Strengthening the Capacity of African Researchers
Africa faces complex development issues that affect it both as a region and as part of the wider global growth and development debate. Despite the region’s importance to global development, however, African researchers are often constrained by a lack of access to the latest research tools and resources. Improving and expanding the tools available to African researchers is essential in improving the quality of research in the region.
On June 6-8, 2011, The African Growth and Development Policy (AGRODEP) Modeling Consortium will hold its second members’ workshop in Dakar, Senegal. In addition to presentations by AGRODEP members, the workshop will include sessions addressing three current and emerging research topics: i) Climate Change, ii) Food Prices and Price Volatility, and iii) Foreign Direct Investment in Land. Led by top researchers from IFPRI, the World Bank, the University of California Berkeley, and more, the sessions will focus on the state-of-the-art methodologies and tools used to quantitatively address these broad issues.
AGRODEP is an initiative led by the IFPRI in collaboration with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA), the West African Council on Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD), and the Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Policy Network (FANRPAN). The goal of AGRODEPis to position African experts to take a leading role in both (1) the study of strategic development questions facing African countries as a whole and (2) the broader agricultural growth and policy debate, which traditionally has been dominated by external actors and concerns. AGRODEP seeks to i) promote access to and use of state-of-the-art economic modeling tools, ii) facilitate access to existing data sources for research and policy analysis, iii) support collaboration among leading African scientists and their international peers, and iv) build a dynamic research community that can respond to the emerging and long-term needs of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme’s (CAADP) growth and poverty reduction agenda.
AGRODEP consists of 56 members from 21 African countries. Members come from various research institutions and universities in Africa, and their research interests and experience include natural resource management, climate change, energy efficiency, food security and nutrition, livestock economics, labor economics, tourism economics, micro-econometrics, international trade, economic modeling, regional integration, agricultural policy and agribusiness development, gender, poverty, inequality, impact evaluation, credit risk modeling, public spending, and health care financing.
Learn more about AGRODEP’s mission and ongoing work.