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Abstract
The motivation for this workshop came from two sources. First, under a project funded by
USAID (AFR/SD/PSGE/TDT Office), Michigan State University (MSU) has been carrying out
various activities to assist African national agricultural research systems (NARS) and regional
organizations to improve their capacity for strategic agricultural research planning, including
technology assessment and priority setting within a commodity sector framework.
Second, recent collaborative work by the International Service for National Agricultural
Research (ISNAR) and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) has focused on the
development of a process and methods for program-level priority setting. The objectives of the workshop were (1) to provide a forum for ASARECA member NARS to
synthesize their experiences with institute and program-level priority setting and technology
assessment; (2) to examine the process and methods developed by KARI/ISNAR and other
NARS in commodity program planning; and (3) to develop country-specific frameworks and
action plans for a priority-setting/technology assessment study in a focus program area, to be
carried out beginning in late 1996.