The CD Expert Group of TAP has held a workshop from March 19 to March 20, 2015, in Montpellier, France. The core expert team as well as experts of TAP partners attended the workshop, which aimed at developing a Common Framework on Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation System (AIS). Thirty five experts attended the workshop, contributing to the discussion on and providing recommendations to the development of the Framework. The draft Framework is planned to be finalized by the end of June and, after being endorsed by the TAP Global Task Force and Steering Committee, it will be validated in eight countries in Africa, Central America and Asia. The report of the workshop is available HERE. 

The first day of the workshop focussed on discussing the review of the resources available on Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation System (AIS), which was prepared by three members of the core expert team (Eduardo Trigo, Julia Ekong and Ataharul Chowdhury). On the second day, members of the wider expert group provided their recommendations for the development of the Framework. Discussions and formulation of the recommendations were organised around three main themes: Elements of the Framework, Needs Assessment and Monitoring and Evaluation. 

The experts agreed that the development of the Common Framework should be informed by two key characteristics: on the one hand, the Framework should be practical and offer concrete guidelines for project formulation; on the other, it should be generic (globally relevant), therefore highly flexible and adaptable to the specific conditions of the countries where it is implemented. Once endorsed by the main TAP decisional bodies, the Framework will be validated in 8 countries (Angola, Ethiopia, Niger, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Laos, Guatemala and Honduras) through the project Capacity Development for Agicultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS), which is funded by the European Commission and jointly implemented by Agrinatura and FAO from 2015 to 2018. At the same time, other TAP Partners are encouraged to promote and start applying the Framework by integrating it in existing activities or by mobilising resources for new projects.