Abstract:

Beginning 2001, Abi ZARDI has been receiving World Bank support through the second phase of the Agricultural Research and Training Project (ARTPII). The project was aimed at tackling specific issues of the west Nile region, since the region had for long been neglected in research prioritization. Specifically, ARTPII funding was to improve the capacity of the ZARDI to develop and disseminate technologies which would empower resource-poor farmers to make more effective demands on the services and to participate in the provision of the services. This study was undertaken to assess the extent to which ARTPII funding has been instrumental in enhancing the capacity of the ZARDI in achieving the set outcomes including: the capacity of Abi to provide effective and relevant client oriented research services enhanced (ZARDI rehabilitated and operational); capacity of zonal research teams, NARO secretariat outreach staff and institute scientists to carry out client and market oriented research in partnership with stakeholders strengthened; capacity of ZARDI scientists to participate successfully in competitive grants enhanced; livelihood systems of households understood, documented, regularly updated and findings disseminated; technologies that address zonal specific problems of small farmers identified tested and disseminated to uptake pathways; effective learning process based on client driven monitoring and evaluation procedures operational; partnerships development/client interface strengthened.