June 13th 2022, the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board in partnership with The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the East African Farmers’ Federation (EAFF) conducted a one-day Innovation Platform Training meeting on Strengthening the Knowledge and Innovation Ecosystem for Inclusive Rural Transformation and Livelihoods in Eastern Africa (AIRTEA).
The meeting aimed at sensitizing policy makers about the IP approach and need to mainstream this approach in government planning processes; strengthening the institutionalization of IPs/ MSPs in national planning processes and highlighting the available government incentives that could be tapped in by third party projects that have MSPs
Officiating the meeting, the Director General of RAB, Dr Patrick Karangwa said that the meeting is an opportunity to sensitize policymakers about the Innovation platform approach and its role in fostering agricultural research for development. He further called stakeholders for more innovative and resilient approaches in order to strengthen the link between agricultural growth, economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa.
Three specific objectives of the AIRTEA project are: to strengthen the capacities of youth and women in East Africa’s multi-stakeholder innovation platforms and link to solutions within national, regional and global food systems; facilitate technology transfer and uptake through learning routes and multi-stakeholder engagement; and improve profitability and employment opportunities along agricultural commodity value chains by establishing national and regional Agricultural Business Learning Alliance (ABLA) platforms, business development services and mentorship.
The AIRTEA project is supported by the EU-ACP Innovation Fund through the Office of the Organization of African Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) which is funded by the by the European Union (EU) through the 11th European Development Fund (EDF).