Planning Workshop
On Tuesday, February 2nd the European Union, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MoALR), hosted a Planning Workshop for the new project “Building a COVID-19 Rapid Response & Ag-Foresight Department in Egypt".
The online planning workshop presented the project’s main components and activities as well as future plans, while discussion and brainstorming with stakeholders incorporated their feedback and ideas on the most relevant issues and policies in the resilience of the agricultural sector during COVID-19, in addition to avenues for potential collaboration. The development stakeholders and partners present included Cairo University, the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), World Food Programme (WFP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Digitalization was highlighted as a key and timely issue that MoALR is keen to embrace, as exemplified by the new Digital Transformation Unit (DTU), which directly reports to the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. The DTU highlights the interest in capitalizing on digitalization efforts and the use of new tools and technologies in an effective manner for investment prioritization. It develops MoALR’s ability to forecast the impact of today’s decisions and investments on the future. This is highly needed particularly considering shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Structure of DTU: The DTU’s three main arms
Specifically, the new project, co-funded by the European Union, CGIAR-PIM, and IFAD and implemented by IFPRI in collaboration with the MoALR, has three components as is meant to act as a first phase:
- Component 1: Establishment of foresight modeling team within MoALR Digitalization Unit and provision of equipment
This project’s first component will focus on the establishment of a Foresight and Policy Advisory (AG-FORESIGHT) department, under the DTU of MoALR. IFPRI will work with the AG-FORESIGHT department, to develop a policy analysis team that can provide rapid response and longer-term strategic and high-quality decision support to the Minister and Advisors based on the most advanced desktop and digital data tools.
Noting the importance of partnerships for sustainability, the AG-FORESIGHT team will also work together with the Faculty of Agriculture at Cairo University.
- Component 2: Foresight model-based rapid response to COVID-19 and Trainings (with focus on post-COVID recovery investments in agriculture)
Using IFPRI’s economy-wide model (AIDA)[1] the project’s second component will focus on working with the teams on assessing post-COVID-19 investments in agriculture and the food system, and an intermediate-level modeling training course will be delivered.
- Component 3: Digital database for agricultural production and trade statistics in Egypt
Recognizing the potential and need for high-quality reliable data, the project’s third component addresses this by aiming to establish a consolidated digital database for agricultural production and trade statistics in Egypt. This would build on existing platforms, potentially extending them with new sources and types of data (e.g. satellite and mobile spatial data and remote-sensing). Though widely available, agricultural data is scattered and there is an urgent need to create a readily accessible digitized database for agricultural statistics, possibly incorporating new ways of using existing data, for final users such as policymakers, researchers, and practitioners.
Partners’ comments during the workshop highlighted the importance of the availability and accessibility of reliable data, which models rely on for updates, calibration, and validation. In turn, this then enables policymakers to make precise decisions in short timeframes. Additionally, a clear role definition was brought forward as key for effective operation.
Several avenues for synergies and complementary efforts were also put forth by stakeholders and partners, where there was a common interest in promoting evidence-bases for agricultural policy and investment decisions. Mentioned initiatives included the Italian Cooperation’s project to digitally monitor the movement of wheat from production to markets and imports, ICARDA’s Open Data Kits, and the FAO’s support development of El Mufeed application in collaboration with MoALR’s agricultural extension department to deliver modules for farmers on different modalities.
Moving forward, the project's practical next steps will include more technical discussions on the post-COVID-19 investment analysis and the shaping of the agricultural database.
[1] AIDA was developed by IFPRI and funded by IFAD and the CGIAR-PIM. It is an online tool and model for analyzing the economywide impacts of investments in the agri-food system.
Disclaimer:
This blog was produced with the support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
