Our Work

Africa—Africa Lead II

Client: U.S. Agency for International Development

Duration: 2013-2018

Country: Regional

In 2009, the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative was born of the belief that global hunger is solvable; that initiative is now helping support and advance African-led agricultural transformation through Africa Lead II.

Following on the original Africa Lead project, Africa Lead II is building the capacity of Africa’s agriculture hierarchy to develop, manage, and lead programs. Our work with these professionals, institutions, and emerging stars is guided by the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), based in South Africa.

From 2010–2013, Africa Lead trained more than 1,800 food security leaders, conducted instructive assessments of many of the continent’s agriculture institutions, and curated hundreds of short courses from 192 colleges and institutions into a single database, among other achievements. The five-year Africa Lead II program is now working with individual countries, regions, and many of these same “Champions for Change” to develop long-term, African-led activities to increase agricultural productivity and food security. Our menu of offerings is flexible, customizable, scalable, and transparent.

Closing ceremony for Champions for Change short course for university students, January 2017 in Accra, Ghana.

Sample Activities

Strengthen the institutional architecture of parliaments, ministries, agencies, and departments so they can better plan, manage, and lead agricultural initiatives.
Scale up the diversity and training of senior managers, legislators, and women who are needed to champion agriculture and food security policies and projects.
Incorporate into training and technical assistance a wider range of non-state actors, including trade and farmer organizations, private sector businesses and associations, young people, and women.
Develop a Program Advisory Group co-chaired by the African Union Council and USAID to provide strategic guidance to ensure that these activities align with and support the strategic thrusts of CAADP.

Select Results

Developed a roster of 30 qualified instructors of Champions for Change (C4C) leadership training in Tanzania, who have provided training sessions to more than 540 policymakers and stakeholders, including members of Parliament, local government officials, and leaders of community organizations.
Partnered with Media for Development International in Tanzania to conduct a media campaign to promote agricultural entrepreneurship among women and youth, producing two feature-length dramatic films and a 52-episode radio drama, Kumekucha, with weekly broadcasts.
Provided leadership and ICT training to 35 new agricultural extension agents in Kenya, enabling them to reach up to 800 farmers daily through social media and messaging applications, compared to previously conducting only four or five on-site visits in a day.
Supported leaders of Ghanaian civil society groups in successfully advocating for key policy updates in the Ghana Livestock Development Policy and Strategy Document to address issues of poor animal nutrition, a lack of livestock disease control, and competition from imported animal produce.

Macedonia—SME Finance Framework—Investbanka

DAI was contracted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to help Investbanka substantially increase its small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending activities.