Africa Lead FY 2018 Quarter 3 Public Report

The program has traditionally contributed to the FTF goals of reduced hunger and poverty by building the capacity of champions — i.e., men and women leaders in agriculture and the institutions in which they operate – to develop, lead, and manage the policies, structures, and processes needed for transformation. During the third quarter (Q3) of fiscal year 2019 (FY2019), Africa Lead continued to evolve in the services provided to support new, emerging challenges in food security and improve the overall policy system for agriculture at local, national, regional, and continental levels. This effort included developing facilitative leadership skills for individuals working in influential organizations across the agricultural sector, providing backbone support to CAADP activities, strengthening inclusive dialogue processes for key value chains and sectors (such as mango, seed, and pesticide), and facilitating collaboration for improved resilience programming. According to USAID's Global Food Security Strategy, effective policy systems include prioritized policy agendas, institutional architectures for predictable and transparent policy formulation and implementation, and mutual accountability through transparent and inclusive processes. Within the context of CAADP, this includes the Biennial Review country scorecard to better present how well countries are performing on mutual accountability. Africa Lead activities are designed to promote and sustain a culture of learning and contribute to a process by which evidence can play a greater role in determining policy directions and programs in agriculture. By design, Africa Lead activities are demand-driven, and the project serves as a flexible mechanism to support various USAID initiatives at the mission and continental level. Africa Lead supported the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) in Kenya this quarter. CUTS convened a national reference group in Nairobi, where stakeholders discussed the development of a national agriculture investment plan. The meeting aimed to strengthen inclusive dialogue processes for key value chains and sectors, and to facilitate collaboration for improved resilience programming. In addition, Africa Lead provided backbone support to CAADP activities, including the CAADP P2P Network, CAADP Partnership Platform Meeting, CAADP Development Partners Coordination Group (DPCG), and CAADP Biennial Review Communications and Advocacy Toolkit. The project also supported the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation (MoALFI) on the 2019-2020 Biennial Review Process. Africa Lead's support to the Kenyan MoALFI included the development of Institutional Architecture Assessing, Prioritization and Planning (IA-APPs) Tools and Learning. The project also facilitated collaboration for improved resilience programming, including the development of a regional agricultural investment program. The program's major accomplishments and outputs from April through June 2019 are highlighted in this report. The report provides a snapshot view of FY19 Q3 activities and key data points for each of the project's buy-ins. The report also includes mission-level dashboards, which provide a view of the project's progress in each of the countries where it operates. Africa Lead's activities are designed to promote and sustain a culture of learning and contribute to a process by which evidence can play a greater role in determining policy directions and programs in agriculture. The project's flexible mechanism allows it to support various USAID initiatives at the mission and continental level, and its complex network of activities is designed to drive continent-wide goals.