali, the RSC had planned

visits to Bamako to discuss a way forward ahead of the 4th West

Africa organic conference planned to be held in Mali in 2016. The

meeting will also help Mali stakeholders in charge of EOA to solve

Zachary Makanya Charles Ssekyewa Prof. Simplice Vodouhe

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their internal leadership wrangles.

The meeting was informed that the outcome will determine if the

4th West Africa Conference will be held in Mali or if there will be

need to host the event in a different country.

He informed the meeting that an EOA website for West Africa

Region is also being set up.

South African Cluster Presentation by Ms Manjo Krige The members were informed that no meeting was held for the

South African members in 2015 and thus there wasn’t much

progress to report on to the CSC.

Dr. Edeme pointed out the need for South African cluster to

engage more in EOA initiative through meetings, conferences and

also through strengthening their networks because the AU

decision on organic farming focuses on Africa as a continent.

Ms Krige wanted more clarifications on funding streams and

opportunities, what is available at the moment, and how to go

about.

Dr. Amudavi clarified that the EOA Initiative currently has 2

donors (SSNC and SDC) supporting the initiative in West Africa and

Eastern Africa in this phase ending in 2018. He encouraged all

stakeholders to undertake fundraising initiatives to expand the

initiative beyond the 8 countries.

Discussions

- Concerns were also raised on the operations of Southern Africa

cluster because the cluster members have been involved in EOA

activities in the past and thus they would have something to

Ms. Manjo Krige

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report on not unless they have a breakdown in communication

among the members. The Cluster had even hosted the 2nd African

Organic Conference in Zambia as well as hosted the AU funded

EOA trainings organized and held.

- Ms Johanna pointed out that the cluster had not been functional

since its establishment and if there had been engagements with

some of the members in the cluster it was not communicated back

to the respective people. This would be sorted out internally but

there was need for budgetary support moving forward.

- Dr. Charles Ssekyewa pointed out the need to have the EOA

activity engagements in the South Africa Cluster follow the right

channel of engagement. There was a concern that if the officials

(including the chair) were not aware of ongoing activities, then the

process of engagements should be formalized.

- Prof. Simplice Vodouhe suggested that the next meeting be held in

Namibia so that the committee could meet the Southern Africa

Cluster for purposes of streamlining communication on EOA

engagements.

- The committee noted that the Regional Economic Committees like

the East Africa Community and ECOWAS were not showing much

commitment and interest in the initiative as expected.

- However it was pointed out that they might be too busy to commit

and another issue could possibly be that their programmes are

donor funded and thus restrictive on the kind of initiatives to

support and get involved in.

- Prof. Simplice Vodouhe clarified that West Africa RSC had made

efforts and contacted ECOWAS who showed interest in the

beginning. Using a point person in ECOWAS plans are underway to

have a formal meeting with them in 1st quarter of 2016.

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6.1 Progress of EOA SDC funded by Biovision Africa Trust

- However Dr. Manuel noted that with the current setbacks of

engaging the RECs, African Union needs to write an official letter

to RECs to inform them about the initiative and their need to get

involved.

- The chair welcomed the idea of writing official letters from AU to

the RECs and urged the Regional Steering Committee members to

take the lead.

- Mr. Jordan Gama pointed out the need to align the EOA initiative

to the themes of regional organizations for instance, COMESA

currently have a climate change initiative and thus the EOA

Initiative needs to align to that.

Dr. David Amudavi presented a report on BvAT’s progress overseeing implementation of EOA project funded by SDC for 2015 as follows: BvAT planned and facilitated a partners training on project and

financial management with a well known and recognized project

management training facilitator (Dr. John Chikati of Regional

Partnership Resource Development) who made the training

successful. During the training participants noted disconnect

between the finance officers and project managers and

participants appreciated the need to work together.

However there was not enough time to get sufficient critique on

report writing technical skills and group work presentations and

discussions.

Issues were raised regarding the extent to which the project

managers stick to budget lines e.g. a vehicle that has developed

mechanical problems on transit to the field to undertake SDC EOA

work. Participants were engaged on how to handle such situations

and much more.

It was clarified that a similar partners’ training workshop will be

Dr. Amudavi

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6. Reports from the Coordinating Organizations (Biovision Africa Trust and PELUM Kenya)

undertaken in Western Africa given that partners from Mali and

Senegal did not attend the training due to travel visa logistics.

It was noted that some organizations do not undertake yearly

institutional audits a situation that was worrying.

There was also a lot of Multi stakeholder contracting that was

causing project implementation delays.

It was also noted that some of the Pillar Implementing Partners

(PIPs) were not aware of amounts that should be disbursed and

the timelines of disbursement.

David also presented BvAT’s EOA partner progress highlighting the highlights and achievements for 2015 as follows: • In Ethiopia, the EOA project had tremendous key notable

achievements with the formation of the National Platform and Steering Committee being completed. Mekelle University also successfully introduced an EOA course integrated curriculum, MSc in Agro forestry that has been approved and is now having its first intake of MSc students while ISD has spearheaded the development of an EOA Strategic Plan for EOA in Ethiopia with the 1st draft being produced.

• In Uganda, NOGAMU had been in the forefront in giving recommendations to the revisions of the organic policy for Uganda and held various meetings with key policy officials in the MAAIF. They had also undertaken policy gap analysis study on the current policies with regard to EOA development. The first draft had been shared by the Consultants and was in the final stages of incorporating comments from the stakeholders, among other achievements.

