At the Marketplace event held in Luanda (Angola) on 28 November 2017, representatives of innovation niches/partnerships of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems Project (CDAIS), presented their needs for capacity development to an audience of research institutes, NGOs, cooperation agencies, service providers, government representatives, among others.

Amongst the more than 50 participants, the event was honored by His Excellency Mr. Carlos Alberto Pinto, Secretary of State for Agriculture, Mr. Mamoudou Diallo, FAO Representative in Angola, Mr. Danilo Barbero, Delegate for European Union in Angola, and Dr. Armando Valente, Director of the National Institute of Agricultural Research and National Coordinator of CDAIS.

In Angola, the three innovation partnerships were selected through a consultative process and validated during the inception workshop which took place in Huambo Province in May 2016 (https://iictcooperacao.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/workshop-de-lancamento-do-cdais-em-angola/). The three innovation partnerships are: Rural Entrepreneurship, Rice Development and Planalto Seeds. Further information on the innovation partnerships can be found at http://cdais.net/home/pilots-countries/angola/angola-niches/.

During the marketplace, representatives of the innovation partnerships presented and discussed the results of the capacity needs assessment undertaken in 2017 by the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (https://www.isa.ulisboa.pt/).

Opening the marketplace, His Excellency Mr. Carlos Alberto Pinto, Secretary of State for Agriculture said that “The agriculture sector could contribute much more to the country's GDP growth if this was to be combined with better management of innovation skills and greater cooperation among stakeholders.”

He highlighted the Agricultural Sector Development Plan 2017-2022 which focuses on improving family farming and agri-businesses in order to increase food and agriculture production, improve better access to production resources and services, and improvement of working and social conditions in rural areas. Such a vision, the Secretary pointed out, “will pave the way to effectively improve the capacity for joint innovation and strengthening it at the level of organizational and institutional partnerships”.

In his welcome remarks, FAO Representative in Angola, Mr. Mamoudou Diallo emphasized that “agricultural innovation is key to develop and promote sustainable food and agriculture systems in order to address the challenge of feeding a growing world population in the context of natural resources degradation exacerbated by the impacts of weather and climate change, as well as migration.”

The marketplace provided a space and forum to match the demand and supply for the wide range of technical services (e.g. National Seed service – SENSE), NGOs, private sector (e.g. Bank Commercial of Angola), etc. Many services suppliers highlighted the potential of the three niches to contribute to improving rural livelihoods through their enterprises that will benefit smallholder farmers (e.g. improving timely access to quality seeds, advisory services, etc.). They were interested in the work by the niches and thus keen to support the capacity development to improve the business environment and performance of the niches by providing specific and tailored services.

For example, the representative of the Angolan Development Bank (BDA) urged the niches to prepare business plans that could eventually be assessed by BDA. ISA through the coaching plan (learning cycle 2 will capacitate the niches on business plan formulation). Contacts and business cards were exchanged during the marketplace. Next steps will aim at supporting the niches to prepare their business plan and follow-up with the services suppliers to consolidate and concretize the partnerships in support of the capacity development plan of the niches.

The Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems Project (CDAIS) is a global initiative of the TAP-Tropical Agriculture Platform and aims to develop more efficient and sustainable agricultural innovation systems in line with farmers' needs, agro-business and of consumers, taking into account the development of competences in three dimensions: individual, organizational and the enabling environment, with emphasis on the development of functional skills. CDAIS project is funded by the European Unionand implemented in eight pilot countries (Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Honduras, Laos and Rwanda).

In Angola, the CDAIS project is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture through the Agronomic Research Institute (IIA) in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (http://www.fao.org/research-and-extension/en/) and Agrinatura (http://agrinatura-eu.eu/), represented by the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA/Ulisboa) (Agrinatura is a consortium of European  universities and research institutions).

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Link to news in the local press:

http://www.angop.ao/angola/pt_pt/noticias/economia/2017/10/48/Sector-agricola-contribui-com-porcento-PIB,e364c72c-106e-426c-8677-9727086d4cf2.html