Difference between revisions of "PCT5"

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(USAID Update)
(ESA Update)
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=ESA Update=  
 
=ESA Update=  
 
Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks
 
Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks
{|  
+
{| class="wikitable"
| '''Task''' || '''Status''' || '''Notes for PCT review'''
+
|+ Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks
 
|-
 
|-
| Oct 2013 - March 2014 report || <span style="color: #16d81e;">REPORT PREPARED AND SUBMITTED</span> || 
+
|'''Task'''
 +
|'''Status'''
 +
|'''Notes for PCT review'''
 
|-
 
|-
| 2013 -2014 workplan and budget || <span style="color: #18ea46;">work is being implemented, field season is over; entire budget including carryover from last year committed</span> || 
+
|Oct 2013 - March 2014 report
 +
|REPORT PREPARED AND SUBMITTED TIMELY
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
| USAID FIELD VISIT TO TANZANIA || ASARECA AND COSTECH (STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS) WILL BE INVITED.<br><span style="color: #1fec7b;">Steering committee members were not available at the time when USAID visited the fields. ASARECA and Chair of Steering committee attended launch of R4D platform in Babati in April and in continuation went on a 2-days field visit.</span> ||  
+
|2013 -2014 workplan and budget
 +
|work is being implemented, field season is over; entire budget including carryover from last year committed
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
| Africa RISING - [[SIMLEZA - Africa RISING meeting, 28-29 May 2013| SIMLEZA]] || AGREEMENT WITH SIMLEZA SIGNED, FUNDS DISBURSED. DATA SHARING STILL TO BE DISCUSSED (LED BY TRACY). MATEETE AND I WILL VISIT THE SITES LATER THIS MONTH.<br><span style="color: #11e533;">Mateete, Sieg and I went on field visit to Chipata in January. Critical feed back was provided on some of the CA trials. SIMLEZA baseline survey data were shared with Wageningen after long discussion. RALS data compiled by MSU and national partners could not be obtained because they are protected by an MSU-USAID mission agreement. Wageningen team had 2 trips to Chipata to implement activities and farming systems analysis.</span> ||  
+
|USAID FIELD VISIT TO TANZANIA
 +
|ASARECA AND COSTECH (STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS) WILL BE INVITED.
 +
Steering committee members were not available at the time when USAID visited the fields. ASARECA and Chair of Steering committee attended launch of R4D platform in Babati in April and in continuation went on a 2-days field visit.
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
| New partnerships || <span style'''"color: #35e818;">USAID Africa Bureau has provided US$ 350k to IITA for contracting MSU to carry out a desk study with Zambian national partners to provide the scientific evidence base for the links between field and farm level SI interventions and climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. This is a 12-months project until March 2015. Follow up on-ground research is expected after evaluation of the study report.</span><br><span style'''"color: #35e818;">Concept note to the USAID mission in Tanzania is under preparation for scaling technologies for rice, maize, beans, vegetables, soil fertility (fertilizer), strengthening seed systems, post harvest handling (4.5-5m for 3 years)</span> |
+
|Africa RISING - [http://africa-rising-wiki.net/SIMLEZA_-_Africa_RISING_meeting,_28-29_May_2013 SIMLEZA]
 +
|AGREEMENT WITH SIMLEZA SIGNED, FUNDS DISBURSED. DATA SHARING STILL TO BE DISCUSSED (LED BY TRACY). MATEETE AND I WILL VISIT THE SITES LATER THIS MONTH.
 +
Mateete, Sieg and I went on field visit to Chipata in January. Critical feed back was provided on some of the CA trials. SIMLEZA baseline survey data were shared with Wageningen after long discussion. RALS data compiled by MSU and national partners could not be obtained because they are protected by an MSU-USAID mission agreement. Wageningen team had 2 trips to Chipata to implement activities and farming systems analysis.
 +
|Irmgard to go to Zambia to check what has been implemented
 
|-
 
|-
| Field<br>visit in Tanzania<br>---- || <span style="color: #1ce230;">USAID Washington, Tanzanian mission and IITA DDG Research visited implementation sites in Tanzania in 17-22 March.</span><br><br>---- || <br>----<br>----<br>----<br>----<br>----
+
|New partnerships
 +
|USAID Africa Bureau has provided US$ 350k to IITA for contracting MSU to carry out a desk study with Zambian national partners to provide the scientific evidence base for the links between field and farm level SI interventions and climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation.
 +
This is a 12-months project until March 2015.<br/>
 +
Follow up on-ground research is expected after evaluation of the study report.<br/>
 +
Concept note to the USAID mission in Tanzania is under preparation for scaling technologies for rice, maize, beans, vegetables, soil fertility (fertilizer), strengthening seed systems, post harvest handling (4.5-5m for 3 years)<br/>
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
| Scientist Exchange visit || <span style="color: #08e854;">Scientists from Zambia and Tanzania visited field experiments in Mali in March</span> || 
+
|Field visit in Tanzania
 +
|
 +
|USAID Washington, Tanzanian mission and IITA DDG Research visited implementation sites in Tanzania in 17-22 March.
 