• In Benin among other achievement a productive meeting with the members of Economic and Social Council of Benin had been held to advocate on the integration of EOA in public investment plan.

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• Nigeria successfully hosted the 3rd African Organic Conference in Lagos where 220 participants, including 34 farmers; men, women and youths, from 28 countries attended and produced a declaration on ‘Achieving Social and Economic Development through Ecological and Organic Agricultural Alternatives’, and also had a successful inclusion of EOA recommended course in one University among other achievements.

• Tanzania’s value chain and market development pillar had key achievements among them being the creation of two new organic markets namely Mesula in Arusha and Marangu in Kilimanjaro region which were established in addition to the Dar-es-Salaam market, the only one in operation in 2014. The volume of organic products in the market increased with 244 tones of ginger, sesame and sunflower traded against 145 tones traded last year, which is an increase of 40.5% from the baseline. This was contributed by collective marketing and enhanced their farmers’ marketing capacity by training and forming 4 new Participatory Guarantee Groups (PGS) groups making up 8 PGS groups in total with PGS Manuals.

• In Kenya, most of the achievements noticeable were on partnership creation and networking with Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries – collaboration in farmer training; Ministry of Information, Busia – to assist in getting media presence for EOA; Anglican Development Services - extension services; Rural Outreach Programme – extension services; Send a Cow - providing inputs to farmers; Micro-finance institutions – assisting in giving farmers credit facilities and farm input suppliers – providing inputs.

• Senegal partners embarked on developing EOA training modules and forming partnerships with research universities like the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar.

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6.2 Progress of EOA SSNC under PELUM Kenya

Mr. Zachary Makanya presented the report on progress of PELUM Kenya’ work in regards to the implementation of EOA project funded by SSNC for 2015 as follows: He informed the committee that there was progress in enhancing

a strengthened in-country Coordination and Management of the

EOA Initiative in Eastern Africa.

Two Regional Steering Committee (RSC) Meetings were organized

and held in 2015, with clear action plans being developed;

structures and terms of reference for the Cluster put in place

(ongoing); and a transitory secretariat at PELUM Kenya for the

Eastern Africa RSC established.

Documents on Gender and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

Guidelines for mainstreaming into EOA Programme by the Eastern

Africa partners were developed by Eastern Africa stakeholders

through a write-shop organized by PELUM Kenya in June 2015. The

documents are in their final stages of development.

EOA Team of 7 from the implementing partners in Kenya

participated in the FAO Agro-ecology Regional symposium in Sub-

Saharan Africa held in Dakar Senegal to explore opportunities of

partnering and working together with likeminded

initiatives/efforts elsewhere. A meeting with AFSA was held and a

way forward mapped out for working together as from 2016.

In Uganda among other achievements, it was reported that in the

value chain and market development pillar, there were more

farmers selling in local, regional & export organic markets and

there were higher acreages under organic food production with

increased quantities of organic agriculture produce exported from

Uganda as evidence in the 230,239Kgs (230 metric tons of simsim,

moringa & shea butternuts). There are also more Organic

Zachary Makanya

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agriculture products exported and 4000 bundles of local organic

vegetables traded on local markets, , 200 Fresh veggies PGS

smallholder farmers with increased organic certified land to 200

acres from the above projects.

PELUM Uganda developed, printed and disseminated 500 copies

of directory for EOA actors in Uganda. The directory has become a

key reference point for PELUM Uganda when organizing strategic

partner events such as the Indigenous food fair and Green Action

Week activities. The directory is accessible to a wide range of

stakeholders in both hard copies and online. It profiles over 200

actors in EOA in Uganda including agro-input dealers, producers,

processors and exporters, honey producers and processors,

training institutions, academic institutions, demonstration farms,

consultants and certification agencies, NGOs, CBOs, CSOs and

Government institutions.

- Mr. Makanya expressed concerns that reports on updates from

ISD Ethiopia had not been received in spite of numerous requests

and reminders. This was attributed to the clouded end of the year

schedule and the involvement in COP 21 in Paris. Consequently,

report on Ethiopia had not been included.

- A key challenge he expressed also was the exclusion of TOAM in

Tanzania from the current project funding phase by SSNC

necessitating the proposed plan for regional events to be tailored

to this new reality, including documentation of success stories, in-

country monitoring and review meetings and the upcoming

external evaluation by PELUM Kenya.

- He noted that PELUM Kenya had experienced challenges gathering

progress of activity implementation from Eastern Africa partners

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Agenda item:


because the current structure and framework for EOA reporting

under SSNC funding has partners in Eastern Africa reporting

directly to SSNC by the individual implementing partners, who

include CLOs and PIPs, and this lengthens the process of sharing

reports, and sometimes not reaching PELUM Kenya at all. The

framework does not oblige the SSNC partners to report to PELUM

Kenya. They report directly to SSNC without going through PELUM

Kenya.

- He stated that he had several meetings and discussions with SSNC

and this was also being discussed internally within the SSNC

- Delays in release of funds from SSNC and signing of contracts were

also voiced as major challenges with funding in 2015 being delayed

up to June 2015 and therefore the first half of 2015 was not

utilized in implementation of the programme as guided by the

funding partner. This left most of the activities crammed to the

last two quarters of the year with activities being rolled over to

2016.

