About PACA
The Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) is a collaboration that aims to protect crops, livestock, and people from the effects of aflatoxins. By combating these toxins, PACA will contribute to improving food security, health, and trade across the African continent.
PACA Secretariat Mid-Term Strategic Direction:
In the Convening role, the Secretariat will leverage the AUC’s convening authority to work with RECs to organize continental, inter-regional, regional, and country convenings that engage all relevant aflatoxin control stakeholders. The purposes of these convenings will be to share lessons learned and best practices, resolve specific challenges and bottlenecks, launch the county pilot program, align stakeholders on the identified plan, and mobilize resources to implement the plan.
In the Knowledge Manager role, the Secretariat will leverage its position within the PACA Community, and with the technical expertise of its staff, to aggregate evidence, gather knowledge, and disseminate information to support country plan preparation and execution, as well as capture knowledge and information about best practices, developments, and research to support broader continental efforts. This role will better equip all stakeholders to implement “government-led and stakeholder-driven” country plans.
In the Financial Resources Provider role, the Secretariat will provide catalytic resources to support the development, implementation, and progress monitoring of country plans to mitigate the harmful effects of aflatoxin. Specifically, the Secretariat will purchase testing equipment to support country plans and hire consultants to develop country plans, mobilize resources and build government capacity to execute the plans, and conduct progress assessments. This role will be executed in strong partnership with the RECs, who will oversee government capacity building.
Finally, in a temporary Technical Assistance role, the Secretariat will leverage the technical expertise of its staff to conduct government capacity building in the next three years. However, it is not fully scalable or sustainable in the long-term for the small Secretariat staff to conduct technical assistance for all members states across the continent. Therefore, after three years the Secretariat should transition this role to consultants (e.g. research institute technical experts) to provide technical capacity building, in the long-term.
The Secretariat will focus on supporting governments and work jointly with other key stakeholders to improve governments’ effectiveness through three categories of activities:
At the continental level, the Secretariat will support three types of activities:
Support continental PACA Community convenings and inter-regional convenings to promote alignment and collaboration across countries, share new developments and best practices, and resolve specific challenges / bottlenecks across countries and regions.
Engage stakeholders to mainstream aflatoxin into continental frameworks (e.g., CAADP, CODEX) to ensure aflatoxin issues are integrated and addressed within these platforms and that there is consistency and congruency between frameworks and harmonization across regions.
Serve as a continental knowledge hub by identifying, documenting, and disseminating best practices and effective technologies; and serving as technical knowledge hub for aflatoxin related information.
At the continental level, the Secretariat will support three types of activities:
Support RECs to organize regional convenings to promote alignment and collaboration across countries, share new developments, and best practices, and resolve specific challenges and bottlenecks across regions.
Support mainstreaming of aflatoxin in regional frameworks to ensure aflatoxin issues are integrated and addressed within these platforms and that there is consistency and congruency between frameworks and harmonization across countries.
Work with RECs to support country plan preparation and execution.
At the country level, the Secretariat will work closely with RECs and local country stakeholders through a country steering committee to support the preparation, execution, and oversight of country government-led, and stakeholder aligned country plans. The Secretariat’s country activities will build on the country planning work already underway.
- African Union Commission (represented by Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa)
- African Society of Mycotoxicologists (represented by Dr. Bradley Flett)
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (represented by Ms. Amsale Mengistu )
- East African Community (represented by Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana and Mr David Wafula )
- East African Farmers Federation (represented by Mr. Stephen Muchiri)
- Economic Community of West African States (represented by Mr. Ernest Aubee)
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (represented by Dr. Blaise Ouattara)
- Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (represented by Ms. Bonnie McClafferty and Mr. Penjani Mkambula)
- International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (represented by Dr. Ranajit Bandyopadhyay and Dr. Victor Manyong)
- Mars, Incorporated (represented by Dr. David Crean and Robert Baker)
- CAADP Non State Actors Coalition (represented by Mr. Kop’ep Dabugat)
- US Agency for International Development (represented by Dr. Ahmed Kablan and Mr. Patterson W. Brown)
- West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) (represented by Dr. Abdou Tenkouano
- PACA Secretariat (represented by Dr. Amare Ayalew)