Vice President Dr. Mohammed Gharib Bilal launching Tanzania Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plan (TAFSIP) on Nov 10, 2011. Photo Credit: in2eastafrica.net
ReSAKSS-ECA -- Recently, ReSAKSS-ECA held a Tanzania agricultural trends and outlook report dissemination workshop which also platformed discussions on the establishment of the Tanzania Country Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support (SAKSS). Meetings were held with officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and USAID-Tanzania on 14th July. The workshop brought together a wide range of stakeholders and participants, (including 22 percent women attendees), from various institutions including national and local government ministries and departments, private sector, universities, JICA, USAID, IFAD and various NGOs.
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The ReSAKSS-ECA Coordinator, Joseph Karugia joined a two-week mission by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in July-August whose objective was to conduct an assessment of the current agricultural statistics system in Tanzania for the establishment of the Tanzania-SAKSS. During this mission, a country SAKSS node learned how it might improve collection and analysis of data related to agriculture and food security in Tanzania. Discussions on possibilities for funding of this node were also discussed with USAID. The Ministry of Agriculture has expressed interest in the SAKSS idea to enhance the capacity of Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP) Monitoring and Evaluation Thematic Working Group. A concept note for the Tanzania SAKSS was shared with the Tanzania CAADP Team in October.
Other SAKSS Developments
During the reporting period, ReSAKSS-ECA continued to engage government officials on the establishment of country SAKSS in DRC and Burundi. Karugia and Stella Massawe visited Burundi on the first week of July for a follow up discussion on agriculture M&E in Burundi and joint organization of a dissemination workshop for Burundi’s trends report which was held on August 29th. ReSAKSS-ECA took the opportunity to further increase awareness about the Country SAKSS concept by discussing it with Burundi's Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and made a presentation at the dissemination workshop. Good political will for country SAKSS nodes is evident in both countries.
Discussions on the formation of SAKSS have been well received. In order to establish and sustain national SAKSS there are various issues that require time, longer term technical backstopping and continuous follow up and negotiations. In order to see longevity in the SAKSS area, resource mobilization, formulation of country networks and awareness creation to stimulate demand and use of SAKSS products are necessary. The node has made great progress in introducing the SAKSS concept in the East African region.
ReSAKSS-ECA continued to engage with the teams assembled for the preparation of the country trends reports as they are expected to be key players in the SAKSS nodes in their respective countries. ReSAKSS-ECA continued to provide technical assistance to the process of reviewing, validating, disseminating, and preparing the country agricultural trends reports in the different countries as appropriate.