CAADP COMESA Regional

**Terms of Reference for an Expert Reference Group**

I.  **[The CAADP Context]{.underline}**

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A.  [Background]{.underline}

The Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) was
established by the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's
Development (AU/NEPAD). The overall goal of CAADP is to

> "*Help African countries reach a higher path of economic growth
> through agriculturally-led development, which eliminates hunger,
> reduces poverty and food insecurity, and enables expansion of
> exports."*

It is a growth-oriented agriculture agenda, aimed at increasing
agriculture growth rates to six percent per year to create the wealth
needed for rural communities and households in Africa to prosper. To
achieve this goal, CAADP focuses its efforts around four key pillars of
intervention:

-   *Pillar 1*: Extending the area under sustainable land management and
    reliable water control systems;

-   *Pillar 2*: Improving rural infrastructure and trade-related
    capacities for market access;

-   *Pillar 3*: Increasing food supply, reducing hunger, and improving
    responses to food emergency crises; and

-   *Pillar 4*: Improving agriculture research, technology dissemination
    and adoption.

In addition to the four pillars, CAADP has cross-cutting concerns,
including: capacity strengthening for agribusiness; academic and
professional training; and improving access to information for
agricultural strategy formulation.

There are two stages to CAADP COMESA planning and implementation, the
Regional Compact and the National Compacts. **These TOR focus on the
Regional Compact,** which will be informed by the eventual development
of the National Compacts.

CAADP is the result of several years of effort and a series of regional
meetings culminating in a continent-wide summit, held in Accra, Ghana in
May 2005, at which African Heads of State committed the resources and
leadership of their governments to support its implementation. The
meetings engaged 52 countries in Africa and over 1,000 stakeholders.
Commitment to the implementation of CAADP was a key topic of the G-8
countries during their meetings at Sea Island and Gleneagles.

B.  [Current status]{.underline}

Over the past six months the AU/NEPAD Secretariat has worked steadily to
move CAADP towards implementation. Most recently, it organized a series
of joint consultations with its development partners (including WB,
DFID, ADB, NORAD, SIDA, USAID), regional economic communities (ECOWAS,
COMESA) and international organizations to clarify the work plans and
support the process of regional and national compact development
associated with CAADP implementation in 2006. These consultations
included visits to the headquarters of ECOWAS (who lead efforts in West
Africa), in Abuja, Nigeria, February 6 & 7; the headquarters of COMESA
(who lead efforts in Eastern Africa) in Lusaka, Zambia, February 8 to
10; and DFID, which hosted donor meetings in London, U.K., February 13 &
14. Planning on the individual Pillars of CAADP within COMESA and NEPAD
has moved forward, with Pillar 4 already having an expert reference
group underway, and concept paper development for Pillar 1, Pillar 2 and
Pillar 3 initiated.

C.  [Implementation Targets]{.underline}

These consultations resulted in the adoption by all of the following
2006 CAADP implementation targets:

1.  *Operational Platforms.* Establish continental, regional and
    country-level operational platforms to implement early actions and
    achieve alignment of development assistance (foreign and domestic)
    with and around the CAADP investment framework.

2.  *CAADP Partners Forum.* At the continental level, the NEPAD
    secretariat will establish a CAADP Partners Forum that will hold two
    meetings in April and October 2006. The forum will promote and
    facilitate mutual review and accountability of CAADP implementation
    and feed into the African Partners Forum.

3.  *Regional CAADP Compacts.* In at least three of the five regions,
    establish a regional CAADP Compact between Regional Economic
    Committees (RECs), national governments, and development partners,
    to guide and coordinate current and future CAADP financing for
    regional programs. Initial efforts will focus on West, East and
    Southern Africa regions. Central and North Africa regional CAADP
    compacts will be established in 2007.

4.  *Country CAADP Compacts.* Establish country CAADP Compacts in 18
    countries that will facilitate alignment and harmonization of
    development assistance, clarify performance milestones, and identify
    development financing needs from foreign and domestic sources to
    meet CAADP objectives.

