Partners and their Roles

Terms of Reference for the Implementing Partners

The main implementing partner is the RUFORUM Secretariat responsible for overseeing the implementation, facilitating the partnership and reporting to ACP Secretariat. The other partner institutions include the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), The Netherlands, Egerton University (Kenya), Makerere University (Uganda) and the University of Malawi (Malawi). Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA); Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA);Technical Centre for Agriculture Rural Cooperation(CTA); and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The specific roles and responsibilities of each of these partners are described below.

RUFORUM as the Lead Partner

• Overall management of the action, through its existing Governance and Management structures;
• Provide the required financial resources to Partner institutions in accordance with the approved work plan and budget, subject to receipt of funds from EU and other sources;
• Appoint a project leader for linking with partners and others in implementation of THE PROJECT activities;
• Approve reports submitted by partners;
• Facilitate and coordinate activities of the project Action Steering Committee (ASC) including annual planning and review meetings;
• Promote activities of THE PROJECT and link THE PROJECT to other related activities in RUFORUM and among partners regionally and internationally;
• In consultations with partners as deemed necessary, identify and appoint other service providers necessary for implementation of THE PROJECT activities;
• Mobilise additional resources in support of THE PROJECT activities especially for scaling up;
• Monitor implementation of THE PROJECT activities by Partner institutions and any others contracted to implement THE PROJECT activities;
• Arrange for audit of THE PROJECT finances and final evaluation of the project;
• Develop linkages with other ACP-S&T Projects and organize ACP-S&T project meetings;
• Work with partner Universities to coordinate the training support and follow-up for enrolled staff and students and alumni of the programme;
• Organize outcome and impact assessment activities for the project;
• Work with partners to develop an e-learning platform as a repository and support to research and lesson sharing;
• Disseminate learning resources using appropriate media for all stakeholders;
• Report to ACP-S&T, RUFORUM Board, partners and other key stakeholders on activities of the project.

Project Contact Person at RUFORUM Secretariat (Dr Washington Ochola)

• Represent RUFORUM in all the project consultative, planning and working meetings including the inception planning meetings and other sharing fora;
• Develop a project-wide activity schedule including the schedules developed by other partners in all result areas;
• Oversee the documentation by consultant of existing information and resources on capacity and gaps in research methods to guide the development and up-scaling of courses and materials;
• Facilitate and coordinate internal support and communication from RUFORUM Secretariat to the project partners;
• Design and communicate project reporting frameworks and templates to partners;
• Write the interim, annual and final project reports to be submitted to ACP-S&T and other partners;
• Design with partners, update and communicate project work plans and budget plans and coordinate budget accountability and reporting;
• Guide the facilitation, documentation and dissemination of proceedings of any meetings with partners, associate partners and other stakeholders;
• Design and disseminate calls for proposals or expressions of interests for any consultancies and service provision and also lead and report on consultant and service provider selection processes;
• Operationalize the risk management plan and strategy for the project that will be developed in the inception meeting and share with partners;
• Popularize the project among RUFORUM member universities and other stakeholders in the region and beyond;
• Facilitate the ASC meetings and sharing platforms and partner learning platforms for M&E and feedback on research methods training and other THE PROJECT activities;
• Work with associate partners to build linkages with on-going initiates on research methodology capacity building.

Action Steering Committee (ASC)

The role of the ASC is to:

• Oversee and advise on the overall implementation of the project;
• Communicate, publicize and advocate for the project and its activities regionally and internationally;
• Assist and work with the Team Leader at RUFORUM to meet the objectives of the project;
• Design other strategies for resource mobilization and advocacy with other partners;
• Conduct annual participatory review and evaluation of the project and produce guidelines for lesson sharing and feedback learning;
• Meet regularly (electronically and face-to-face) to plan for implementation, budget allocation and review of project activities;
• Participate in the peer review of project reports, training modules, reports from consultants and service providers and proposals by consultants/service providers;
• Contribute to the development of criteria for selection of participants for the training workshops;
• Contribute to the development of criteria for selection of service providers and consultants;
• Organize with RUFORUM Secretariat the regional sharing of experiences;
• Harmonize regional approaches, methods and reports submitted by partner institutions.

Royal Tropical Institute (KIT )

• Support to the project process by showing institutional commitment. This involves participation in selected project workshops and meetings. KIT will contribute to the success of the partnership by enhancing learning.
• Provide methodological support to the tools used for the baseline study, for the stakeholder demand assessment and to the curriculum audit.
• Contribute to the development and fine-tuning of the mid-career course both through annual face-to-face interactions and through distance communication.
• Provide international experiences to enhance the existing graduate curricula to integrate innovation systems thinking
• Provide input to the knowledge network for curriculum development and into the alumni network (participate and suggest candidates)
• Lead the joint development of a framework for action research based on existing experiences of partners and associate partners.
• Provide methodological and technical input in the development of the write-shop methodology and facilitate the meta-analysis write-shop. This implies backstopping to the learning cases.
• Provide support to the e-platform linked to the KIT web-side.
• Report timely to RUFORUM on content and financial progress. Provide input in annual auditing.
• Submit quarterly reports of activities to the RUFORUM Innovation Project Leader

