With More than 250 Participants, Demand Grows for Policy LINK Leadership Training in Ethiopia

Participants in Policy LINK’s Champions for Food Security leadership training in Ethiopia's Amhara region (photo: Policy LINK).

Through its Leading for Change (L4C) courses, Policy LINK’s team in Ethiopia has completed leadership skills development training for 258 individuals, including 94 women, since November 2022. These individuals represent regional agriculture and food security policy system actors, the majority being from the non-state actors, in the Amhara; Oromia; Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ (SNNP); and Sidama regions.

The training seeks to improve the policy leadership capabilities of the actors in the policy system to contribute to and influence policymaking through an inclusive and participatory process.

Policy LINK’s team, which implements the Champions for Food Security (C4FS) Activity in Ethiopia, designed the four-day leadership skills development program based on the results of a rapid needs assessment.

According to Amogne Diress, C4FS Deputy Country Lead, the L4C training is gaining popularity among many regional policy system actors, including lawmakers.

"Sixteen council members participated in the second round of L4C training in May [2023], which represents a significant increase from the two or three lawmakers who participated previously," he stated.

The training seeks to improve the policy leadership capabilities of the actors in the policy system to contribute to and influence policymaking through an inclusive and participatory process. The training is designed to integrate policy with leadership and gender dimensions and incorporate continental and national agriculture and food security initiatives and policies into the push for national food security and nutrition in Ethiopia. Sessions on identifying systemic and structural barriers to change and developing action plans to facilitate the proposed changes are also included in the program.

Among the trainees was Mr. Dukale Lamiso, head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Standing Committee of the Sidama Regional Council, who participated in the first round of Sidama Regional State L4C training and strongly promoted the importance of the program among the members of the Council.

Mr. Dukale, explaining how the council members expedited the endorsement of the draft land use proclamation, said, "When we participated in the first round of L4C training in November 2022, there was a strong drive to identify and take a step that would have a significant influence on agricultural and food security."

"Of all the leadership trainings I had taken so far, this one is very practical and applicable to my personal development and my organization as well."

Participants from the first training program in the Sidama region produced action plans when it was determined that weak regional land use and administration policies were a systemic issue. “As members of the council, we have a mandate to mobilize and bring up systemic issues in order to secure support for the recently developed draft land use and administration proclamation,” Mr. Dukale added.

The Sidama Regional House of Council members gave the Land Use and Administration Proclamation priority over other draft proclamations, and it was ratified in February 2023.

“The L4C training takes the lion’s share of [credit for helping us identify the] regional priority and influence the system," continued Dukale. Currently, the 16 council members are working closely with other relevant stakeholders to finalize the regulation and the by-law.

Participants in the regions include representatives of the State Council, President's office, academia, research institutions, the private sector, civil society organizations, and community-based organizations.

The C4FS team will develop a new training format in the upcoming months to meet the schedules and demands of stakeholders who are unable to stay away from their places of employment for extended periods of time.

One participant from the Amhara region remarked: "Of all the leadership trainings I had taken so far, this one is very practical and applicable to my personal development and my organization as well."

Resources

Read more stories from Policy LINK’s Champions for Food Security activity in Ethiopia.