The field programme includes the provision of technical assistance in projects aimed at improving research and extension institutions, processes, and methodologies.
The types of projects include:
- review and assessment of research and extension systems,
- assistance in piloting and establishing demand driven, market oriented, pluralistic, and participatory research and extension systems and incorporating these elements into comprehensive agriculture and rural development programmes,
- enhancing the use of advanced information & communication technologies to facilitate agricultural technology generation and dissemination
- policy development and institutional capacity building on biotechnology and biosafety for national research systems
Projects include those funded by FAO as well as other international funding sources. FAO also organizes regional and sub-regional workshops on enhancing national research and extension systems, studies, and reports which provide technical information and normative frameworks that facilitate the implementation of new policies and programs.
European Union-funded Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) Project
Through the European Union-funded Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, implemented by FAO and Agrinatura from 2015 to 2019, capacity development was supported in eight countries: Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras,the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Rwanda.
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Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS)
Tropical Agriculture Platform
FAO hosts the Secretariat of the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP), a G20-supported facilitation mechanism comprising 45 global, regional and national partners, representing agricultural research, education and extension, and international technical, development and funding agencies.
TAP focuses on the development of national capacities for agricultural innovation in the tropics, where most of the developing countries are located and the capacity gap is especially wide.
By helping to bridge the capacity gap, TAP aims to pave the way for agricultural innovations that meet the demands of its principal users – small farmers, small and medium-sized agribusinesses and consumers.
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The Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP)
TAP - Facilitating capacity development for agricultural innovation in the tropics
Contact: [email protected]
TAP AIS
The project ‘Developing capacities in agricultural innovation systems: scaling up the Tropical Agriculture Platform Framework’ (in short, TAP-AIS) is part of a larger EU Initiative called ‘Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA): Towards climate-relevant Agricultural and Knowledge Innovation Systems’. The objective of the DeSIRA initiative is to boost innovation in agriculture and food systems transformation of partner countries with a view to be more resilient to the effects of climate change.
The TAP-AIS project is funded by the EU (as part of the DeSIRA Initiative Pillar 2) and implemented by FAO, with a budget of EUR 5 millions over 5 years (2019-2024). It focuses on nine countries: Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Colombia, Eritrea, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malawi, Pakistan, Rwanda and Senegal.
The project supports TAP to strengthen capacities to innovate in national agricultural innovation systems (AIS) in the context of climate-relevant, productive, and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Pacific.
The TAP-AIS project evolves from the experience of the EU-funded Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, which successfully tested and validated the TAP Common Framework on capacity development for agricultural innovation systems in eight countries from 2015 to 2019. The Common Framework provides a comprehensive package to guide demand-driven capacity development interventions and it is a key tool for the TAP-AIS.
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