ReSAKSS interviewed with Boaz Blackie Keizire, Technical Adviser, CAADP, African Union Commission at the 2013 ReSAKSS Annual Conference themed “Achieving the Maputo Declaration Target and Prioritizing Public Agricultural Expenditures”, in Dakar, Senegal.

Talking about the outcomes of this conference, we have to go back to the original principle of why ReSAKSS, with the support from IFPRI, was intended to provide knowledge on the agricultural transformation, supporting CAADP. This conference has put together a wide range of stakeholders from the ReSAKSS community and many countries. At this meeting, we intended to understand what the countries have been going through, in advancing the knowledge space as well as informing the agricultural transformation. We achieved this objective as we had a range of actors and participants who continue to demand for more qualitative data, and strong analysis. To move forward, the next decade is going to be focused on assessing impact through results. Knowledge is going to play a big role.

One fundamental principle of CAADP is to enhance competency and complementarity of actors. At the inception of CAADP, we made it very clear that knowledge is undertaking by those who are competent in that particular field. This is how IFPRI has been very instrumental in either finding an incubating ReSAKSS to be able to understand and know agricultural transformation. ReSAKSS has been able to get into every country, pick and use the national datasets, deliver annual trends and outlook reports, either at country level, regional level or continental level. Throughout the entire CAADP agenda, we use the outcomes of those trends and outlook reports, focusing on different thematic areas to engage the Heads of States for decision making, but also for influencing policy for actions that have been taking place in the country. It is very critical that we take lots of these fundamental inputs that ReSAKSS has been leading on the knowledge aspect. As we move into the next decade, we want to make sure we don’t lose this effort.

The joint sector review (JSR) is a technical issue. It is related and driven by people with necessary expertise. Countries have started on their joint sector reviews, but they have not been informed by the quality of data that is required, the process that leads onto different platforms that these reviews are taking place. The role of ReSAKSS in joint sector reviews is to provide inputs on what analyses are required for the review platforms, how would people use the outcomes of the review to inform policy design, and program formulation. This is what we see the competency within the ReSAKSS community in support of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, as well as the Africa Union.

One of the challenges that we faced in the inception of CAADP was lack of evidences and science to inform evidence-based decisions. IFPRI was at the center of providing the analyses to inform the visions and strategies in CAADP compacts. Another function that IFPRI plays is incubating, housing and bringing together the necessary knowledge that ReSAKSS has been producing, and they continue to play that role. The Heads of States are expected to meet in July. They have asked the African Union to guide them on how they would refine the 10 percent public spending target. They have asked us to be more concrete on what 6 percent agricultural growth target should constitute. As we moving ahead to engage with IFPRI to undertake these studies such that the Heads of States, this time around, can make decisions more based on evidences, science and concrete data. We expect IFPRI to play that particular role.