- Zachary noted with concerns that the harmonization of the EOA

projects funded by SDC and SSNC still posed a big challenge. This

was because of different funding phases and different kinds of

contractual agreements from the two funding partners,

considering SDC funding covers a 5 year period while funding from

SSNC covers a period of 3 years and only focuses on supporting

civil society organizations and not other actors including

government institutions and academic institutions. With delays in

contracting and release of funds from SSNC, it has been very

challenging to harmonize project partners’ work.

- He informed the meeting that with current EOA workload and the

added responsibility of hosting the Eastern Africa Regional

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Agenda item:


secretariat but with no extra funding sources currently to support

additional and /or dedicated staff for this work was challenging to

PELUM Kenya and required those involved to work under

extremely time constrained conditions.

- However he informed the meeting that EOA has a lot of

opportunities with various lessons learned during 2015

implementation phase. One of them is that EOA project is very

relevant to regional and national development agenda. In Uganda

for example, it contributes to all the four program areas of the

Development Strategy and Investment Plan of the Ministry of

Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries 2010/11 – 2014/15

which include Enhancing Production and Productivity, Improving

Access to Markets and Value Addition, Creating an enabling

Environment, and Institutional Strengthening in the Sector.

- Another opportunity is that policy makers gain a new interest and

eagerness to uptake EOA either partially or wholly at national level

with a well elaborated history of where this began; the

involvement of the AUC and heads of states decision. It is

therefore well received and easier to integrate into the ongoing

policy process discussions, and/or policy documents in line with

the Africa Union council decision on Ecological Organic farming

EX.CL/DEC.621 (XVIII), and EAC, SADC and COMESA plans on

regional integration agenda, all of which are focused on increased

productivity, protection of exploitation of farmers and promotion

of sustainable consumption. - He noted that there are strengthened institutional capacities in

programme management, implementation, coordination and

financial management as a result of serving as CLOs and

coordinating the initiative for in-country partners; and regionally

for the Country Lead Organizations.

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Agenda item:


Discussions Mr. Stephen Debre requested future trainings to consider

engaging partners who cannot travel due to logistical issues

through online platforms like webinars. Dr. Edeme supported the

idea of online training noting that it will cut down on costs and

involve those partners not able to attend physically.

Dr. Amudavi also clarified after getting further information from

BvAT Finance that funds to be rolled over to 2016 were for

MOBIOM (Mali) only and Dr. Flury Manuel noted that the

carryovers are impressive. He however insisted that CLOs needed

to look at their implementation capacity objectively and

communicate this feedback in case there is a need to adjust in any

of the countries.

Prof. Simplice Vodouhe sought to know from Dr. Amudavi what

endowment fund entailed. Dr. Amudavi explained that

endowment fund constitute funds that are given by a donor to

another organization for the sole purpose of investing in order to

earn interest for an agreed period of time after which the principal

funds are remitted back to the donor. This is one way of

promoting resource mobilization and institutional sustainability.

Dr. Amudavi also stated that despite the fact that Eastern Africa

Steering Committee was not able to utilize the 2015 funds

allocated by SDC to the regional activities, he was optimistic there

would be better implementation in 2016.

The committee deliberated on the proposal by David and

Manuel on possible future mechanisms of engaging with new

funding partners for this initiative. Potential Partners and donors may

engage in the following manner with the EOA-Initiative:

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Agenda item:


(1) CORE: Participating in the EOA-Mainstreaming Initiative that

reports to the EOA CSC with funding being either un-earmarked

or earmarked for particular components such as supporting

continental steering; regional activities (of facilitating experience

sharing and networking of one or several regions); country

activities (of one or several countries); pillar activities, or actor

specific activities, operated in a fully harmonized manner in terms

of planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, reporting

and being steered formally by the EOA CSC (or its Sub-

Committee).

(2) ASSOCIATION: Supporting programmes and projects under the

EOA-Label that follow the result framework of the Mainstreaming

Initiative, operate in coordination with it, inform EOA CSC (and

the respective National Steering Committee -NSC and Regional

Steering Committee-RSC) annually about their activities and

achievements and are steered by a separate and independent

mechanism; Such can join the core if so desires.

(3) SELFSTANDING: Programmes and projects that follow the basic

orientations of the EOA-Initiative but with a different result

framework and a separate steering mechanism. The EOA CSC has

no control over this, but can graduate to either of the above

arrangements.

All programmes and projects of the three categories align to the EOA

Strategy and approaches, therefore, are entitled to use the EOA-Label.

Mr. Konrad Hauptfleisch emphasized on the need for this

committee to spend more time discussing possible collaboration.

One of the ways that could be utilized would be through jointly

drafting a guideline on a framework for engaging with partners,

and then the committee would comment on it, and researching

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7. Updates on diversifying

Funding Opportunities for

EOA Initiative

and consequent preparation of the best practices learnt from the

programme implementation so far. He indicated that the synergy

between IFOAM and the EOA Initiative could further be

strengthened by enhanced collaboration and joint initiatives.

It was agreed on the need to establish from FAO the

division/section (Check: crop production and protection) that is

promoting Agro-ecology and explore stronger collaboration

including supporting some elements of the EOA Initiative. There

was a need to send a strong voice for partnerships e.g. during the

3rd AOC in Nigeria, there was struggling to mobilize enough

resources for the event, and later the following month of

November FAO held another agro-ecology symposium in the same

region in Dakar Senegal, whereas the two could have been

organized and held jointly since they target the same stakeholders.

