IPteamET Feb2015

Ethiopia IP team meeting 25 February 2015

Present: Elias Damtew (ED), Ewen Le Borgne (ELB), Simret Yasabu (SY). Apologies: Alan Duncan (AD), Kindu Mekonnen (KM), Zelalem Lema (ZL).

Agenda

This is based on the email sent by Zelalem prior to the meeting (see below 'Background to this meeting')

• IP meeting report
• Communication in IPs
• How to get buy in from other CGIAR centres into the IP approach
• Connections with the national platform of Humidtropics
• Scaling up

Conversation notes

IP meeting report

• We need to agree on this report template once Zelalem has shared it - and then use it systematically for all Ethiopian IP meetings.
• These are important meetings so we should make sure that the report goes to CG Space also...
• ...and together with it, that we prepare a post for the website about the meeting + collect pictures, presentations etc. to go to the right repositories.
• Once the report is shared and agreed we will also upload it on this wiki (IP pages).

Communication in IPs

• We need to check which materials are being/have been developed and what support is required
• We need to talk to ZL to get more background on this.
• Based on the IP training course ideas/options for comms + the discussion on comms workflows that happened last year, we can probably prioritize this without too much trouble.
• SY will initiate a meeting between SY, ZL, ELB to discuss this further.

How to get buy in from other CGIAR centres into the approach

• At IP meetings, technical questions are being asked but not answered (e.g. around questions that only protocol owners could answer). Sometimes proposals emerge but no one reviews them in the group of CG centres.
• It seems that at times the communication about IP meetings and the need to get involved in these happens too late (2 weeks before the meeting, instead of e.g. 1 month)
• There is a sense of frustration among local partners vis-a-vis CG centres, and the reputation of the latter is also at stake here.
• It would be great to bring protocol owners to the IP meetings which happen only four times a year, to be able to answer the technical questions and also to help plan activities with the rest of the stakeholders, as well as to get feedback on the work they have instigated on site.
• These concerns are shared with site coordinators.
• But there seems to be some sense that IP's are an ILRI approach - which started after a lot of the research protocols were started.
• At this point it is important for all CG centres to understand the importance of this approach and the potential benefits it brings
• One suggestion to address this would be to discuss this with Peter Thorne and KM and then to organise a special IP meeting with all CG partners to discuss this set of issues and find solutions to the problems expressed.

Connection with the Humidtropics national platform

• Humidtropics has an R4D platform at national level, which connects with the local IPs (formerly under NBDC). It makes sense to connect that platform with Africa RISING's IPs since the latter is nested under Humidtropics and both programs aim at sustainable intensification.
• The national platform was launched one month ago and is distinct from WLE's national agricultural water management platform (which was also launched quite recently)
• ELB and others should check the ToR of this national platform (on the Abay Andelay wiki) to suggest ways to connect.
• Possible ways to engage / connect the 2 types of platforms together:

Send AR IP members to the national platform meetings Invite R4D platform members to AR IP meetings Give some presentations/host a session at one of the national platform meetings Organise an entire special/thematic meeting of the R4D national platform - e.g. as a special thematic group of that platform In the longer term, co-locate activities Help document/organise the R4D meetings and connect back with Africa RISING and/or Abay Andelay Organize exchange visits between platform members... It would be good to identify, from the ToR, the boundaries (commonalities and differences) between the two types of platforms. There is also an opportunity to get more CG partners' buy-in into Africa RISING's IPs through the connection with this R4D national platform (more visibility etc.)

Scaling up?

• Some feedback was collected from IP meetings and it raises questions about responsibilities.
• The key question is to identify 'WHAT' we want to scale up: technologies? integrated approach? IPs? All of this and more?
• A discussion needs to take place on this topic

Background to this meeting

Message from Zelalem Lema, sent prior to the meeting: - The CGIAR partners involvement in IP meetings and events are very important as it is creating a problem right now. We are sharing some of the results of their research activities but we are not in a position to entertain some of the research questions raised by the IP members. The research protocol owners should participate to collect feedback as well as to give full information about the research in their woredas. - on communication activities: the communication champion in all the sites are ready to send me the woreda background for developing site specific posters that explain about Africa RISING and its innovation platform network. I want Simret and others to help us on this. - I will share with you all soon the IP meeting report for the Lemo woreda we held last week as an example if we can publish it on CG space. I want your feedbacks on the formats of the report and content as well so that we will make sure that important things of the meeting is documented well.

- Humidtropics R4D platform is established at national level and then he question for your discussion is that how can we use this platform to connect the IPs and communicate research findings at national level?