With the aim of guaranteeing a sustainable impact of Capacity Development (CD) and a substantial transfer of competencies in Agricultural Risk Management (ARM), PARM has kicked off its Institutionalization (INST) pilot project in Burkina Faso and Madagascar. 

As part of its services, PARM provides capacity development in ARM at country, regional and global levels. Over the past year, the Platform has developed the Institutionalization (INST) project, designed to ensure a lasting impact of capacity development by integrating ARM into the curricula of universities and the practices of the private sector, including microfinance institutions and farmers’ organizations.

Building on its engagements with the government of Burkina Faso since 2019 and with the Malagasy government since 2021, PARM has supported the key actors in both countries in the development of their own INST action plans.

During different training of trainers workshops conducted in Burkina Faso and Madagascar, participants coming from universities, training centers, producers’ organizations (POs), and microfinance institutions (MFIs) worked hard to formulate distinct action plans to institutionalize CD in ARM.

In Burkina Faso, four organizations: (i) the Institute of Rural Development of the Nazi-Bo University (UNB); (ii) Rural Promotion Center Fada (CPR – Centre de Promotion Rurale); (iii) Tin Buaba (women producers’ association); and (iv) the Professional Association of Decentralized Financial Systems (AP/SFD – Association Professionnelle des Systèmes Financiers Décentralisés), have had their action plans selected for financing. CPR and Tin Buaba presented a joint action plan. The goal is to establish a master’s degree program on ARM and two specialized ARM courses. One course will be tailored for farmers’ organizations with a gender perspective, and the other for microfinance institutions.

Meanwhile, in Madagascar, (i) the Agricultural Support and Professional Training Center (CAFPA) of Antsirabe; (ii) the Malagasy Mutualist Savings and Credit Company (SMMEC); (iii) and the University of Itasy (working in collaboration with the University of Antananarivo) are the three selected organizations. The goal is to integrate ARM into a master’s degree program (focused on Agroecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change) and two specialized ARM courses, one for young entrepreneurs (18-24 years old) and another one for microfinance institutions.

This one-year pilot project is crucial to understand the institutionalization process, learn from this experience and, if necessary, adapt it and scale it up to other countries and regions. PARM is committed to provide technical and financial assistance in each step of the INST pilot project in both countries. This support also includes fostering dialogue among the organizations involved, and presenting PARM’s capacity development modules in the workshops organized by the selected institutions for the pilot phase.

In that context, a capacity development workshop is planned to be held online from 16 to 18 April 2024 for the benefit of the above-listed organizations, alongside PARM’s focal points from the ministries of the respective countries. The last day of the workshop will be a joint session bringing together representatives of both countries, hence fostering fruitful exchanges between similar entities across different countries and encouraging strong South-South collaborations. These collaborations promote a global understanding and integration of ARM, facilitate the reduction of risks associated with investments in the agricultural sector and thus create opportunities for the sector to thrive.