Action: Dr. David Amudavi and Dr. Sarah Olembo to work on a

letter indicating the need for better collaboration between FAO

and AUC in the EOA Initiative instead of holding parallel meetings,

which the commissioner can sign.

Dr. Sarah Olembo informed the meeting that she had been

requested by UNCTAD to prepare a policy brief that could be used

to support request for funding of EOA in Africa. The policy brief

would basically be on raising awareness on the EOA initiative and

requesting UNCTAD to consider supporting the initiative. UNCTAD

as a UN agency has been active in promoting OA especially at

trade level and EOA required justification as a viable option to be

used within the UN and the wider stakeholders. This brief would

therefore require research for case studies that are strong and

Dr Amudavi & Dr Sarah Olembo

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Agenda item:


backed by facts and figures from the findings, which would be

useful to strengthen the case on stakeholder benefit.

It was felt that this would best be prepared by the AUC on the AU

letterhead. However Dr. Edeme deferred this decision until she

could establish the ownership of such a policy brief, and the intent

of use of the brief.

Action: Sarah to share the communication from UNCTAD with the

sub-committee who will develop a written request with

projections on timelines as to when this is required, and clarifying

on the issue of ownership. The sub-committee should forward this

to Dr. Edeme / Jonathan for further consideration on developing

the policy brief on the AU Letter head if there are clarities on the

issue raised on ownership and with whom the policy brief would

be shared.

It was proposed that a Community of Practice should be

established which means going beyond the circle of EOA to learn

best practices from other similar projects. Committee members

were requested to explore how the EOA team could come

together to effect this through establishing a learning platform

from various experiences, to share strategies of working together,

share lessons learnt, identify projects that have good framework

for information exchange and expertise in the sector.

It was noted that EOA implementers would be participating in COP

21 which would be held in Paris, France. The EOA team should

explore useful methods of utilizing the conclusions from this

powerful platform to advance agro-ecology. In future such high

level global forums and meetings with relevance to EOA should

also be identified and EOA should have representatives participate

so as to undertake actions based on the synthesized outcomes of

Dr Sarah Olembo

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8. Updates on Mid-term Reviews

(MTR) of the EOA Initiative

(SSNC concluded review and

Status of the Comprehensive

the meetings.

The meeting was informed to consider basket funding as a feasible

option for continent wide projects with examples of RUFORUM,

AFAAS etc where during fundraising it is acknowledged that this is

on behalf of the EOA Initiative in Africa. When such opportunities

are identified they could be shared with the Chair and the rest of

the committee members during meetings or online (email) for

deliberation and then a strategy on how to approach this could be

deliberated and agreed upon. This process requires caution.

The Chair advised that mechanisms of engagement should be

elaborated on further in order to derive a strategy in

implementing decisions of global meetings. The CLOs and PIPs

should map similar initiatives to EOA in their respective countries.

Efforts to be made on what we can learn from basket funding

arrangements.

ACTION: The Secretariat was requested to contact the SIDA office

in Nairobi, Kenya and the Swedish Embassy and make an

appointment where the two EOA Lead Coordinating agencies can

meet and discuss on possible support, and give this feedback to

the committee.

It was also reported that Mr. Francis Faye of EU had indicated

there could be a window for supporting OA and had invited

members of EOA Initiative to express interest by the AUC through

the Sustainable Development Goals advancement.

Dr. Amudavi took participants through the MTR of the EOA

Initiative. The MTR will in particular”

a) Assess the EOA Initiative’s plans, achievements,

CSC secretariat (BvAT) CSC Secretariat

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Agenda item:


MTR 2016)

experiences, and lessons, and make recommendations for

improvement and the way forward.

b) Test the relationships between the projects’ efforts and

progress so far made towards EOA’s vision and mission,

including analysis of the institutional and project

implementation framework set up as well as the degree

and consequences of implementation of the Initiative and

contributions towards country strategic policies and plans,

and relevant regional and continental declarations spelt

out in the EOA Strategic Plan (2015-25).

c) Highlight issues and challenges affecting effective and

efficient implementation of outputs and their contribution

to project outcomes and impact.

Members were in agreement that this was a good step as it was

useful to review work in order to draw lessons. Some comments

and discussions revolving around the Terms of reference were as

follows:

The MTR required to be aligned with the heads of state decision to

promote organic agriculture in the objectives of the TORs.

The TOR was presented in English but would also be shared in the

French Speaking countries and therefore required interpretation

and translation into French.

A short version for advertisements in the dailies (half page) while

the detailed version shall be posted online, and circulated to

partners for sharing. In West Africa the same shall be done with

support by Prof. Simplice Vodouhe in French. The institutional

briefs about AUC, BvAT and PELUM Kenya in the TOR should also

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9. Updates and Post analysis of

the 3rd Africa Organic

Conference held in Lagos,

Nigeria

be very brief.

It was also felt that the deliverables were quite loaded and could

be reviewed. However it was agreed that they were all necessary.

The contracted consultants shall be required to prove that they

can carry out the review in the 8 countries of implementation. If

an individual consultant is contracted, he should prove he can do

this job with his team by developing a work plan in his EOI

indicating what would be done at various periods, in order to

facilitate constant feedback. There should also be emphasis on

the need for constant feedback on progress made by the

consultant which is paramount.

Part 5: The programme Log frames for different partners since

there was not one consolidated work plan shall be provided.

