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Executive Summary of CTA’s Mid-Term Plan
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Background
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Chapter 1
1. The reason for CTA moving to a mid-term planning
frame derives from the principal recommendations of the joint ACP-EU
Evaluation of CTA which proposed that the Centre should move from
its current annual planning process to a mid-term, strategic planning
process. This evaluation strongly supported the continuing remit
of the CTA and warmly applauded the Centre’s principal activities
and programmes. The move to a longer time frame for programme planning
is intended to increase the impact of the Centre’s activities
in response to the needs of its ACP partners. This echoes earlier
recommendations of the CTA Advisory Committee and the emphasis in
the revised Lomé IV Convention on increasing
the effectiveness of co-operation programmes and on the sustained
development of ACP institutions and manpower resources, in order
to enhance food security and the alleviation of poverty.
2. The objectives of the mid-term planning process
are:
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To ensure that CTA programmes reflect
and respond to the needs of ACP partners in the agricultural
and rural development sector |
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To react to ACP priorities in order
to optimise the impact of CTA’s programmes and hence to
maintain the Centre’s identity and effectiveness |
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To strengthen links with ACP national
and regional organisations, the Centre’s partners in the
European Union and with appropriate international institutions |
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To ensure that the efficiency and
quality of CTA’s work are progressively improved by engendering
among partners a clear understanding of the Centre’s programmes
and a continuing commitment to quality by CTA’s staff. |
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The changing
context of ACP
information needs
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Chapter 2
3.The principal changes in the evolving ACP information
needs in the agricultural and rural development sector emphasise
four principal factors.
Firstly, recent socio-economic, political and technical
changes have increased the diversity and the number of players seeking
recognition of their role in each National Agricultural System (NAS).
All parties involved in these changes need a high degree of adaptability,
the key element being effective and rapid access to information
for all.
Secondly, CTA is now faced with a broader requirement
than simply to provide scientific and technical information; increasingly
socio-economic, marketing and institutional information is called
for. Furthermore the emphasis has moved from information transfer
and dissemination, with their connotation of a one-way flow, towards
a participatory style of communication management: a two-way flow
both within NAS as well as between NAS and regional and international
organisations.
Thirdly, the impact of new information technologies
has led to the demand that CTA play a more pro-active facilitating
role and provide a technology foresight function. Finally, CTA must
respond to the evolutionary changes in the national and regional
linkages for effective information and communication management.
4. Technical co-operation in the Lomé Convention
emphasises the need for sustained development of ACP organisations,
and the significance of CTA’s programmes can be assessed with
regard to the impact on NAS organisations and entities. The impact
of CTA’s work is considered in the context of the priorities
of such organisations, which can be categorised as policy, partnerships
and funding. In terms of information management these three priorities
can be translated into effective communication with
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the political and socio-economic
level of the organisation, i.e. the agenda setting; |
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the national, international and
regional collaborators (the partnership or networking requirement)
and |
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intermediate and end-users, where
it is particularly important to identify priority needs and
respond effectively. |
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CTA's reaction
to this changing
context
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Chapter 3
5. A preliminary analysis of these factors led
to the decision by CTA to establish 6 working groups to further
advance this analysis and dialogue. Three of these working groups
are concerned with the targeting and effectiveness of CTA’s
programmes and the remaining three are concerned with CTA’s
management procedures and operational efficiency. The remits of
the three working groups concerned with targeting of the programmes
are:
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Information needs for agricultural
development in ACP countries: partnerships and networking, |
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Information priorities and themes, |
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Technology and media of communication. |
6. The first group has emphasised the need to accommodate
new partnership modes, reflecting the increasing role for the different
categories of the independent sector (farmers’ associations,
private enterprises, agricultural NGOs) and secondly the need to
devote more attention to impact assessment regarding institutional
strengthening.
The second group analysed the information themes
which underlie CTA’s activities which relate to providing information
on demand: seminar topics, publications, SDI, etc. (see
paragraph 9)
The third group has recommended a stronger role
for CTA at the level of policy, institutional development (including
the establishment of a technology foresight or observatory group)
and at the acceptance/application level of modern technologies,
for example the maintenance of an effective World Wide Web site
as an important channel of dissemination.
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The targeting and
balance of CTA's
programmes
(table of objectives)
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7. The programme balance can be expressed in terms
of the proportions of the operational budget devoted to each of
CTA’s wider and specific objectives. The analysis of evolving
needs of ACP partners indicates that the Centre should emphasise
further its efforts directed at strengthening ACP capacities in
information and communication management (wider objective 2); this
is planned to increase its share of the CTA operational budget.
In the mid-term, these institutional development activities will
include an enhanced emphasis on promoting the use of more effective
mechanisms for information and communication management. Specific
concerns are the need to strengthen NAS capacity for networking
and the focus on increasing the effectiveness of dissemination outputs,
especially ACP publication programmes in all types of media.
