(Nairobi, Kenya) The Reaching Agents of Change (RAC) Project, implemented by the International Potato Center (CIP) and Helen Keller International advocates for increased investment in orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP), to combat vitamin A deficiency among young children and women of reproductive age. RAC recently published a five-volume learning kit on “Engendered Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato Project Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation” as part of its efforts to build institutional capacity to design and implement gender sensitive projects to ensure wide access and utilization of OFSP in Tanzania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana and Burkina Faso. The learning module follows the principles of adult learning and is designed to guide prospective learning facilitators to implement six-day workshops which are composed of sessions based on the needs of the users, and provides a plan to support the implementation of 14 sessions that promote development of knowledge, attitudes and skills on all aspects of project management.
In developing the learning kit, the RAC team adapted and complemented the contents and processes from learning plans previously developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)/the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR)/the Agricultural Research and Development Support Facility (ARDSF) and tailored the materials to make them relevant to the RAC agenda. This effort resulted in new sections on mainstreaming gender in project design, project budgets, project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, the theory of change, summary of Power Point presentations and a range of exercises designed for building teams to work together during and after the learning workshops.
All 5 volumes of the learning kit can be downloaded free of charge from the CIP website here: https://cipotato.org/publications-manual/ The publication is a huge achievement and will ensure that the lessons learnt from the RAC project are carried forward. Institutions and individuals who attended the RAC learning workshops in 2012 in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Nigeria from the five project countries were inspired and motivated and have developed proposals that have attracted financial support for OFSP projects and strengthened the quality of project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Adiel Mbabu, Regional Director for CIP sub Saharan Africa and former RAC Project director is confident that the “learning kit will inspire and motivate participants to use it to plan and lead new workshops or events to promote learning and capacity building to strengthen the quality of OFSP project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. This will attract financial support to reduce child malnutrition and improve smallholder incomes, and ensure that OFSP projects are moving in the right direction towards obtaining effective results.”
Acknowledgements:
RAC extends special thanks to the Program Leader for Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI) for support and commitment to the RAC agenda, to the Helen Keller International (HKI) team for their insights and to Zenete França and Associates consultants for teaming with the RAC team to transform the learning module design into this learning kit.
Publication Details:
Authors: Mbabu, A. França, Z.P
Mulongo, G
Munyua, H.
Ojwang, F.
Low, J.W. (CIP).
Title: Engendered Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato Project Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation: A Learning Kit
Year: 2014
Category: Manual
Language: English and Portuguese
Publisher: International Potato Center
For more information:
Please contact Sara Quinn, Regional Communications Specialist CIP at s.quinn@cgiar.org to arrange interviews or to access photographs and background information.
In 2009, the International Potato Center (CIP) and its partners launched the Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI), to improve the lives of 10 million African households in 10 years through effective production and expanded use of sweetpotato. SPHI contributes to reducing child malnutrition and improving smallholder incomes. sweetpotatoknowledge.org
The Reaching Agents of Change (RAC) Project contributes to the broader goal of SPHI and advocates for increased investment in orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) to combat vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among young children and women of reproductive age. RAC also builds institutional capacity to design and implement gender-sensitive projects to ensure wide access and utilization of OFSP in Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso and Ghana.
The International Potato Center (CIP) is a research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweetpotato, and Andean roots and tubers. CIP is dedicated to delivering sustainable science-based solutions to the pressing world issues of hunger, poverty, gender equity, climate change and the preservation of our Earth’s fragile biodiversity and natural resources. CIP is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food-secure future. cipotato.org