Project Duration: 

2005-2007

Geographical Focus: 

Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support Systems (SAKSS) is part of the Consultative Group on Agricultural Research (CGIAR) response to the rural development change facing many sub-Saharan countries, which are characterized by large rural sectors with rapidly expanding populations and stagnating agricultural productivity, both for crops and livestock.  Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have refocused the attention on the persistence of poverty. In addition, the establishment of the Comprehensive Africa Development Programme (CAADP) has similarly reinvigorated the search for strategies of agricultural growth that contribute measurably to the reduction of rural poverty.

SAKSS-SA is one of three regionally focused programs for the implementation of SAKSS in Africa. This southern Africa based program is being jointly initiated by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), in collaboration with a growing list of national and regional partners. Related SAKSS programs are being implemented in eastern Africa, under the leadership of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and in western Africa under the leadership of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Strong technical support is being provided to each of these regional SAKSS programs by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

The program has two main components:

1. a strategic analysis initiative targeting improvements in agricultural policy and investment decision making
   
   
2. a knowledge support systems endeavour which improves access to, and the use of, higher quality data in this policy analysis.

Goal 

To strengthen information exchange, policy analysis and policy dialogue relating to agricultural growth and poverty reduction in Africa.

Specific Objectives

SAKSS-SA has identified five major program priorities. The initiative will:

1. evaluate priorities for increasing agricultural growth rates in ways that contribute most to alleviating poverty;
2. assess the impacts of existing development programs on agricultural growth and poverty;
3. monitor national and regional progress toward achievement of the Millennium Development Goals – particularly those relating most directly to rural poverty; and
4. provide capacity building to regional policy analysts and policy makers through the strengthening of access to critical data for investment decision making;
5. training programs designed to encourage broader use of the knowledge management system

Strategy

The regional SAKSS-SA node is a small unit dependent on the strength of its ties with policy analysts and policy makers throughout southern Africa. The unit actively pursues the establishment of a regional “community of practice”.

The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), a lead institution in regional policy analysis, chairs the SAKSS-SA Steering Committee. However, strong links are also being developed with regional analysis and information sharing institutions such as the Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN) and Environmental Information Systems, Africa (EIS-Africa). Exploratory links have been extended to university researchers, farmer organizations, government policy units and civil society organizations.

In addition, the quality of analysis pursued in this community and impacts of this work depend on the strength of the underlying information system. This encompasses two components. SAKSS-SA provides a portal to key international datasets important for national and regional policy making with internet linkages and examples of how these data may be applied to policy analysis. SAKSS-SA also promotes broader sharing of primary datasets collected by analysts in the region. This includes an extensive array of farm survey data offering the possibility of measuring rural income and poverty trends.

Outputs/Impact

The primary measure of the value of SAKSS-SA lies in the use policy makers make of the information and analysis being generated. Targeted evaluations will assess the application of these findings by national and regional development investors and policy make

Partners 

Lead partners

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 

Regional partners

Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)

Donors

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)