Exploring Partnership with Kenya’s Private Agriculture Sector to Strengthen CAADP Implementation

Participants in the October 16, 2023 meeting.

In Kenya, Policy LINK is exploring a partnership with a key national stakeholder in the agricultural sector, the Agriculture Sector Network (ASNET), which represents the collective voice of the Kenyan agricultural sector.

Success in the goals and implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) cannot be achieved by policymakers alone. Alongside other stakeholders, there is an urgent need for the private sector to assume a critical role. However, the private sector’s active involvement and input in CAADP processes at the continental and national levels are almost non-existent. The African Union (AU) faces significant challenges in engaging the private sector at the continental level, including the absence of an engagement strategy, disorganization, and the lack of private sector actors who operates at the regional and continental level.

At the country level, where food and nutrition security impacts are felt, private sector entities are also often inadequately involved. The absence of structured platforms, inadequate information about potential contributions by the private sector, and a lack of organization and coordination among the sector all contribute to this inaction. 

Policy LINK is actively addressing these challenges by exploring various models and approaches to facilitate constructive private-sector engagement in the CAADP processes at all levels. These efforts will not only speed up private sector investment but generate useful lessons that can be scaled to promote wider private sector contributions to CAADP.

One Policy LINK approach is collaboration with national stakeholders including trade associations, policymakers, and agricultural cooperatives within the agriculture sector to co-create and implement activities that strengthen their engagement in CAADP. This collaborative effort aims to facilitate and create networks, engage in dialogues, develop strategies, generate evidence, and mobilize investments to support CAADP processes.

Policy LINK and ASNET held initial discussions in Nairobi on October 16, 2023, to establish a relationship with ASNET’s Country Agribusiness Partnerships Framework Committee, understand strengths from each organization, and establish opportunities for strategic partnerships.

In Kenya, Policy LINK is exploring a partnership with a key national stakeholder in the agricultural sector, the Agriculture Sector Network (ASNET), which represents the collective voice of the Kenyan agricultural sector. The primary objectives of this partnership are to: enhance ASNET's capacity to mobilize and coordinate private sector engagement in CAADP processes within the country; mobilize private sector contributions towards the implementation of CAADP; and discover a model for private sector engagement in CAADP at the country level.

Policy LINK and ASNET held initial discussions in Nairobi on October 16, 2023, to establish a relationship with ASNET’s Country Agribusiness Partnerships Framework (CAP-F) Committee, understand strengths from each organization, and establish opportunities for strategic partnerships.

The meeting was attended by Policy LINK leadership and ASNET, including the Executive Board, the Director, the General Manager, and nine CAP-F Committee members. ASNET introduced the CAP-F steering committee and their operational structures, to present potential opportunities for collaboration and partnership with Policy LINK.

Some points of collaboration explored by the two organizations included: defining and scaling up a ward/village-based delivery mechanism and farmer support model; policy advocacy; strengthening ASNET’s strategic involvement in national agricultural investments; establishing multi-stakeholder policy dialogues and learning platforms, strengthening ASNET branches at the county level, and establishing coordination mechanisms within community-based organizations and selected value chains.

Resources

Stakeholders Consult on the Roadmap for a Post-Malabo Agenda