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D.  [Expert Reference Groups]{.underline}

Expert Reference Groups are an integral part of the CAADP implementation
process. The purpose of the groups is to design the projects and
programs to be carried out under CAADP guidance. The group's members are
envisioned to be technical experts, academics, public sector
representatives, private sector (ex. Farmer's unions), donors, and civil
society. The Expert Reference Group will be convened by COMESA, who will
also designate a chair to guide the group's work.

These terms of reference are intended for use by the Expert Reference
Group that will design the Regional programs and projects for the COMESA
region. Their work will cover all four main Pillars of CAADP, and be
guided by the Concept Papers that have been developed for each
respective Pillar. The goal is a design that integrates all Pillars in a
comprehensive framework.

This will be a two step process, with the initial step of designing the
Regional Compact, then a second step of reviewing the Regional Compact
in light of the National Compacts. While the implementation of the
Regional Compact can proceed after the first step, it will remain a
living document which can be adjusted to fit the implications of the
national compacts for overall regional work.

II. **Expert Reference Group CAADP COMESA**

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A.  [Mandate]{.underline}

CAADP aims to stimulate *"agriculturally led development which
eliminates hunger, reduces poverty and food insecurity."* More
specifically, the NEPAD vision for Africa holds that, by 2015, Africa
should meet the following:

-   Attain food security

-   Improve agricultural productivity to attain a 6% annual growth rate

-   Develop dynamic regional and sub-regional agricultural markets

-   Integrate farmers into a market economy

-   Achieve more equitable distribution of wealth

B.  [Objectives]{.underline}

The work of the expert reference group will involve several different
elements. They will take stock of existing programs and policies in the
region, as well as identify issues and gaps that are not currently being
addressed. Based on this assessment, the group will then draft designs
for programs and projects intended to achieve the objectives of the
Regional Compact. This design will include a results framework, as well
as initial suggestions for funding mechanisms. The design framework will
determine the size and focus of investment needed to achieve all four
Pillar goals of CAADP.

C.  [Key Questions]{.underline}

Under each of the key Pillar subject headings, the reference group will
need to identify baseline performance measures, key interventions and
methods for monitoring effectiveness of CAADP efforts. The base
documents are the concept papers for each of the Pillars for COMESA. Key
questions to guide the ERG are:

-   What is the **Regional** focus of each of the pillars (in
    distinction from the National foci)?

-   What are the **achievable** objectives under each pillar at the
    regional level?

-   What are the **existing projects** that address these objectives,
    and what are the gaps?

-   What **new programs, projects and activities** are needed to achieve
    the objectives and who should be the **collaborating partners**?

-   What is the role of **member states** in planning and
    implementation, and what activities and policy issues must member
    states formally buy into in order to achieve success?

-   What are the different priorities, procurement methods, mechanisms,
    and issues of respective **donors**?

-   What are the potential areas for **collaboration and delegation of
    responsibility** for implementation to different agencies, NGO's,
    private sector groups, etc?

D.  [Outputs from Expert Reference Group]{.underline}

-   Project designs for Regional Pillars

-   Achievable Results framework for the Regional CAADP projects

-   Map of existing programs relating to the framework and gaps

-   Recommendations around collaboration and priorities with Member
    States, donors and other agencies

[Outcomes]{.underline}

-   Consensus between AU/NEPAD, member states, donors, private sector
    stakeholders, and other development partners on the scope and focus
    of Regional Programs and its role in achieving CAADP objectives.

E.  [Timeline]{.underline}

-   *By August 30th* - Initial meetings of the expert reference group to
    determine work methods and procedures

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-   *August 30th* - Draft of outputs circulated for review (NEPAD/CAADP
    Secretariat)

-   *September 1-30th* - Comments/dialogue (Expert Reference Group,
    NEPAD/CAADP Secretariat)

-   *October* -- Expert Reference Group undertakes analysis and provides
    final design for Regional Compact (4 week process)

-   *Oct - December* -- Initial National CAADP Compact meetings