Egerton University, Kenya

• Participate in the inception planning meeting to refine work plans and formalize partnerships.
• Build institutional commitment by identifying and establishing project management team, identifying the housing department for the project, sensitising the university, management, Board of Postgraduate Studies (BPGS), Board of Undergraduate Studies, Directorate of Research & Extension, and relevant academic departments (agricultural-related and environmental science) within the university.
• Design and implement M&E learning framework in accordance with the EU model.
• Conduct annual, mid-term and end of project reviews.
• Establish linkages with other ACP networks and activities.
• Conduct a self annual audit and provide a report to RUFORUM.
• Conduct baseline study through desktop review of university programs and outreach activities in the sensitized departments and Interview stakeholders.
• Conduct an appraisal study and workshop to assess stakeholder demands (private/public sector and NGO’s in agriculture and rural development) and expertise in the participating universities, participating countries, region and globally to fill the skills gap.
• Develop, test and run a part-time post-graduate course on innovation systems and facilitation of innovation based on review of similar short courses.
• Conduct an appraisal study and stakeholders’ workshop to assess opportunities for integration of innovation approach courses in existing technical and social science curricula in the field of agriculture and development of the participating universities.
• Document lessons learnt and share the same with International course Organizers and other partners.
• Develop, test and run two short innovation courses in liaison with agricultural R&D decision makers and practitioners.
• Identify and consult R&D practitioners using AR frameworks to develop an appropriate AR framework for the project.

University of Malawi (Bunda College of Agriculture), Malawi

BCA will establish an Innovations Project Implementation Team (iPIT) comprising three faculty, which will oversee implementation of the project. The team will be led by an Innovations Project Coordinator (iPC) who shall manage the day-to-day activities of the Project. Understanding that Bunda College is a partner in the Innovations Project which is in line with goals of the Malawi Government and Bunda College of ensuring food security in Malawi, the iPIT will undertake the responsibilities that follow:

• The iPIT will hold discussions with BCA Heads of Department, Deans of Faculty and key decision makers at the University level to build institutional commitment and ownership.
• In collaboration with RUFORUM, KIT, Makerere University and Egerton University, the iPIT will monitor and implement the Project using a harmonised M&E framework that will be jointly developed by all partner institutions.
• Bunda College iPIT will conduct a baseline study, mid-term review and end-of-project evaluation based on the harmonised M&E system.
• To facilitate development, implementation and evaluation of curriculum for the PG diploma, mid-career and integration of innovation systems into existing curricula, the iPIT will consult and facilitate identification of opportunities for integration.
• The iPIT will coordinate meetings and workshops to achieve specific Project outputs.
• Through the iPIT, Bunda College of Agriculture will prepare and submit progress and annual reports to RUFORUM in a timely manner.
• Bunda College iPIT will collaborate with other partners in establishing, expanding and maintaining a network of learners and people with professional skills.
• In response to requirements for accountability, Bunda College will ensure that that the project is run on sound financial procedures and will facilitate auditing of project accounts.
• The College will facilitate procurement of goods and services in line with prescribed procurement procedures of the Malawi Government (ODPP) and Project requirements.
• The iPIT will ensure that there is transparency and accountability in the day-to-day operations of the project, including use of project resources within the limits of the intended purposes.
• Bunda College will collaborate with KIT and other partners in developing student action research framework, and oversee its implementation in the mid-career training course.
• The iPIT will collaborate with regional and international Project partners in establishing and maintaining quality controls in all aspects of Project implementation
• Bunda College iPIT will document and analyse lessons from learning cases of the mid-career training course, and share through progress and annual reports, with other Project partners nationally, regionally and internationally
• The College will develop and widely disseminate communication products including public relations materials and their requirements for attracting participants to the courses.

Makerere University, Uganda
Makerere University will be responsible for the following:

• Participate in the inception planning meeting and contribute to the development of a synergized project implementation plan;
• Develop and refine Annual work Plan for 2010
• Build institutional commitment
• Design and implement the M&E learning framework
• Conduct annual, midterm and end of project reviews
• Establish linkages with other ACP networks, activities
• Conduct annual audit
• Conduct baseline study
• Conduct studies to assess stakeholder demands (private/public sector and NGO’s in agriculture and rural development) and expertise in the participating universities, participating countries, region and globally to fill the skills gap
• Conduct awareness meetings, discussions groups with decision makers in Universities
• Develop a database of professional skills linked to a web-based existing database
• Development of an action research framework
• Development of communication products including public relation materials and their requirements for attracting participants to the course.
• Sharing the experience with other universities that are part of the RUFORUM network

Associate Partners

• The Associate partners: Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA); Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA);Technical Centre for Agriculture Rural Cooperation(CTA); and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) will:
• Participate in project activities
• Facilitate knowledge sharing of the Innovation project and other related activities;
• Participate in the production, documentation, adaptation and dissemination of learning resources;
• Link the Innovation proejct with other on-going initiatives in innovation and research for development internationally;
• Participate in the meeting and workshops
• Facilitate other capacity strengthening activities related to the Innovation project