In Kenya, Policy LINK Helps Launch Fourth ‘Biennial Review’ of Agricultural Development
Participants in the May 6, 2023 launch of Kenya's fourth Biennial Review process.
The Government of Kenya, in collaboration with Policy LINK and its partners the International Potato Centre (CIP) and Akademiya2063, has concluded a national stakeholder engagement workshop to launch the fourth Biennial Review, a key component of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). The hybrid meeting, which took place on May 6, 2023 at Nairobi’s Trademark Hotel, included 55 in-person and 34 online participants. Attendees included representatives of national and county governments; the private sector, including farmer organizations, trade associations, agribusinesses, and farmers; development partners; and research institutes.
CAADP works toward food security and economic development in Africa. The program anchors the African Union Commission (AUC) Agenda 2063, a strategy to achieve “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven and managed by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.” CAADP includes seven commitments, known together as the Malabo Declaration, which span mutual accountability, actions, and results.
Mutual Accountability
Key to the mutual accountability commitment is the Biennial Review (BR) process, which tracks country-level progress toward CAADP goals; fosters alignment, harmonization, and coordination among African Union (AU) member states; and strengthens national and regional institutional capacities for knowledge and data management to support evidence-based decision-making.
The Biennial Review process tracks country-level progress toward CAADP goals; fosters alignment, harmonization, and coordination among African Union member states; and strengthens national and regional institutional capacities for knowledge and data management.
Participants in the May 6 meeting reflected on Kenya’s performance in the third BR cycle, explored data requirements for the current cycle, and developed a common strategy and roadmap for producing the fourth BR report.
To help countries like Kenya better prepare and lead the fourth BR cycle, the AUC completed a critical analysis of existing BR data and the process for generating it. The Commission is also redesigning reporting guidelines and tools; training BR experts; and bolstering communication and advocacy around the BR process. In addition to supporting data collection, analysis, reporting, and validation, the AUC is planning ahead for presentation of the fourth BR report to representatives of Africa’s four Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as the Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (ARDWE); adoption and launch of the fourth BR report by the Heads of States Summit in February 2024; and the report’s dissemination to various CAADP constituencies.
Prioritizing Participation
To enhance shared ownership of the BR process and foster a commitment to action, the AUC is prioritizing participation by a broad range of stakeholders. That kind of collaboration—at the national and regional levels—helps provide the input, data, and resources necessary to produce the report while ensuring that the report’s outcomes are a true reflection of agriculture sector performance. Bringing stakeholders together also provides an opportunity to reflect on the implications of the report, explore adaptations to improve agricultural performance, and ensure that the BR process reflects the needs and aspirations of Africa’s people.
Collaboration at the national and regional levels helps provide the input, data, and resources necessary to produce the BR report while ensuring that the report’s outcomes are a true reflection of agriculture sector performance.
The May 6 meeting reflected on 12 new BR indicators and considered various agriculture sector monitoring and evaluation frameworks and tools that can be used to support data collection and analysis for the BR process. These include the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System (KIAMIS), the Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agriculture Policies (MAFAP) Programme by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); and the Agricultural Sector M&E Framework by LARTECH Africa.
The meeting was officially opened by Mr. Joseph Kirubi, a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture – State Department of Crops Development. Keynote speakers included Chair of the Agriculture and Rural Development Donor Coordination Group Anne Chele (FAO), Chair of the County Executive Committee for Agriculture Dr. Kiplimo Lagat, Chair of the Agriculture Council of Kenya (AGCK) Justus Monda, and Dr. Wilson Songa of the Agriculture Sector Network (ASNET). Akademiya2063 also presented the BR framework, the seven commitments and BR indicators, as well as Kenya’s performance in the third BR.
Also represented at the gathering were Kajiado, Nandi, Nakuru, and Muranga County Executive Committee members; the Kenya Council of Governors representative; several NGOs, including Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), The African Seed Access Index (TASAI), Biovision, and CIP; trade associations, agribusinesses, and farmer organizations, including Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK), Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum (KESSFF), AGCK and Agribusiness for African Markets; research and educational institutions like Egerton University, Tegemeo Institute, Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization KALRO; governmental institutions like the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and Kenya National Bureau of Standards; and development partners like the AU development agency AUDA NEPAD and USAID/Kenya.
Participants reflected on the outcomes of the third BR report and looked forward to implementation of the fourth cycle.
Examining Kenya’s Performance
Facilitated by Policy LINK, the participants discussed the key policy priorities and investments the country needs to focus on based on the outcomes of the third BR process, the plan for the fourth BR process, and current government efforts and strategies. The participants reflected on the relevance of current policy priorities based on Kenya’s performance on CAADP; stakeholder needs, economic trends, and realities of the country; as well as lessons from implementation of the policy priorities.
Mr. Kirubi reported that up to 60 percent of the Kenyan government’s current expenditure and investment is in the agriculture sector (please see minute 00:34:23 in this video) and underscored the need for a comprehensive data system to track progress. To improve food security, capacity building, coordination, inclusivity, and market access, participants suggested the following policy priorities and issues:
Enhancing national government capacity building and research support
Enhancing data management
Enhancing access to farm input, thereby reducing costs
Strengthening stakeholder coordination, especially among the national government, county governments, and the private sector
Developing an integrated institutional arrangement and delivery mechanism
Developing needs and resource maps for various counties
Addressing the structural issues along agricultural value chains, including strengthening farmer organizations
Strengthening the implementation of the Country Agribusiness Partnership Framework (CAP-F) through its secretariat at ASNET
Developing models for county agriculture development strategies.
The results of the third BR cycle showed that Kenya was not on track toward its CAADP goals but made some progress in the key BR indicators. Among the areas where the country fell short were on the percentage of its GDP spent on agricultural research and on public agricultural expenditure as a share of the sector’s added value (view more country performance data in the CAADP Toolkit).
Participants highlighted data requirements and sources for each commitment, highlighting gaps and areas where stakeholders needed to cooperate in providing data. These areas included the 12 new CAADP indicators, which include measures for biofortification, seed performance, leverage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), organic practices, and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.
Next Steps
Next steps in the Kenya BR process include a May 7-8 “writeshop” to consolidate and finalize the technical report, a June 20-21 validation workshop, and the August 2023 submission of BR data. To get there, Kenya’s national government will cascade the BR process to the county level.
The government has put in place a task team to pilot the process in select counties, with an eye to developing a country-wide implementation mechanism. For their part, development partners committed to support this initiative, along with its related data collection and validation, as it will help promote inclusivity while devolving agricultural decision-making to the counties.
Resources
Visit the CAADP Toolkit to search for country-level performance data.