BvAT will be overall responsible for the management of this MTR

including contractual engagements, but it will also be important

for SDC to know whom they will award the contract for this MTR.

The consultant should have good working knowledge on CAADP.

The members of the Subcommittee will be associated to the

selection of the consultants and participate in the debriefing based

on an intermediate report, to take place in Addis Ababa on 5 April

2015. The CSC will discuss the final report for responding and

approval at its next meeting in May 2015.

Part e: on documentation of amendments should be well captured

Updates on the 3rd African Organic Conference were provided by

Dr. Olugbenga AdeOluwa through a Skype conference. Some of

the post conference analysis issues discussed during the Skype

have been referenced in other sections of the meeting.

Additionally the following was provided:

Dr AdeOluwa Olugbenga

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Agenda item:


It was noted that prior to the 3rd African Organic Conference there

was no advertisement of the conference on the AU website. This

could have profiled the conference more, while increasing

publicity of the same. In future it is advisable that the conference

announcements are made early enough especially for the 4th

Conference with “Save the date” tag with the dates shared by June

2016 at the latest, and shared on various relevant online

platforms. The Chair regretted about this omission.

If there will be honoring of champions, a small committee should

be established to develop the list of Organic Champions, through

establishing a criteria and profiling their work in EOA. The

invitations to the Champions should also be made early enough

possibly though the chairperson, to the conference, their spaces

and slots in the porgramme secured.

In future, it would also be supportive of the CSC to play a more

active role in the local organizing committee and allocate some

financial support for this committee.

Dr. Olugbenga also provided updates on UNCTAD’s request and

proposal to have policy brief, an issue that had been discussed by

the committee and a decision taken, on the basis of feedback from

the sub-committee.

It was noted that a good job had been done in fundraising for the

conference despite the challenges of the amorphous committee

and therefore the need to make it easier to fundraise for the

conference in future. Most funds were raised from the registration

fee and not from donors. The members proposed that

considerations to set up a seed fund especially to help move the

organization of the 4th African Conference early enough, including

establishment of an endowment fund that could help build

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10. Updates on the AFSA FAO

conference

sustainability of holding the conferences in the future.

It would be useful to consider the 2012 results of the Brussels

conference which was one of the high level global initiatives, in

order to take it into context for utilization of the outcomes.

If there are fund balances from the conference a request can be

written to partners and ask to use this for a noble cause.

The updates on the FAO – AFSA conference and presentation of a concept paper for the next FAO Sub Sahara conference were presented by Dr. Amudavi. Dr Amudavi made a presentation on deliberations that took place

during the Regional meeting on Agro ecology organized by FAO for

Sub-Saharan Africa.

He further informed the meeting that the conference took place

on 5th and 6th November 2015 in Dakar, Republic of Senegal where

he took part as one of the panelists in Round Table 4: Public

Policies (including Legal and -Institutional Frameworks) to Promote

Agroecology. He did a presentation on EOA on behalf of the rest of

the participants representing EOA in the meeting.

He did a presentation to the committee on the first concept note

developed in preparation for an upcoming conference on Agro

ecology in Ethiopia (may be) in October 2016.

Discussions and recommendations on the concept paper for

forthcoming Alliance for Food Security in Africa (AFSA)-led conference on agro ecology:

The CSC decided to support and participate in the organisation of a conference that should complement the regular continental and regional conferences and clearly link to the continental agenda of the AU as a contribution to CAADP. The idea of such a Conference

Dr. Amudavi

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Agenda item:


emerged from an interaction between AFSA and GPFS in Addis Ababa end of 2014. The committee members gave their inputs and recommendations for the improvement of the first concept note and also for the overall improvements towards preparations of the conference; The role of Continental Steering Committee (CSC) in the AFSA

conference on the future of Agriculture for nutrition and health

for Africa:

- This needs to be well elaborated to make it meaningful and

impactful. The focus of the proposed Conference is part of the

EOA goal; hence the EOA Initiative should be an integral part of

the preparations and hosting. In fact it was noted that EOA is the

DNA of organic agriculture and fits well with food and nutrition

systems.

- It is therefore important to create an alliance/network with AFSA

and like-minded organizations to take the initiative forward by

linking to health which has not been leveraged globally but is

increasingly becoming important. By joining efforts, our intention

should be made LOUD and be HEARD widely.

- This forum will provide details of common understanding and

bring together change agents and greater visibility to EOA and

agro ecology. This will enhance public engagement in the initiative.

Action: The EOA Interim Secretariat to prepare a brief (1-2 pages) on the role of EOA - I and what resources, modalities of engagement are needed and share virtually. Comments on the brief should be shared with the Chair of CSC. Action by AFSA: Advise how the CSC could meaningfully play a role in this conference).

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Leverage on Key Issues, Content and ongoing work:

- The concept note prepared by AFSA needs to address and

encourage sharing of broader issues in EOA such as investment,

policy, nutrition and health.

- Change the wording ‘Bad food systems model’ in the document to

‘other/alternative food systems model and also include medicinal

aspects.

- The role of small scale farmers especially women needs to be

captured in the content. Paper presentations on this will be most

encouraged.

- What value will this conference add to what has already

happened? There is need to restructure and bring out what has

been happening already especially in health and nutrition to build

the argument of how the conference is contributing to the ongoing

continental processes. Current efforts should be acknowledged.

