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During 2005, the Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGDC - Belgium) approved three proposals led by IITA, TSBF-CIAT and Bioversity International:
- Sustainable and Profitable Banana-based Systems for the African Great Lakes Region (led by IITA).
- Enhancing the resilience of agro-ecosystems in Central Africa: a strategy to revitalize agriculture through the integration of natural resource management coupled to resilient germplasm and marketing approaches (led by TSBF-CIAT).
- Building Impact Pathways for Improving Livelihoods in Musa-based Systems in Central Africa (led by Bioversity International).
The three projects operate largely in the same parts of Rwanda, Burundi, and DR Congo and with the same national partner institutes. In order to exploit these similarities in project objectives, structure and sites, the three CGIAR institutes and their NARS partners proposed to operate as a consortium. Using the different capacities of the participating institutes, the consortium aims to enhance research synergies, while avoiding needless duplication of research activities. This will maximize output with the available funding.
The setup of the Consortium for Improved Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA) was endorsed by the Director-Generals of INERA, ISAR, ISABU, IRAZ in Kigali, on 15-16 September 2005. An operational model was developed, which included the recruitment of a CIALCA coordinator for Eastern DRCongo and Rwanda and the establishment of CIALCA offices in Bukavu and Kigali, respectively. In Burundi, CIALCA operates from offices located in ISABU buildings in Bujumbura.
Following the meeting with the NARS DGs, individual project planning meetings were held in Bukavu, eastern DRCongo, 19-23 September 2005, for the TSBF-CIAT-led project, in Rubona, Rwanda, 2-7 October, for the IITA-led project and in Butare, Rwanda, 28 November-2 December 2005, for the Bioversity International-led project. Subsequently, a CIALCA planning meeting for the banana work was held in Bujumbura, Burundi from 27 February till 3 March 2006. |
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