MONITORING AFRICAN FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL POLICIES (MAFAP)

LESSONS LEARNED QUESTIONNAIRE

Introduction

After three years of implementation, from 2010 to 2013, FAO’s Monitoring African Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) is coming towards the end of its first phase. In order to improve MAFAP for phase II, that will start in July 2013, a lessons learned exercise is being held. You are kindly invited to fill the questionnaire below. The answers will be used to produce a lessons learned document that will be debated during a workshop in Addis-Ababa on the 27th to 29th of May.

Individual answers will not be identified in the discussion and will only be known to the technical staff that is working in generating the background document for the discussion.

What information needs to be found ?

Experiences from every participant on the first three years of the project (or less for some participants), especially on successes identified and concerns they have. The lessons learned on methodological aspects will be a separate exercise.

What and who is it for ?

The lessons learned exercise is undertaken in order to determine MAFAP’s strength and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges so far, so as to improve it for phase II. It is not a descriptive exercise, but an identification of the reasons behind MAFAP’s successes and failures.

The lessons learned exercise is aimed at :

- The MAFAP Secretariat and MAFAP country partners, in order to ensure that MAFAP is more efficient in achieving its various objectives, particularly transfer of knowledge and know-how on policy monitoring for institutionalization of this function at country level.

- The project’s external donors (notably the BMGF), as well as NEPAD/NPCA and FAO management. For the latter, this would allow them to have concrete findings on what works and what could be improved to advance the policy monitoring evaluation agenda of FAO.

- All actors directly or indirectly related to MAFAP, for them to better understand the project and enhance their participation/contribution.

- Everyone, as a global good.

Who participates in the process ?

The MAFAP lessons learned exercise involves :

The MAFAP Secretariat, i.e the MAFAP team based in Rome. The MAFAP country partners in all 10 MAFAP countries : both technicians and policy dialogue

partners. Other actors who contributed to MAFAP : OECD, NEPAD (NPCA), regional organizations

(notably UEMOA, EAC, SADC), producer organizations, donors (Bill and Melinda Gates, USAID) and other partners.

Country :

Name :

Institution :

MAFAP Process

From your perspective, what are the main lessons learned regarding…

1. The way MAFAP approached country partners ? This includes relevance and frequency of scoping missions, quality and usefulness of meetings with local institutions, approach adopted to do the country work (consultants, partnership with local institutions), and relevance of partnerships established.

150 words max

2. The MAFAP team structure ? This includes number of local staff and nature of contracts, number of Secretariat staff out posted at country-level.

150 words max

3. The financial and institutional arrangements with country partners ? This includes nature of LOAs, financial amounts given to country partners (institutions and individual staff), contract with an institutions versus individual contracts.

150 words max

4. The day-to-day relation between MAFAP headquarters team and country partners : sufficient ? specific ? relevant ?

150 words max

5. The involvement and alignment of MAFAP with NEPAD/NPCA/CAADP?

150 words max

6. The relation between MAFAP team and the private sector, NGOs, farmer organizations and other development stakeholders ?

150 words max

MAFAP Administration

7. From your perspective, what are the main lessons learned regarding the MAFAP administration ? This includes payments to institutions, travel and workshop expenses, wages….

150 words max

MAFAP Management/Coordination

8. From your perspective, what are the main lessons learned regarding the way the working process was organized : objectives, timing (deadlines), roles and responsibilities in your team, room for self-development ?

150 words max

MAFAP capacity-building and institutionalization

9. From your perspective, what are what are the main lessons learned regarding the capacity building component of MAFAP ? This includes quality and usefulness of capacity-building material (excel and word templates and guidelines), of workshops, technical support from Rome or country-based support, quality and extent of institutionalization of MAFAP in your country.

150 words max

MAFAP technical outputs

10. From your perspective, what are the main lessons learned regarding the MAFAP technical outputs ? This includes number of outputs, your views on relevance and usefulness of technical notes, work on public expenditure, country reports, policy briefs and other MAFAP outputs. Note : The methodological issues will be treated in a separate exercise.

150 words max

MAFAP facilitation of the policy dialogue

11. From your perspective, what are the main lessons learned regarding the MAFAP policy dialogue ? This includes the approach adopted by MAFAP, the choice of policy dialogue partners, the quality of MAFAP policy dialogue in the country.

150 words max

MAFAP communication and outreach

12. From your perspective, what are the main lessons learned regarding the MAFAP communication and outreach ? This includes the MAFAP website, the MAFAP brochure and flyer, the MAFAP communication with all types of partners.

150 words max

Recommendations on MAFAP improvements

13. What would be the main priority (one for each bullet point) you suggest to improve MAFAP for phase II :

Process

75 words max

Administration

75 words max

Management/coordination

75 words max

Capacity-building and institutionalization

75 words max

Technical outputs

75 words max

Policy dialogue

75 words max

Communication and outreach

75 words max

Additional comments

Please feel free to provide any additional comments or information that you would like to share with us.

For more information regarding the lessons learned exercise, please contact the MAFAP lessons learned team at alban.masaparisi@fao.org

For more information on the project, please visit : http://www.fao.org/mafap/en/