- Link the conference/ complement to other EOA conferences that

have taken place, for example the African Organic Conferences

(AOC), Benin West Africa Organic conference, etc.

- Content presentations (research projects and initiatives) of the

conference should reflect on recent declarations and major

meetings such as the latest Conference of Parties (COP) 21, also

known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference. The COP 21 aimed

to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, of

keeping global warming below 2°C. West Africa conference coming

u in 2016 will be followed up to ensure spacing between the two

conferences to avoid inconveniences.

- We need to ensure that we do not repeat the same things that

have been happening and ensure uniqueness in terms of

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Agenda item:


complementing what has already been done and ongoing. Hence

links between the upcoming West Africa Organic Conference and

the AFSA conference will need to be established by striving for

complementarities rather than duplication. Resources should not

be wasted on just reporting what has been done. Clear

complementarities and value added should be demonstrated.

Action: Prof. Simplice Vodouhe should follow up to ensure non duplication of efforts in the 2016 West African conference. - A link should also be made to Land Policy initiative currently

supported by AU and African Development Bank (ADB). Janet

noted that a lot of work has been done in this area for bringing in

technical work, data and findings and the planned conference

could benefit from these. Thus, introduction to the Chief Land

Policy Officer will be made. Space has been provided by the AUC

for sharing land policies and land tenure in Africa and the next one

will be held in 2016 in Namibia. The first meeting attracted 1000

participants. The Chair will share the draft concept note about

the conference through the interim EOA Secretariat. The meeting

will address issues of human rights especially rights of women,

women land access. This conference needs to be linked with the

AFSA Conference on additional issues of food sovereignty. Ms.

Manjo Krige requested that her organization (Namibian Organic

Association-NOAN) be involved in the land conference

preparations.

- A link should be made to recent continental and global

declarations such as AU’s Agenda 2063, CAADP, and COP21

following the Paris meeting, Lands meeting in Dakar, etc.

Prof. Simplice Dr. Amudavi

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Organization of the Conference:

- A small group will be needed to shape the conference especially

paper presentations towards the conference.

- The team should also work on clear outputs for various sessions of

each day. Clarity on concepts such as Health and Nutrition need to

be made.

- Bring on board key players including representative of food

security at UN, the media, FAO (what should be the role of FAO in

this conference), and other institutional partners. Strategies

should be worked on how to tap into various institutional

partners, the media and sponsorship opportunities.

- Farmers to exhibit indigenous foods and other products at a side

event. How else should farmers be involved?

- What is the budget estimate and what is the implication to EOA-I?

Outcome of the Conference:

- The proposed outcomes seem too big to be achieved in 4 days of

the conference.

- There is need to be realistic and shape the outcomes of the

conference and frame them in relation to the EOA Strategic Plan.

- To underscore the connection with EOA, a paper on EOA

development needs to prepared and presented at the conference.

Reference in the paper needs to be made to the recent

declarations, including the Paris COP 21.

- The conference should discuss more of actions instead of focusing

on recommendations. There is need to put emphasis on how to

act on the recommendations and thus move beyond declarations.

Many conferences are usually held and come up with declarations

and recommendations but no clear plan on how to put them into

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Agenda item:


action. The conference should be planned with ACTION in mind

and as the ultimate end.

- Define expected outputs and how they should be measured.

- Make a declaration that makes reference to continental agenda if

we want to see policy reforms at country level.

Contribution and Publicity:

- Encourage highly prominent people to participate and good media

coverage to the conference.

- It was noted that the concept paper doesn’t seem to be

contributing to any scale-wide process. Dr. Janet Edeme, the CSC

Chairperson, promised to link the organizing team to a senior

advisor in CAADP to participate in the plans and also link with

Africa Seeds Network in the preparations. It was felt important to

identify working groups and lead organizations to support the

hosting of the conference.

Sponsors of the Conference:

- It was clarified that SDC is one of the possible financial

contributors to the conference and not the only one. There is

need to bring on board other funders and engage in a lot of

fundraising initiatives to be undertaken. The wording in the

concept note regarding funding needs to be revised and cautiously

presented.

- A paper needs to be presented to AU for consideration in

supporting funding the conference. The paper should address the

broader continental agenda especially the 10 year CAADP agenda.

Venue of the Conference:

- Ghana was interested in hosting the conference. One of the CSC

members, Stephen Debre, offered to organize and have the

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11. Presentation on AfroNet organizational structure and operations

conference hosted in Ghana.

Afro Net’ presentation was done by Mr. Jordan Gama the President of AfroNet. Mr. Jordan gave a brief background of AfroNet by stating that it was primarily constituted of National Organic Agriculture Movements in the Continent since 2008 My Jordan clarified that in 2012, AfroNet was endorsed in Lusaka at the side event and conference declaration - a continental network for the purposes of uniting and leading/coordinating the EOA Actors. He explained that AfroNet is a self organized advocacy and networking organization for organic and ecological agriculture for private, civil society and farmer’s organizations across the continent and also elaborating on its goal, mission, vision and its structure. The AfroNet structure of AfroNet has members and collaborators. The members are in West Africa, Eastern Africa and South Africa. The members include national organizations, organic movements and thematic networks like NOARA. The collaborators are the OTEA project, EOA project and Pro Eco project among others. Jordan clarified that AfroNet has a governing body that constitutes of the General Assembly, the board and the secretariat with the general assembly meeting after every three years.

