PACA Steering Committee Seventh Meeting-Communiqué

Transcription

1 PACA Steering Committee Seventh Meeting-Communiqué September 2015 Dakar, Senegal The seventh PACA Steering Committee (SC) meeting was held on September 2015 on the margins of the regional workshop on Revamping the Groundnut Value Chain of West Africa through Aflatoxin Mitigation in Dakar, Senegal. The Subcommittees met on 03 September to review technical and financial matters, and to make recommendations to the full session of the Steering Committee, which met on 4 September Day I: 03 September 2015 The Technical Subcommittee (TSC) met on the morning of 03 September 2015, the TSC chair, Dr. Ranajit Bandyopadhyay, opening the meeting. The Subcommittee reviewed and discussed technical issues arising from implementation of regional and country level activities planned for 2015, including: the Country-led Situational Analysis and its consistency across all pilot countries; review of National and Regional Agriculture Investment Plans; proposed African Health Forum Focusing on Aflatoxins; and outcomes of the workshop on Revamping the Groundnut Value Chains of West Africa through Aflatoxin Control, held on September. The TSC urged the Secretariat to fast track the hiring of the PACA Country Officers in each pilot country to facilitate the coordination and partnership building at the country level. The Subcommittee encouraged the Secretariat to proceed with plans to ensure that the AfricaAIMS portal becomes a searchable database. The TSC endorsed the two regional progress reports for eastern and southern Africa (Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania) and western Africa (Gambia, Nigeria and Senegal). The Budget, Finance and Administration Subcommittee (BFA) met in the afternoon of 03 September 2015 to review and discuss various issues concerning budgets and administration. Dr. Janet Edeme, the incoming chair of PACA SC and BFA, opened the meeting. The BFA discussed PACA s 2015 budget, budget re-forecast and actual expenditures, 2016 revised Work Plan and Budget, as well as staff hiring and other Secretariat operational issues. After thorough review and discussions, the BFA made several recommendations for Steering Committee approval. The meeting closed with provisional approval of the documents presented. Day II: 04 September 2015 The full Steering Committee began deliberation on 04 September 2015 with a welcoming remark by the incoming Chair of the SC, Dr. Janet Edeme, Head of the Rural Economy Division and Acting Director of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union

2 Commission. The morning session included reviews and discussions on the implementation progress of actions and recommendations from the sixth meeting of the PACA SC in February 2015, highlights of SC member activities, and PACA Secretariat progress. The SC commended the Secretariat and SC members for the activities they have been able to implement and the progress made. The afternoon session included a presentation by the resource mobilization consultants engaged by the Secretariat. The ad hoc committees established by the sixth SC meeting reported on SC membership and rotation as well as monitoring and evaluation (M&E). The Secretariat presented a report on the status of implementation of recommendations from the First Partnership Platform Meeting (PPM) held in 2014 and a concept note for the PPM The Secretariat presented a concept note for an upcoming African Health Forum on Aflatoxins. The SC reviewed and discussed on these agenda items and gave guidance and recommendations. Decisions, Outcomes and Next Steps The SC took the following key decisions, and identified a range of detailed next steps. The meeting outcomes and next steps included the following items. Progress Report from PACA Secretariat SC endorsed the report on PACA activities over the last six months. The SC commended Secretariat for effective implementation in pilot countries. The SC also appreciated advocacy efforts and the work with partners such as Mars Inc. and UN agencies to organize a side event on the margins of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3). SC members recommended that these partnerships should be concretized and strengthened. Matters Arising during Implementation of Secretariat Activities and Update on Actions from the Sixth SC Meeting The SC appreciated the Secretariat s progress in developing a framework for mainstreaming national and regional aflatoxin control action plans into relevant frameworks with focus on the CAADP framework. The SC encouraged the Secretariat to increase its efforts in mainstreaming gender in all its activities. The SC commended the Secretariat for working closely with Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and recommended that it finalize Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between the African Union commission and the RECs, if possible. Seventh PACA Steering Committee Meeting Communique September 2015 Page 2