|-
 
|-
 +
|Scientist Exchange visit
 +
|
 +
|Scientists from Zambia and Tanzania visited field experiments in Mali in March
 
|}
 
|}
 +
 
=WA Update=  
 
=WA Update=  
 
Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks
 
Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks

Revision as of 09:47, 29 November 2018

Program coordination team meeting #5 18 July 2014 Venue: Farmers club, London Time: morning

PCT page




Agenda

  • Overall action points
  • USAID Update
  • Africa RISING Project update

Eastern and southern Africa and West Africa * Research update * Staff update * Work plans and priorities The Ethiopian highlands * Research update * Staff update * Work plans and priorities

  • M & E update
  • Communication update
  • Scientific Advisory Committee
  • AOB: Next Learning Event date and place
  • Next PCT meeting
  • Possible joint activity with SIMLESA around scaling, joint capacity building, and research knowledge sharing
  • Discuss site visits to CSISA

Overall action points

Overall action points
Action Status Status
Develop the regional logframes logframe for ESA completed; WA Project document with kogframe under preparation for the WA external evaluation. Ethiopia in preparation.
Update online events lists See events list. Send updates to Simret

THE EVENT PAGE HAS BEEN RESTRUCTURED
First meeting held at the Farmers Club, London, 17 - 18 July 2014.

Science Advisory mechanism See details

Peter and Annet have a complete draft gender strategic plan for Ethiopia to be discussed and finalised for circulation next week.

First meeting 17-18 July
Gender strategy It was suggested to have an overall strategy

The Humidtropics gender strategy has been circulated. The USAID gender specialist made consrtuctive comments which were forwarded to Humidtropics. ESA and WA were trying to recruit a gender specialist through GIZ/CIM. No candidate identified yet. Process ongoing.

Jerry to connect with the USAID gender person

Peter ,Annet and Irmgard to meet with USAID person to look in to a program level strategy
To look at the humidtropics and use it as a basis gender strategy
Irmgard and Peter to get the copy of the humidtropics Gender strategy
if each project feels there needs a separate one they can work on it and attached to the generic strategy

Formation of small working group on sustainability to come up with a framework and indicators Peter and Tracy have discussed this in November

-We need few specific indicators for research projects , indicators that we could measure in the short project time We needs to be focused -Before USAID commission an external evaluators
ESA and WA came up with suggestions for sustainability indicators to kick off discussion of appropriateness, measurability, etc. Discussion included MSU, USAID, and WU but did not yield agreement.
Powerpoint summary available for further diuscussion
Sustainability Indicators - SAG 14-07-17
AAAS Symposium (San Jose, CA, February 2015; Peter Thorne, Cheryl Palm, Sieg Snapp, Gordon Conway?). Possibility of an add on meeting (c. 15 - 20 participants to come up with a core list of indicators for cross project application). We submit candidates beforehand.
Add to agendas for Programme Learning Event / M and E meeting and individual project planning meetings.

Irmgard to follow up with Asmoha (from the learning event )

-Iain to ask the convener to come up for a draft report by March
-Peter T . to feedback from the vital science meeting in London in February

General Assembly, Scientific Conference and Exhibition to take place 9-13 December in Bujumbura Simret and Catherine to follow up with ASARECA. Irmgard to provide contact. This meeting has been conducted , we have sent some Africa RISING materials to be displayed .
Formation of small working group on sustainability to come up with a framework and indicators Peter and Tracy have discussed this in November

-We need few specific indicators for research projects , indicators that we could measure in the short project time
We needs to be focused
-Before USAID commission an external evaluators

Irmgard to follow up with Asmoha (from the learning event )

-Iain to ask the convener to come up for a draft report by March
-Peter T . to feedback from the vital science meeting in London in February

Preparation for project program review? it was suggested to have an evaluation Before USAID commission an external evaluators

WA evaluation will take place September to October 2014. Ch. Okali is part of the review team. ToR were discussed with PCT and SAG. ESA evaluation is planned for February 2015.

Suggested to sure that the first advisory committee picks this up for their first meeting
New fund allocation Oct 2013- Sept 2014(USAID financial year )

-Peter talked to Eric and he said that we will get the same amount of allocation of the last year
Same amount as in previous years was disbursed on March 2014.
Bolt on projects. AR as a management entity for development activities. Case by case basis.

