Highlights

To: FARA constituents and stakeholders



From: FARA Executive Board



Subject: FARA Multi Donor Trust Fund



The FARA Executive Board is pleased to confirm that an agreement was signed on 7th September 2009 between the World Bank and the FARA Secretariat establishing the CAADP Pillar IV Multi Donor Trust Fund for the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.



The objective of this Trust Fund is to align African agricultural institutions at the national, regional and continental levels with CAADP Pillar IV FAAP Principles for effective research, extension, and training and education.

The World Bank and FARA’s group of development partners have established the Fund at the World Bank to facilitate joint-financing and to assist the further institutional development of FARA. FARA is particularly obliged to Canada, the European Commission and the United Kingdom for making the initial enabling contributions to the fund. FARA’s 2007 – 2016 Strategic Plan, the 2008-2012 Medium Term Operational Plan (MTOP) and annual plans will be the basis for which coordinated support will be provided by all donors.

FARA’s Executive Board takes this opportunity to once again thank FARA’s development partners for their confidence and support over the protracted development of the Fund’s concepts and modalities that have been underway since FARA’s Joint External Evaluation in 2006 and External Programme and Management Review (EPMR) that was completed in 2007. We are especially grateful to those that have continued providing financial support and to those who have made the initial contributions to the Fund. The Board is also conscious of the deep debt owed to the many partners in FARA’s various programmes and initiatives who have shared the burden of FARA’s uncertain funding over the past two years. We assure them as well as our development partners of our commitment to complying fully with our existing obligations and commitments, which are entirely consistent with fulfilling the goals for which the Trust Fund was established.



We look forward to the opportunity to account to all of you for the progress achieved with the resources available to us at FARA’s next General Assembly in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 19 - 24 July 2010. In the meantime we look forward to even stronger partnerships with our development partners and collaborators in pursuing the best interests of African smallholders.



Sincerely,





Monty Jones

for Dr. Denis Kyetere, Chair FARA Executive Board



website: www.fara-africa.org