3 Highlights from SC Members on Related Meetings and Activities, Feb Aug 2015 As is customary, SC members shared highlights from their activities on aflatoxins and related areas. Many SC member activities are synergistic with PACA Secretariat activities, as evidenced by the highlights shared: Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) convened a one-day stakeholder consultative meeting on the Formation of Innovation Platforms for Aflatoxin Management in Ghana on 17th June The meeting was attended by about 45 participants representing various stakeholders in the Ghanaian agricultural and trade sectors, including the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, farmer-based organizations, researchers, agribusiness, and development partners. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is financing a study on the impacts on aflatoxins on stunting. Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) gave an overview of a project for proficiency testing for aflatoxin. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been supporting its member states on a range of relevant activities, including its engagement in a training workshop on Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF), which in the recent edition focused on aflatoxin as a key food safety challenge and which was conducted with the European Union, preparatory meetings for the CODEX Committee meeting, and development of quality standards for 25 food and agricultural products. African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) is developing a guidance document on a regulatory framework for biological pesticide registration. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is working on many relevant activities, including continued scaling up of AflaSafe in many African countries. Mars, Inc. collaborated with PACA on an event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, which generated much press coverage. Review and Discussion of Progress on PACA Secretariat Resource Mobilization Efforts The Secretariat has engaged Resource Mobilization experts to support the Secretariat in raising funds for PACA phase II, The consultants are developing a resource mobilization strategy and marketing materials, along with other documents. The SC members appreciated the resource mobilization efforts and directed the consultants to: Identify sub-component activities and target donors to fund specific activities; Work with the material from the Finance breakout group from the Groundnut Value Chain Workshop in order to build on some of the recommendations of the discussions; Explore reaching out to key partners to mobilize immediate bridging funds for the short term while seeking commitments from donors for phase II; Increase efforts to target engagement of key private sector and development partners that are most closely linked to the mission of PACA. Seventh PACA Steering Committee Meeting Communique September 2015 Page 3

4 SC Membership Ad Hoc Committee Report The Ad Hoc Committee on SC membership, comprised of Consumers International, Pan African Agribusiness & Agroindustry Consortium and African Medical Research Foundation, was established at the Sixth PACA SC meeting to address a membership rotation architecture. PACA s current SC members were appointed and inaugurated on November 1, 2012 and serve terms of three years, with the option of serving two consecutive terms. The SC endorsed the Ad Hoc Committee s recommendation for staggered rotation schedule and the creation of two seats for new members to give the opportunity for new expertise and participation. The SC then made the following recommendations: Invite the East African Community (EAC), that has expressed interest in serving as a PACA SC member, to take the REC seat. Invite the African Society of Mycotoxicology to take the Technical Institution seat. Invite Mars, Inc. and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to fill the two new seats representing the perspectives of global food manufacturers and nutrition, respectively. Encourage the Secretariat to continue to communicate with past SC members and involve them in important meetings such as the 2016 Partnership Platform Meeting (PPM). Outgoing members expressed their pleasure serving on the SC for PACA advancing this important cause and assured that they will continue to work with the PACA Secretariat and SC going forward. The AUC thanked them for their support and expressed that PACA greatly values the ongoing partnership with their organizations. PACA s new Steering Committee members will be inaugurated for a three-year term, beginning in November Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Ad Hoc Committee report The M&E Ad Hoc Committee was formed at the Sixth PACA SC meeting and tasked with reviewing the PACA Secretariat M&E framework and the theory of change. The ad hoc committee presented a revised PACA Theory of Change and Pathways of Change, and recommended that the M&E Framework be finalized once a set of headline indictors are agreed upon (taking in to account PACA Phase II). The SC endorsed the ad hoc committee report and made several suggestions, including: Specific suggestions for further improvement of the Theory and Pathways of Change. This can be used as part of the resource mobilization efforts. The Secretariat should finalize the M&E Framework for review and approval by the SC, and should undertake the baseline study accordingly. Seventh PACA Steering Committee Meeting Communique September 2015 Page 4

5 Regional Workshop on Revamping Groundnut Value Chains of West Africa through Aflatoxin Mitigation The SC encouraged the Secretariat to: Proactively use the Private Public Producer Partnership (P4) idea to promote the groundnut value chain in West Africa. Pursue the development of flagship projects identified by workshop participants to revive the groundnut industry by addressing the most critical challenge of the subsector (aflatoxin contamination) Recommendations of PACA Partnership Platform Meeting (PPM) 2014, and Plans for PACA PPM 2016 The Secretariat presented an update on the implementation status of recommendations from the first PACA PPM meeting in The SC endorsed the implementation status report. The Secretariat presented the 2016 PPM concept note to the SC. The SC suggested several revisions to the Concept Note, including the following: Reduce the number of presentations to allow for more interactive sessions. Include consideration of the Malabo Declaration in the objectives and outcomes. Consider the budget vis-à-vis the timeline for resource availability to effectively organize the meeting. African Health Forum on Aflatoxins, March 2016 The Secretariat presented the Concept Note on the African Health Forum Focusing on Aflatoxins, which is tentatively scheduled for March A task force has been formed and has been working on the workshop preparation. The Secretariat and AMREF highlighted efforts to mobilize resources for successful implementation of this workshop. SC members proposed the following changes to the concept note: Include issue of awareness and advocacy in the concept note. More fully develop and articulate the theme of the workshop. Consider minimizing the number of presentations for the meeting or add an additional day to give more time for the presentations. Shorten the length of the Concept Note before further circulation. SC members will help link PACA and AMREF to related projects that may be able to co-sponsor the Forum. Eighth PACA SC Meeting The next Steering Committee meeting will be held in February 2016 in Maputo, Mozambique. Seventh PACA Steering Committee Meeting Communique September 2015 Page 5