The Monitoring African Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) project agreement signed between FAO and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called for the establishment of a Project Steering Committee to guide the overall project and the work of the project secretariat.  The core functions of this Project Steering Committee are three-fold:

1. To monitor progress in project implementation and propose adjustments when needed;
2. To promote close engagement by all key institutions who will contribute to and benefit from the project;
3. To provide policy and strategic guidance, including on modalities of cooperation among institutions and approach adopted by the project at country, subregional, regional and global level.

Steering  Committee Members:

• Jomo Sundaram, Steering Committee Chair, Assistant Director General, Economic and Social Department, FAO
• Ken Ash – Co-Chair of the Steering Committee, Director, Agricultural Directorate, OECD
• Ousmane Badiane - Director for Africa, IFPRI
• Stephen Mink – Lead Economist. Sustainable Development Department, Africa Region, World Bank
• Martin Bwalya – NEPAD Coordinating and Planning Agency NPCA
• Prabhu Pingali, Deputy director, Agricultural Policy and Statistics Division,  B&M Gates Foundation
• David Hegwood - Senior Food Security Advisor, US Agency for International Development (USAID)
• Kostas Stamoulis - Director, Agricultural Development Economics Division, FAO 
• Djibo Bagna - Chair, Panafrican Farmer's Organization (PAFO)
• Jean Balié - Secretary of the Steering Committee, MAFAP Project Manager.

The main tasks and responsibilities of the Steering Committee include: 

1. Oversee the implementation of the programme so as to ensure that it meets its stated objectives in line with the project document.
2. Ensure co-ordination with other related initiatives and proper integration of project activities in national, subregional, regional and global processes.
3. Advise and assist in the solving of problems and/or the management of risks which lie outside the scope or authority of the project.
4. Provide the basis for decision-making to assist the project achieve its objectives.
5. Assist in raising additional resources in order to ensure institutionalization and sustainability of the project in its countries of focus and expand to additional countries in the current three-year phase and beyond.