9 April 2021 - The TAP-AIS project, funded by the European Union, which develops capacities in agricultural innovation systems (AIS) in eight countries across the globe, was officially launched in Senegal at a virtual inception workshop on the 25 February 2021.

The main objectives of this workshop were the need to raise awareness of the issue of developing the capacities of individuals and organizations for the deployment of an enabling environment for agricultural innovation in favour of the transformation of agri-food systems towards more resilience and sustainability. And the importance of sharing inputs and ideas to set the priorities of the TAP-AIS project and align it with the efforts of the government and other organizations to strengthen the capacities of AIS.

The workshop stimulated a certain enthusiasm in a context where agricultural development projects multiply and coexist with little space for dialogue to reflect on common goals and synergies.

In his introduction, the leader of the Employment and Inclusive Growth team at the Delegation of the European Union in Senegal, Stéphane Devaux, recalled that ‘innovations are essential to meet the challenges that affect the sustainability of our food and agricultural systems and DeSIRA is a platform designed to improve farmers' access to innovation through better integration of agricultural research for the poorest’.

Dr Makhfousse Sarr, the FAO program manager in Senegal, underlined that the strengthening of the national agricultural innovation system is based on the common framework developed by the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP, 2016). The challenge is to make it more efficient regarding the challenges of population resilience and poverty reduction in a context of climate change.

During the workshop three high-potential innovations that reveal the enabling conditions for scaling up presented their innovations, these were: the “Bio Senegal”Label and how this creates the conditions for an efficient and inter-organizational collaboration; the Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment Project (SHEP) approach in developing farmers’ business skills; the experience of the municipality of Ndiop in engaging elected local official in territorial innovation.

Participants formulated six recommendations to strengthen the national agricultural innovation system: 1) Have a clear vision to guide the future; 2) Facilitate long-term inter-organizational collaborative work; 3) Seek alignment between ongoing initiatives; 4) Rethink the role of agricultural organizations in innovation processes: who supports whom? 5) Bring out successful innovation models in priority areas 6) Co-pilot agricultural research

More than fifty participants joined the workshop including a set of key AIS leaders in the sectors of research, agricultural advice, higher education, agro-sylvo-pastoral financing but also promotors of innovations with high potential for the sustainability of agriculture as well as representatives of the agricultural sector and civil society.

For more information about the TAP-AIS project in Senegal see: http://www.fao.org/in-action/tropical-agriculture-platform/projects/tap-ais/senegal/en/