AGRODEP organized a side event during the 2015 RESAKSS conference being held this week in Addis Ababa. Entitled “From Modeling Skill Development to Policy Analysis Support: A Future Roadmap for AGRODEP,” the session highlighted AGRODEP's capacity-building activities since its inception and outlined plans for future activities.
Created in 2010 and led by IFPRI, in collaboration with several partners, AGRODEP aims to position African experts as leaders in the study of strategic development issues in Africa and the broader agricultural growth and policy debate. Over the past almost five years, AGRODEP has provided 25 training courses on economic tools and techniques to 275 participants, awarded 40 research grants and 40 travel grants, hosted four members’ workshops and one global economic conference, and released 30 AGRODEP publications as working papers, technical notes, or data reports. The online library of resources holds 21 economic models and toolboxes and 280 datasets. With over 180 members from 27 African countries to date, AGRODEP is poised to play a larger role as a network of experts who can provide advisory services and support for policy analysis in Africa.
Betina Dimaranan, Project Manager of AGRODEP, provided an overview of AGRODEP’s capacity-buiding activities since its inception in October 2010. Fousseini Traore, who is involved in both the Modeling and the Data Components of AGRODEP, discussed the Consortium's contribution to economic modeling needs in Africa. Maximo Torero, co-chair of AGRODEP’s Scientific Advisory Board, outlined AGRODEP’s plans for the future, including an increased focus on modeling trade, impact evaluation, and value chains analysis.
Two AGRODEP members, Lulit Mitik Beyene (AGRODEP member from Ethiopia since 2011) and Abdoulaye Seck (AGRODEP member from Senegal since 2012), shared their experiences as AGRODEP members, provided feedback on AGRODEP activities and future plans, and offered suggestions for AGRODEP management to consider in the future.
The Africa south of the Sahara Food Security Portal was also featured during a side event focusing on the importance of timely, relevant data for food policy analysis.