In the first quarter of 2020, inception missions of the TAP-AIS project took place in four countries (Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Eritrea and Rwanda). These visits contributed to the establishment of country teams, including the recruitment of country project managers, and appointment of national project coordinators, and to the development of work plans. 

In Cambodia, for example, the project raised high expectations on capacity development for effective agricultural innovation systems due to its fragmentation and the weak linkages and collaboration between key actors’ such as research, extension and academia. The TAP Common Framework approaches, focused on functional capacities, will make a significant contribution towards strengthening the capacity of the system at national level. 

In Rwanda, an inception workshop was held in February 2020. Twenty-four representatives of various institutions attended the inception workshop held in Kigali on 18 February 2020. Participants included Theogene Rutagengwa, Director General in charge of Animal Resource Development at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), Arnaud de Vanssay, Head of Section Rural Development at the Delegation of the European Union to Rwanda, and Gualbert Gbehounou, FAO Representative in Rwanda. Participants recommended three potential focus areas of the project: 1) Small livestock (small ruminants, piggery, poultry, rabbits, etc.); 2) Access to finance for agricultural and rural development; and 3) Sustainable soil and environmental management, for climate-resilient solutions in the agriculture sector. They reviewed the project’s planned activities, which include an assessment of agricultural innovation systems around the proposed focus areas, to guide further actions.

In addition, FAO is partnering with the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), a specialist research, development and education organisation of the University of Greenwich (United Kingdom), to develop a rapid appraisal methodology for identifying entry points to facilitate the uptake and integration of TAP tools into regional and sub-regional organizations (AFAAS, FARA, CORAF/WECARD, ASARECA, CCARDESA, APIRAS, APAARI, IICA, RELASER) strategies and programmes. The methodology will be used by regional organizations (research and extension networks) to conduct the appraisal and develop a joint action plan in the second half of 2020.