Jerry to check with Eric an give us update

USAID Update

Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks

Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks
Task Status Notes for PCT review
Possible links with BMGF Jerry in contact with various Gates staff to explore potential activities
Funding for scaling up Various opportunities via missions that we are exploring on a continuing basis.
SI Innovation Laboratory Announcement by the end of August. Jerry to keep the team in the loop

ESA Update

Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks

Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks
Task Status Notes for PCT review
Oct 2013 - March 2014 report REPORT PREPARED AND SUBMITTED TIMELY
2013 -2014 workplan and budget work is being implemented, field season is over; entire budget including carryover from last year committed
USAID FIELD VISIT TO TANZANIA ASARECA AND COSTECH (STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS) WILL BE INVITED.

Steering committee members were not available at the time when USAID visited the fields. ASARECA and Chair of Steering committee attended launch of R4D platform in Babati in April and in continuation went on a 2-days field visit.

Africa RISING - SIMLEZA AGREEMENT WITH SIMLEZA SIGNED, FUNDS DISBURSED. DATA SHARING STILL TO BE DISCUSSED (LED BY TRACY). MATEETE AND I WILL VISIT THE SITES LATER THIS MONTH.

Mateete, Sieg and I went on field visit to Chipata in January. Critical feed back was provided on some of the CA trials. SIMLEZA baseline survey data were shared with Wageningen after long discussion. RALS data compiled by MSU and national partners could not be obtained because they are protected by an MSU-USAID mission agreement. Wageningen team had 2 trips to Chipata to implement activities and farming systems analysis.

Irmgard to go to Zambia to check what has been implemented
New partnerships USAID Africa Bureau has provided US$ 350k to IITA for contracting MSU to carry out a desk study with Zambian national partners to provide the scientific evidence base for the links between field and farm level SI interventions and climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation.

This is a 12-months project until March 2015.
Follow up on-ground research is expected after evaluation of the study report.
Concept note to the USAID mission in Tanzania is under preparation for scaling technologies for rice, maize, beans, vegetables, soil fertility (fertilizer), strengthening seed systems, post harvest handling (4.5-5m for 3 years)

Field visit in Tanzania USAID Washington, Tanzanian mission and IITA DDG Research visited implementation sites in Tanzania in 17-22 March.
Scientist Exchange visit Scientists from Zambia and Tanzania visited field experiments in Mali in March

WA Update

Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks

Task Status Notes for PCT review
Annual review and planning meeting MEETING TOOK PLACE 3-5 FEBRUARY IN BAMAKO
Sept 2013 - March 2014 report PREPARED AND SUBMITTED TIMELY
Scientist visit to Tanzania Did not take place due to lengthy preparation of new workplan; Visit of Mali scientists to Ghana planned for August has to be postponed
Project document under preparation, will be ready for the project evaluation
Implementation of workplan
----
New project component in Mali
Field activities are starting slowly in Ghana a because of lack of rain
----
USAID mission Mali provided $9m for three years to ICRISAT to disseminate sorghum and millet technologies, the scaling project operates and reports under Africa RISING

Ethiopia Update

Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks

ask < Status Notes for PCT review
Value chain studies < Complete. Some reports available. Others currently being finalised.
Meher season action research < c. 20 research protocols implemented across all sites after participant selection meetings.
Other initiatives Fertilizer project (Ethiopia mission, partner / led by CIAT); Barley / Beans (BFS, partner / led by ICARDA or ATA). JG to keep PT in loop. PT to follow up with potential partners.
Oct 2012 - Mar 2013 report < Completed
April 2013 - Sep 2013 report < Completed
October 2013 - March 2014 report In preparation
2013 -2014 workplan and budget < Complete. I will insert links when I can find the files. c.20 research protocols implemented by multi partner teams
IP establishment All IPs established (Woreda and Kebele level). Training of local facilitators in IP maintenance and comms tools planned for 6 - 7 September.
Planning meeting < November 2014. Major focus on Meher season activities leading into an initial broad plan for scaling

M&E Update

Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks

Task Status Notes for PCT review
Joint Africa RISING (AR)-Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) M&E meeting: Completed Custom indicators
Web-based mapping and monitoring platform (Project Mapping and Monitoring Tool -PMMT-)
Version 2.0 demo at the M&E meeting
PMMT updated based on feedback at the M&E meeting
AR data management protocol
Actions:
Version 3 to be ready by end of June
PMMT seminar at USAID; internal M&E training
PMMT training end of July/beginning of August in all countries/sites
Finalize data management plan by March (for April PCT meeting)
Completed
Completed
Completed
Draft for discussion