Jordan Gama

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Agenda item:


The 1st General Assembly of the AfroNet network was held in Lagos, Nigeria during the 3rd Africa Organic Conference that was held in October 2015 where members endorsed an Interim Committee appointed in Lusaka to constitute to a Board and also a task force was put in place to amend the AfroNet constitution He informed the meeting that AfroNet also has a secretariat that is comprised of technical employees on full time or part time or voluntary basis. Currently 5 employs are in office (Programs Director, Communication Specialist & Administrator and Part time finance and TA-Volunteer) He broke down the key functions and roles of AfroNet as follows;

1. Unite and network Organic Agriculture actors and

stakeholders across the continent, regions and countries.

2. Engage and undertake advocacy at high levels with members

and partners at – Africa Union Commission, Regional Economic

Commissions and National and Development partners.

3. Capacity building in OA across the continent.

4. Programming and resources mobilization for its endeavors in

promoting OA on the continent.

5. Spearhead OA Research, extension, training and value chains

and market development.

6. Provide management and administrative function to like

minded program and partners.

He stated that AfroNet is undertaking various activities under

funding from OTEA and Swiss Development and Corporation (SDC)

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Agenda item:


funding Ecological Organic Agriculture (EOA)

He also mentioned that AfroNet currently has various funding

streams like the EOA project with funding coming from SDC, the

OTEA- Sida/IFOAM project and also from Hivos and SSNC at the

beginning of its establishment

Discussions

- Konrad commended AfroNet for the good work they had been

doing noting that they featured very strongly in coordinating and

unifying various actors during the recently concluded 3rd Africa

Organic Conference in Lagos Nigeria and congratulated them for

bringing OTEA on board.

- Dr. Flury thanked AfroNet for the good work they are doing but

noted that it needs to be very clear what role AfroNet plays and

what benefits they bring on board in the EOA initiative.

- Dr. Edeme also added her voice by saying it was not clear where

AfroNet draws its mandate from. She stated that more clarity is

needed on where and when AfroNet was established. More clarity

is also needed on whether AfroNet as an organization has criteria

for membership, their tenure and how much consultations were

done in the board criteria selection. She further sought to know

the kind of link AfroNet has with AUC.

- Mr. Jordan Gama clarified by explaining that the AfroNet was

formed during the Africa Organic Conference held in Lusaka

Zambia in 2012 and thus AfroNet draws its mandate from

participants who endorsed it during the meeting.

- He also clarified the role of AfroNet by informing the members

that it is key in fundraising for the conferences, events and

workshops like the recently concluded Africa Organic Conference.

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Agenda item:


- He clarified that the link with AUC was established through Dr.

Yemi when he was working in AUC and also during initial startup,

support for AfroNet was from AUC. They also had back to back

meetings like in Senegal where the AfroNet structure started being

formed.

- He noted that AfroNet has already brought on board other actors

like from Rwanda and Burundi and West Africa (Burkina Faso and

Cameroon) who have joined the EOA movement and even

attended the AOC in Lagos Nigeria.

- Prof. Simplice Vodouhe wanted to know if there had been any

attempts to reach North Africa Partners to join EOA.

- Mr. Gama explained to the meeting that reaching to North Africa

had been attempted though with a lot of difficulties. Currently

they had made contacts with Central Africa, a link that has been

established through the Vice Chair of AfroNet. He stated that some

initiatives are already ongoing in Central Africa and that the 4th

Africa Organic Conference in 2016 will be held there (Cameroon).

- Dr. Edeme sought to know the stage at which AfroNet Strategic

Plan development had reached and at what point they planned to

seek views from CSC members.

- Dr. Ssekyewa added to the discussion by stating that there was

need to be very clear on the role of AfroNet and avoid duplication

of efforts. He stated that his understanding is that the outlook of

AfroNet is that of a private sector initiative just like that of NOARA

focuses on research. He suggested that CSC should be the

umbrella and thus should come up with a criterion that guides

formation of other EOA networks like AfroNet.

- However Mr. Musa Muwanga stated that there was no confusion

Page 43

Agenda item:


on the operations and structures of operation of AfroNet. He

explained that AfroNet is an institution while EOA is an initiative.

He further clarified that AfroNet brings together private actors

(CSOs, farmer organizations, and private companies) and that

AfroNet is registered as an NGO and thus it cannot have any kind

of representation in it. He noted that AfroNet can be one of the

vehicles for driving the EOA agenda and moving it forward.

- Mr. Musa Muwanga gave a brief history of the formation and

development of AfroNet by explaining that in the 1st African

Organic conference held in Kampala Uganda, two decisions were

made as follows i) Formation of a research network in Organic

Agriculture for Africa (NOARA) and ii) Formation of private

network (AfroNet). Later there was a follow up in the 2nd Organic

Conference held in Lusaka, Zambia where members unanimously

endorsed the networks through guidance from the Uganda

resolutions.

- Mr. Musa Muwanga further explained that the mandate of

AfroNet is putting together private actors for a common cause and

that the criteria for member selection are vested in the

governance system and has nothing to do with either EOA

Initiative or endorsements from EOA CSC structures.

- Mr. Muwanga clarified that the AfroNet governance structure is

determined by members of AfroNet and thus should not be

discussed in other committees or meetings and that the power on

decisions is vested and rests with AfroNet members.

