Priority assessment for rice research in sub-saharan Africa.

Abstract

Priority assessment is an integral part of research planning at the Africa Rice Center (WARDA), which involves a broad base of rice research and development stakeholders at different policy- and decision-making levels. Research priorities identified through a multi-stakeholder participatory process are reviewed, monitored and approved continuously by the WARDA Board of Trustees, the Science Council of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Council of Ministers. This chapter summarizes the methods and processes used in assessing research priorities at WARDA during the past 10 years. The essential elements of the priority assessment methodology were: (i) review the WARDA strategic plan (SP), its mission statement and goals to select impact criteria associated with the main developmental objectives towards which the medium-term plan (MTP) projects were intended to contribute; (ii) conduct a survey of representatives of major WARDA stakeholders to elicit relative (subjective) weights they attached to each selected impact criteria; (iii) develop a method and criteria for assessing and rating the potential and expected contribution of each research activity, output and programme/project to each selected impact criteria; and (iv) conduct a two-day priority assessment workshop involving WARDA management, scientists and representatives of major stakeholders to: (i) review and validate the methodology; (ii) conduct the assessment and ratings of the potential contributions of the research activities and outputs and the external factors that affect the conduct of research activities; and (iii) analyse and discuss the results of the priority assessment.

The role of impact assessment in evaluating agricultural R D

“…Few agricultural research systems in Africa use structured priority-setting methods on a regular basis, although several have used them on occasion. Methods range from simple scoring activities to economic surplus analyses and mathematical programming (Ceesay et al 1989;Teri, Mugogo, and Norton 1990;KARI 1991;Mills 1998;Mutangadura and Norton 1999;Thornton et al 2000;Diagne et al 2009;Manyong, Sanogo, Alene 2009;Wood and Anderson 2009).…”

Impact of rice research on income, poverty and food security in Africa: an ex-ante analysis.

“…24 African member states. The Center has a long tradition of priority-setting dating back to the 1990s (see Diagne et al, 2009, for a detailed review of previous priority-setting exercises). The Center's research priority-setting since 1990 has involved a broad base of rice research and development stakeholder constituencies at different policy-and decision-making levels.…”

“…Another priority-setting exercise was conducted for the [2005][2006][2007] Medium-Term Plan by a commissioned internal task force (WARDA, 2004b;Diagne et al, 2009). It included a number of innovative features in its methodologynamely, a review of priority-setting methods and approaches adopted by other agricultural research centres (both those inside and outside of the CGIAR), the sub-regional agricultural research organizations (SROs) and national agricultural research systems (NARS).…”