Twenty-eight participants from four eastern Africa countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania of the Knowledge Center for Organic Agriculture (KCOA) Project in Eastern Africa were brought together for a one-day workshop held on Monday March 9, 2020 at Verona Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. The aim of the workshop was for partners to have a deeper understanding and get clarifications on issues not clear on the KCOA project that is being implemented for an initial period of 2 years (August 2019-July 2021).
This initiative is part of the German development cooperation special initiative ONE WORLD – No Hunger under the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) executed by GIZ to support a network of regional knowledge hubs for organic farming in Africa. Currently regional knowledge hubs have been introduced in eastern, southern and west Africa with Northern Africa coming up as a collaborative partner through Sekem in Egypt.
BvAT is the lead coordinating agency of the project in Eastern Africa with co-hosting collaboration with Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda. The KCOA Project in eastern Africa involves four countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania. The expectation is to later bring on board Ethiopia and Burundi.
The main objective of the workshop was to introduce the CIPs and their associates to the KCOA project and harmonize understanding of planning, implementation and reporting procedures & guidelines.
The workshop specifically was used to:
- Introduce the CIPs and their associate partners to the design, approach and components of the (KCOA) project.
- Develop country-specific draft work plans for the current quarter (February – April 2020) and sharpen skills for developing subsequent quarters.
- Facilitate partner role allocation, collaboration in project implementation, tracking progress and reporting guidelines.
The workshop covered several aspects of the project including: KCOA Project Design & Organization; Country Briefs; Detailed KCOA Overall Goal & Objectives (Statement, major activities, sub activities and partner allocation); Country Project Implementation Strategies (Network of Teams Approach in flagship project management; Project Dissemination Strategy (multiplier approach and centers of learning); Program Monitoring and Reporting; Financial Management and Compliance; The Project Implementation Guidelines; and Networking, Sharing and Learning.
The workshop was organized by the KCOA management team by Dr. David Amudavi the Project Coordinator and Mr. Francis Nsanga the Project Manager. They were supported by Ms. Venancia Wambua the EOA-I Project Manager, Stella Lutalo the Country Coordinator of PELUM Uganda, Mr. Alex Mutungi the CSC Continental Secretariat Coordinator, Mr. Robertson Nyikuli the Finance Manager and Mr. Obed Ateka the Project Accountant.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Amudavi urged implementing partners to actively participate in ensuring the project is a big success in its expectations especially with the understanding that most project pending issues would be resolved in the workshop, and efficient strategies of implementation shared. He added that the workshop served as an opportunity to unpackage the key elements of the project and draw a road map of implementation for each country partner. Regional sharing of experiences and lessons learnt would be key to impact creation and sustainability of the project.
The workshop was attended by country representatives from the four implementing countries comprising of country coordinators, finance, & KCOA field officers, associate partners and other key stakeholders from the Ministry of Agriculture and consumer bodies. The participants found the workshop very valuable as expressed in different ways in the workshop evaluation.