by

Patrick H R Tawonezvi, PhD

Agriculture & Rural Development Consultant

Presented to the CCARDESA General Assembly

6-7 May 2014

• The process of establishing a sub-regional organisation (SRO), laterknown as CCARDESA, to coordinate agric R&D started in 2006 as partof the preparation of the SADC Multi-country Agricultural ProductivityProgramme (SADC MAPP)

• SADC MAPP - a 15-year regional programme to translate into actionPillar 4 of CAADP and taking into account regional priorities in theRISDP of SADC and the 2004 Dar es Salaam Declaration on foodsecurity by SADC Heads of State.

• A Steering Committee comprising 12 members from different SADCcountries was appointed by the SADC Secretariat to help steer theprocess.

• Development of SADC MAPP and the SRO involved wide stakeholderconsultations with all SADC Member States and other stakeholders

• Consultations were held through:• In-country meetings/workshops attended by key agric stakeholder groups• Regional workshops also attended by key stakeholder groups from all SADC

countries• Consultancy studies

• Thus the process was two pronged:1. Development of the regional R&D programme (SADC MAPP), and2. Development of the SRO to coordinate implementation of the regional

programme

• Three key principles guided the development of CCARDESA:1. An SRO with autonomy in the management of its human and

financial resources

2. Inclusive stakeholder (public and private sectors, farmers,agribusiness, agric NGOs, etc) participation in CCARDESAgovernance, in line with CAADP and FAAP.

3. Strong stakeholder participation in determining the regional agricR&D agenda

December 2007

• A regional workshop held in Maputo endorsed the proposal for theestablishment of an autonomous SRO with a formal workingrelationship with the SADC Secretariat.

• A separate meeting of Senior Officials also endorsed the proposal andmandated SADC Secretariat to proceed to prepare the revised draftdocument, taking into account workshop comments and suggestions.

February 2009

• Senior Officials reviewed the revised CCARDESA proposal document and instructed theSADC Secretariat to come up with a financial sustainability plan.

• Member States (MS) wanted to see:1. How CCARDESA would be financed.2. Ownership by MS but not over-burdening them (ref: SCCAR experience)3. A strategy for less dependence on donor support over time

• Subsequent to this instruction, the SADC Secretariat prepared the CCARDESASustainability Plan taking into account experiences of similar organisations and SROsdelivering agric public goods

• The Sustainability Plan proposed that:1. CCARDESA funding would come from various sources, including DPs, the private sector,

voluntary contributions from MS, and charging a levy on programmes it coordinates, etc.2. MS would make an initial contribution of US$ 1.5 million as seed capital into a reserve fund

which should grow over time.3. CCARDESA Board and Secretariat would work out the details and come up with a Financial

Sustainability Strategy as one of their immediate tasks after their appointment.

March 2010

• The Sustainability Plan prepared by SADC Secretariat was cleared at ameeting of Senior Officials held in Kinshasa.

• The meeting endorsed the proposal for the establishment of aReserve Fund and for the MS to make their contributions using thesame formula for their contributions to the SADC fund.

Nov 2010

CCARDESA Charter was approved at a ministerial meeting held inWindhoek. A few countries signed the Charter at that meeting

May 2011

The Charter entered into force following signature by two-thirds of MS.

By July 2011, all SADC countries had signed the Charter

July 2011

• CCARDESA was formally launched by ministers responsible for Agriculture at a meeting held in Gaborone.

• The first Board of Directors was also formally appointed at that meeting

August 2011

• The inaugural Board meeting was held and SADC Secretariat formally handed over all responsibilities and all CCARDESA establishment documents to the new Board.

• Documents handed over included the following:

1. CCARDESA operational manuals/documents (9):Charter establishing CCARDESA, Governance Manual, Finance Manual, Grants Manual, Draft HR Manual, Procurement Procedures Manual, Draft staff recruitment procedures, and Job descriptions for all positions on CCARDESA staff establishment

FARA assisted in the preparation of some of these manuals

2. Reports (5)SADC MAPP Document, CCARDESA Proposal Document, 1st Draft MTOP Document, Sustainability Plan, and Priority setting study by IFPRI/ReSAKSS

• The CCARDESA preparation and coordinating team became the interim CCARDESA Secretariat pending recruitment of permanent staff.

October 2011:

The interim Secretariat moved to the CCARDESA HQ offices provided by the Government of Botswana and immediately set up the basic structures (telephone installation, Internet, postal service, bank accounts, etc)

Temporary office furniture and equipment were provided on loan by the SADC Secretariat and were returned to SADC after CCARDESA had purchased its own

First Quarter of 2012

In line with the requirements of the CCARDESA Charter, the MOU establishing the working relationship between CCARDESA and the SADC Secretariat was signed by the ES of SADC and the CCARDESA Board Chairman.

• Soon after establishment of CCARDESA HQ in October 2011, the interim Secretariat prepared the document for the accreditation of the SRO by the Government of Botswana, in line with the requirements of the CCARDESA Charter.

• The accreditation document was cleared by the SADC Legal Unit and formally submitted to the Government of Botswana.

• By the end of our contracts in December 2012, the accreditation document was still being considered by the GoB.

• Soon after the handover by SADC, the Interim CCARDESA Secretariat, in collaborationwith FARA, prepared the documentation and advertisements for the recruitment of keystaff through an open and competitive process facilitated by a recruitment firm.

Mid 2012

• Over 700 applications were received for the ED position and the 6 senior staff positionsadvertised. The 5 shortlisted candidates for the ED position were finally interviewed bythe CCARDESA Board in June 2012

October 2012

• The ED assumed duty in mid October 2012

• The ED was then assisted by the Board to interview the 6 senior staff positions on theCCARDESA establishment.

December 2012

• The contracts for the Interim Secretariat team came to an end, before the successfulcandidates for the senior staff positions had assumed duty.

1. August 2008: SADC MAPP Document approved by Council.

2. 2010: First draft MTOP prepared, based on the 2008 SADC MAPP Document

3. 2010: IFPRI/ReSAKSS prepared a comprehensive report identifying priority commodities (in crops,livestock and fisheries) for R&D investments in the SADC region.

4. April 2012: A team of consultants prepared a report identifying priority interventions andactivities for regional R&D investments along the value chains within the priority commodities incrops, livestock, fisheries and forestry.

5. From November 2012: The reports above were then used by another team of consultants hiredby CCARDESA to revise the first draft MTOP.

I believe the revised draft MTOP will be presented during this Assembly and hope that we can seeprogramme activities from the MTOP being implemented in Member States in the very near future.

• Thank You