- However Mr. Makanya and Dr. Amudavi informed the meeting

that the EOA CSC has every right to understand the governance

structures of AfroNet. This was given that AfroNet is part of the

EOA CSC structure having their President representing them. Mr.

Page 44

Agenda item:


Makanya noted that the basis of collaboration and networking is

to understand AfroNet structure with Dr. Amudavi adding that

AfroNet is also funded by SDC.

- Dr. Amudavi stated that AfroNet required identifying its core role

with guidance from CSC members and also in the development of

its Strategic Plan.

- Dr. Sarah Olembo Sarah noted that the AfroNet brochure does not

bring out the process of AfroNet endorsements and

developments, noting that there was no mention of Kampala and

Lusaka endorsements in its history and background. She added

that there is also a repeat of key functions featured as roles of

AfroNet yet they are roles for EOA. She added that documents to

reference the history of AfroNet development need to be included

as appendices to the brochure.

- Mr. Jordan Gama welcomed the idea of having the EOA CSC give

ideas in shaping the structures and roles of AfroNet.

- Dr. Edeme also requested AfroNet to plan and visit North Africa so

that they can start engagements that will bring them on board.

She added that the draft charter should be submitted to this

committee and also the draft strategic plan should be shared so

that the committee can have a look and give ideas because

AfroNet is a critical player in EOA.

Action: Mr. Jordan Gama to share the AfroNet Charter to the CSC and also share the Draft Strategic Plan. - Most members noted that the AfroNet brochure is not well

polished and has a lot of editorial and grammatical errors that

need to be corrected before wider dissemination.

- Dr. Janet Edeme advised AfroNet to work closely with BvAT to

Page 45

Agenda item:


12. Any Other Business and Date and venue of the Next meeting 13. Closing Remarks

polish the brochure before being disseminated further.

The being no other business, the members deliberated on venue

and dates of the next meeting. They were informed that the

subcommittee had proposed the meeting to be held in Zambia but

this was not a final decision. Members gave suggestions to have

the meeting held in Namibia where the Ms Manjo Krige the chair

of the South Africa Cluster is based.

To this suggestion, members unanimously agreed to have the next

CSC meeting in Namibia in May 2016 a date to be agreed upon

later.

They agreed that this meeting will he hosted by the EOA Southern

Africa Cluster led by Manjo Krige of NOAN in May 2016. This

meeting will help iron out any challenges that the members might

be facing.

Dr. Edeme Janet closed the meeting by informing the members

that the Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture, Her

Excellency, Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace is very keen on the

deliberations and work that this committee was carrying out and

reads all minutes generated from the meetings. She was

impressed by the major strides made so far including the role of

AUC chairing the committee. She appreciated members for their

constructive discussions and proposed solutions to the challenges

encountered. She wished all members a merry Christmas and

Happy New year 2016.

Page 46

Appendix 1: List of Participants of the 4th CSC Meeting held at Midrand Conference Centre, Johannesburg South Africa on 9th to 10th November 2015

NAME ORGANIZATION EMAIL ADDRESS TELEPHONE NO.

1 Dr. Janet Edeme African Union Commission [email protected] +251911683120

3. Mr. Zachary Makanya

PELUM Kenya [email protected] +254714647916

4. Mr. Konrad Hauptfleisch IFOAM –Organics International [email protected] +27825654654

5. Ms. Maryleen Micheni

PELUM Kenya [email protected] +254723540417

6. Mr. Musa K. Muwanga NOGAMU [email protected] +256772448948

7. Mrs. Venancia Ndoo Biovision Africa Trust [email protected] +254721 766628

8. Mr. Stephen Debre

PEF [email protected] +233243925219

9. Dr. Charles Ssekyewa

UGOCERT [email protected] +256790838690

10. Dr. Sarah Olembo Women’s Rep – Kenya [email protected] +254 712 526722

11. Prof. Simplice Davo Vodouhe

West Africa EOA Regional Cluster [email protected] +22996691096

12. Dr. Manuel Flury

SDC [email protected] +251930012449

13. Dr. David Amudavi Biovision Africa Trust [email protected] +254717627098

14. Mr. Jordan A. Gama

AfroNet [email protected] +255758908303

15 Ms. Manjo Krige Chair: Namibian Organic Association

[email protected] +264 81 129 5575

Page 47

Appendix 2: Agenda of the Meeting AGENDA 1. Opening/ Welcome Remarks by the CSC Chairperson 2. Consideration and Adoption of the Agenda 3. Confirmation and Approval of the Minutes of the 3rd Meeting of the CSC held in Arusha, Tanzania

on 20th and 21st May , 2015 and Matters Arising thereof 4. Report of the Sub-Committee on Consolidated 2016 Work plans and Budgets 5. Reports from the Regional EOA Steering Committees (Eastern Africa, Western Africa, Southern

Africa) 6. Reports from Project Coordinating Organizations (BvAT & PELUM Kenya) 7. Updates on diversifying Funding Opportunities for EOA Initiative 8. Updates on Mid-term Reviews (MTR) of the EOA Initiative (SSNC concluded review and Status of

the Comprehensive MTR 2016) 9. Updates and Post analysis of the 3rd Africa Organic Conference held in Lagos, Nigeria 10. AFSA-FAO Agro ecology presentation 11. AfroNet presentation 12. Any Other Business 13. Date and Venue of the Next Meeting 14. Closing remarks 15. Courtesy Visit to the NEPAD offices on 10th December

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