8. On current trends, the proportion of the budget
allocations for wider objective 1 ( improving access to information
for agricultural and rural development) compared with wider objective
2 would gradually decline. The combined effect of the planned changes
is that the first wider objective should decline from the 1996 position
of 66% of the operational budget to 53% in the year 2000, whereas
the combined inputs for wider objective 2 should increase from 34%
in 1996 to 47% by the turn of the century. These figures are driven
by the changes planned in the specific objectives described below
and will be re-assessed at the annual update of the plan.
9. The mid-term plan re-consideration
of wider objective 1 (the provision of services which improve access
to information) is attempting to focus these services more closely
on ACP needs. This involves the analysis of the information priorities
described in the plan, which is based on a regional assessment of
ACP needs; this was refined at the Wageningen seminar (30 September
- 4 October 1996). To ameliorate food security and promote rural
development in ACP countries, the current
view is that increased emphasis is needed on:
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conquering of markets: promotion
of the market-led development of agricultural production and
utilisation; |
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production intensification and optimisation; |
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protection of the environment and
natural resource management (the table of section 3.3
in Chapter 3). |
The increasing volume of these activities concerned
with institutional development will be covered under specific objectives
3 and 4 (strengthening of national agricultural systems and mobilisation
of the civil society).
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Specific objective 1
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Promoting contact and exchange of experience amongst CTA's
partners
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| (table
of objectives) |
10. The major changes advocated
for specific objective 1 are an increase in the proportion of studies
and associated workshops relative to the number of large seminars,
which will be progressively reduced so as to release staff time to
be devoted to activities for strengthening ACP capacities. In addition
an increasing share of this budget (about 30% by the year 2000) would
be transferred to specific objectives 3 and 4. |
Specific objective 2
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Providing information on demand
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| (table
of objectives) |
11. CTA anticipates a reduction
in the costs of distributing its publications (currently the subject
of an evaluation) in the mid-term; the devolution of elements of the
other activities (QAS, SDI) should also yield some cost reductions.
Guidelines are being drawn up to move the publications output in the
direction of ACP needs as outlined in paragraph 9.
An increasing emphasis is also being given to promoting ACP outputs
through joint activities. This increased emphasis on ACP publication
outputs is likely to be cost neutral in the short term. The net effect
of these changes is a decrease in the budget for specific objective
2 of about 10% in real terms by the year 2000. |
Specific objective 3
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Strengthening the information capacities and facilities of
ACP partners
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(table of objectives)
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12. All of the activities
linked to this specific objective are planned to increase - with the
exception of the book donation scheme, DORA - which will be maintained
at the current level. This, together with the new activities associated
with the use of more modern information and communication technologies
indicates the need for an increase in the specific objective 3 budget,
from 19% of the operational budget in 1996 to 29% by the year 2000. |
Specific objective 4
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Developing strategies for improving agricultural information
services
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(table of objectives)
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13. The work relative to this
specific objective has two major new elements: the need to integrate
all the players in the independent sectors of the NAS into the new
partnership modes; and that associated with monitoring and evaluation,
especially regarding the impact of information and communication management
on institutional development. This requires an increase from 14% of
the operational budget in 1996 to 19% by 2000 for this specific objective. |
CTA's structure
and resources
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Chapter 4
14. CTA has revisited its project management procedures, its IT
strategy and support requirements and the personnel management aspects
by means of three internal management working groups. New procedures
have been adopted for annual staff appraisal based on concise descriptions
of job responsibilities and objectives. The work on defining this
new procedure highlighted the need for a CTA operational structure
which would enhance the transparency and clarity of staff responsibilities
in the context of CTA’s aims and objectives. This structure
was put in place in October 1996. CTA has also redefined its project
management procedures which now use more effectively a logical framework
approach to cover identification of new activities with partners,
definition and selection of appropriate inputs, together with the
implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages. In parallel the
requirement for CTA’s management information system has been
reviewed, the user requirement redefined and external consultancies
are in train in the autumn of 1996 to put in place appropriate relational
databases covering accounting and finance, project management systems,
bibliographic and contact data. These will be followed by the phased
installation of the proposed software and by pilot testing in early
1997.
15. The foregoing analysis by objectives of the programme balance
indicates considerable changes in emphasis and in the introduction
of new programme elements. The total increase in real terms of the
budget for CTA’s operations over this four year period is forecast
to be of the order of 10%. Much of this (4%) is envisaged for financial
year 1997 in order to permit putting in place the mid-term plan.
This should be viewed in the context that the 1996 budget was held
at 1995 levels pending consideration of the joint External Evaluation
of CTA, and the need to formulate this mid-term plan for CTA.
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