Education and Research in Agriculture (ERA) Annual Report: Year 4 – FY 2014

This report presents accomplishments for Year 4, October 1st 2013 to September 31, 2014 and tasks undertaken during the 4th quarter to be completed during Year 5. The presentation of results are organized according to the project’s three components: 1) Strengthening Agricultural Education and Training; 2) Strengthening Applied Research and Outreach; and 3) Strengthening Project Management and Policy Support. Seven Intermediate Results (Figure 1) guide work plan development and implementation. The annual accomplishments of the project as well as an account of work undertaken in the 4th quarter are reported according to these seven Intermediate Results. Impacts are reported at the level of the three components. ERA strengthens agricultural education, research, and outreach to support the USAID objectives of poverty and hunger reduction and inclusive economic growth, thus contributing to the President’s Feed the Future initiative. ERA targets institutions responsible for training and educating the next generation of decision makers, farmers and educators. A core element of ERA’s approach is the promotion of the tri-partite mission of teaching, research, and outreach. Outreach, including traditional agricultural extension, continuing professional education (certificate programs), and community development is a mission that is not part of Senegal’s tradition. While the roles of institutions are reconsidered, ERA supports the traditional teaching and research missions of its partners. After an external mid-term evaluation provided to Virginia Tech in March 2014, the administration took stock of the project’s strengths, weaknesses, and missed opportunities. Activities were critically evaluated. Inadequate participation of partners in the planning process was identified as a constraint to success. An ambitious work plan revision was undertaken with full participation of the PMU program 3 staff in order to specify the tasks that best advance every project activity. The new plan guided implementation during the last four months of Year 4.