Africa Forums
The Africa Forum has established itself as a learning platform on Programme Based Approaches in Agriculture and Rural Development, for practitioners based in Africa . Its origin dates back to the mid-nineties, when Sector Investment Programmes were introduced throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. C ompared to Health and Education, the Agricultural Sector offered specific challenges such as the re-division of public and private sector roles. To support decision makers in African take charge of this new instrument, an international forum was held in Lusaka in 1997 called Sector Investment Programmes in Agriculture .
Since 1997, these Africa-based international forums were organised on an annual basis with around 70 to 100 people per forum. Over the years, the forums brought together more then 700 people from over 20 African countries. Participants are from the government, but also from the private sector and civil society.
What sets these forums apart from other (more donor dominated) events is that they are not only for but also by African managers and implementers of PBAs. Most of the papers and studies presented are by national resource persons and relate detailed implementation experience. The aim is to provide a platform where countries can learn from each other's mistakes and successes; where Francophone and Anglophone colleagues can compare experiences; and where planners from one Ministry of Agriculture can learn from their counterparts in another country. Underpinning this formula is the realisation that whereas donors have many occasions to compare notes across countries, opportunities for developing partners to do the same are very limited.
Participants to one forum propose topics for the next to ensure that issues addressed are of common and current concern. This continuity in the discussion as well as the growing number of core-participants has turned the forums into a true regional debate.