Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Semi-Annual Report: October 1, 2015 – March 31, 2016

The program's overall goal is to foster credible, inclusive, transparent, and sustainable policy processes at country and regional levels and fill critical policy evidence gaps. During the reporting period of October 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016, the program's activities in West Africa focused on supporting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to strengthen its monitoring and evaluation (M&E) unit and establish a regular and comprehensive regional agriculture joint sector review (JSR). The JSR is an essential element for successfully monitoring and evaluating the ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), the regional agriculture investment plan (RAIP), and national agriculture investment plans (NAIPs). The program team worked with ECOWAS to review and update the M&E framework to align it with emerging issues and the Malabo Declaration themes. The updated M&E framework will be used to update the ECOWAP Results Framework for 2015-2025 at a regional workshop. The team also developed technical guides for assessing the first and second generation national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. In addition, the program team initiated studies of the reasons for uneven implementation of regional policies at country level. The team discovered that the World Bank recently completed a thorough study of seed and fertilizer, and as a result, opted to focus on pesticides initially. In Mali, the program completed preliminary reviews of the seed and fertilizer system and piloted a multiple-visit household survey to generate evidence. The program's activities in Asia focused on supporting the design and implementation of a new associate award in Burma and a new mission buy-in for Tanzania. The program team also worked with various partners to develop technical guides for assessing national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program's activities in Eastern and Southern Africa focused on supporting the development of national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program team worked with various partners to develop technical guides for assessing national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program's activities in Tanzania focused on supporting the development of a new mission buy-in for Tanzania. The program team worked with various partners to develop technical guides for assessing national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program's activities in Zambia focused on supporting the development of national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program team worked with various partners to develop technical guides for assessing national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program's activities in the Global Collaborative Research on Policy Process and Capacity component focused on supporting the development of a new associate award in Mali and a new mission buy-in for Tanzania. The program team also worked with various partners to develop technical guides for assessing national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program's activities in the Engagement on Global Policy Debates on Food Security and Upstream Agrifood System Transformation component focused on supporting the development of a new associate award in Mali and a new mission buy-in for Tanzania. The program team also worked with various partners to develop technical guides for assessing national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program's activities in the Strategic Analytical Agenda and Support to Donor Policy and Strategy component focused on supporting the development of a new associate award in Mali and a new mission buy-in for Tanzania. The program team also worked with various partners to develop technical guides for assessing national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program's activities in the Management Support for Coordination, Communication, Compliance, and Impact component focused on supporting the development of a new associate award in Mali and a new mission buy-in for Tanzania. The program team also worked with various partners to develop technical guides for assessing national agriculture investment plans and the regional agriculture investment plan. The program's activities in the Component 4a: Engagement on Global Policy Debates on Food Security and Upstream Agrifood System Transformation component focused on supporting the development of a new associate award in Mali and a