Strengthening Evidence-Based Policy Practice for Sustainable Food Systems under the EU-AU Partnership

Project Information

StEPPFoS

Grant agreement ID: 101136770

DOI

10.3030/101136770

EC signature date 7 December 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2027

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 2 980 190,32

Coordinated by

FORUM FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA, GHANA
Ghana

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - StEPPFoS (Strengthening Evidence-Based Policy Practice for Sustainable Food Systems under the EU-AU Partnership)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The StEPPFoS Project (https://steppfos.faraafrica.org/) seeks to strengthen the science-policy-practice interface to enable evidence-informed, inclusive, and sustainable food systems transformation. Recognizing that effective policy depends not only on sound science but also on its integration with practice, governance, and public values, the project bridges gaps between researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and communities. The expected outcomes of the project are as follows
· improved alignment of activities of the FNSSA Research and Innovation Partnership and activities of the Pan-African Network for Economic Analysis of Policies (https://datam.jrc.ec.europa.eu/datam/area/PANAP) in the scope of EU-AU cooperation, supporting the implementation of the FNSSA 10-year roadmap providing end users with evidence-based policy analysis supporting food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture.
· Improved exchange among researchers and scientists in sustainable agricultural and food system policy development in EU and AU in the context of the EU-AU FNSSA and in the framework of PANAP.
· Increased support to African agricultural and food systems policy making process through enhanced cooperation around economic, social and environmental impact analysis of policy options for food systems, nutrition performance, agrifood trade, and development of rural areas.
The project seeks to achieve the following specific objectives (SOs).
SO1: to improve capacities of research, academic, public sector, private sector, and civil society stakeholders and institutions involved in evidence-based policy analysis that support food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture.
SO2: to enhance science-policy interface that supports science-based decision-making processes and experiences in support of agro-policy and inclusive transformation of national agrifood systems in Africa.
SO3: to improve strategies that promote scientific support within policy development in Africa and in Europe using digital technologies and information systems to accelerate the translation of research results into policies.
SO4: to expand and strengthen the PANAP Network to support African countries with research on economic analysis of policies focusing on food systems towards their sustainable transition.
These four specific objectives are being achieved through eight interrelated 8 work packages led by different consortium partners from both Africa and Europe.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

SO1: During the 1st reporting period, the most significant results contributing to progress towards this specific objective are:
· Identification of capacity gaps hindering policy impact analysis among policy research institutions.
· Assessment of capacity needs for evidence-based policy making among policy research institutions.
· Examination of gaps in research-policy linkages.
· Assessment of synergies and trade-offs between economic and agri-food research and policies.
· Organise two training workshops (in Saviel and Kigali) to for PANAP members and project consortium partners in the use of the DEMETRA model to analyse the economic impact of policies.
SO2: During the 1st reporting period, the most significant results contributing to progress towards this specific objective are:
· Organise policy dialogue on boosting intra-Africa trade
· Organise policy dialogue at the 7th AU-EU Ministerial conference in Rome.
· Organise a roundtable Donor dialogue with donors in agri-food system.
· Participation in the 2024 Africa Agricultural Economists summit
· Development of a collaborative platform that brings researchers and policy makers to discuss issues related to improving the food systems of Africa and Europe.
SO3: Key achievements during the year under reporting includes:
· Publication of policy-related knowledge products aimed at providing evidence for policy decisions.
· Provision of support to country-level policy formulation and implementation
· Provision of country-level support to the assessment of policy decisions
SO4: Over the reporting period, significant achievement includes;
· Expansion of network membership to 147
· Development of PANAP Charter for membership
· Development of PANAP Operational Manual
· Establishment of Governance Structure of the Network
· Establishment of the PANAP Secretariat
· Training of PANAP members in policy analysis tools (DEMETRA)
· Support members to participate in events (Annual Conference on Global Economic Analysis - GTAP Conference and Africa Agricultural Economists Summit).
· Development of the Brand identity of the Network.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The results achieved so far in the first 18 months demonstrates high potential of the project to supporting policy formulation and implementation trough the operationalization of the PANAP Network. The project partners are confident that they may reach the expected impact of the project which is the attainment of sustainable inclusive food system by the end of the project in December 2027.

steppfosinceptionmeetingday1-10-53530916000-o.jpg

steppfosinceptionmeetingday1-122-53530626981-o.jpg

steppfosinceptionmeetingday1-60-53530819063-o.jpg

steppfosinceptionmeetingday1-124-53531059830-o.jpg