Completed
Completed
Ongoing
Draft for discussion
Level of reporting for FtF indicators
AR baseline surveys (Implementation)
* Malawi
* Tanzania
* Ghana
* Mali
* Ethiopia


Data cleaning and documentation for Malawi and Tanzania
Data cleaning and documentation for Mali, Ghana, and Ethiopia
Actions:
Follow up with Zambia and Wageningen team (for SIMLEZA data access); with Thom Jayne (MSU)
(for RALS data access)
Completed

Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed
Under completion

Close to completion
Ongoing
Ongoing
Collaborations:
Wageningen team
FAO: Memorandum of Understanding signed
Vital Signs
VS shared documentation on indicators, data use policy, shape files for TZ and Ghana
* Chief scientist to review VS agricultural intensification thread and select key indicators
* IFPRI aligned AR control sites with Vital Signs sites in northern Ghana
* But access to VS's household-level data can become a problem
Done/ongoing
Done
Done

Done

Done, data on 250+ plots
completed
Site/field visits
* Tanzania, Ethiopia
* Ghana, Mali
Completed
Update
Talks b/n IFPRI Finance and IITA/IWMI for WA and ESA M&E coordinators (positions)

M&E coordinator for Ethiopia (consultant)
A survey resident for Ghana (consultant); a survey resident for Mali (consultant)
A consultant/programmer to assist with electronic data collection for all the surveys

Actions
Finalize negotiations and sign contracts for the new positions in January
ESA position
advertised, CVs under review
;WA canceled for lack of funds

Hired
Hired
Hired
Hired

Done

Comms Update

Enter MAJOR ongoing/planned and completed tasks

Task Status Notes for PCT review
ESA poster finalized
WA poster under preparation
ESA brochure finalized
WA brochure finalized
Malawi video finalized On agro-ecological intensification options to be used in training workshops for extensionists and development partners
Program generic presentation en and fr drafted and will be shared to the concerned people for review
Wiki usage guidelines Not yet started ELB: What is this? Clarify and I'm happy to help. The wiki structure and content have been majorly overhauled over the turn of the year
Program framework Version 1 published
Suggest regular review and update as part of each annual learning event (living document)
ELB: This is supposed to be addressed early this year again but is not strictly a 'Comms' item
IITA comms person for ARISING person was recruited in November but resigned in April; position has been upgraded to IRS; interviews have been completed and offer made to a candidate
Virtual comms catchups Irregular Simret/Ewen/ comms people
Half-yearly comms metrics/stats Latest report
Blog updates ongoing Need regular stories from all regions. ELB: However for 2013 very balanced inputs from all regions (granted, thanks to the 3 posts about Ghana, otherwise WA would be lagging behind): 8 from ESA, 10 from Ethiopia, 10 from West Africa, 10 from program level.
Wiki gardening/management regular (ELB) Major update done on the wiki over the turn of the year. Data management and M&E pages have to follow (ELB in touch with M&E team about this shortly) and regional project pages need to be updated by respective comms officer with regional management's help.
Documents to CGSPACE regularly updated IITA to join cgspace training late october (tbc)
Use of yammer for internal updating initiated Needs wider promotion and buy-in. (ELB) This would be a useful topic to discuss properly in a PCT at some stage - we need a good platform to share information on a regular basis, it's not a 'nice to have' it's a 'non-negotiable' for a program which has to show strong integration across components, teams and regions...
Photo sharing on flickr regularly updated Simret to follow with Catherine and Katy - to inform partners to send four-five pictures with captions
Presentations shared on slideshare regularly updated
ARISING calendar updating regularly updated
Branding Guidline Finalized
Template and banners revison due to the ftf logo change we have revised most of our templets and logo banners
Website revision the website now has a new look , still open for comments
wiki revision we have revised the wiki See above
Photojournalist work -Next year, Ethiopia Informed the PCT that the Next Photographer will be commistion to take pictures in ethiopia and planned for October 2014
Key things to be considered by the PCT - PCT to look at the global communication plan (
http://africa-rising.wikispaces.com/program_comms_plan_2014
)and comment
- the three project pages in the wiki to get updated()
- what to be done about the action points from the learning event
-to comment on the institutional history (also on Yammer )
- to see the new websit and give feedback/comment
Simret to send all the links for the PCT

- PCT to give comment on the communication plan by the end of January
- To Update the project page of the wiki – mid February and WA and EA mid-march
- Simret to circulate the action points from the learning and PCT to look at them and decide how to go about them
- Simret to send the institutional history link and the website and the PCT members to send feedback as soon as they can
Next Learning Event (when and where ) Tanzania , September Irmgard and her team to come up with the date