Private Sector Network

Goal

The ASARECA Private Sector Network is a platform for sharing agribusiness knowledge, experiences and lessons learned within Eastern and Central Africa. The platform was formed in 2021 to coordinate the following:

  • Commercialization of agricultural technologies and innovations
  • Scaling of agricultural technologies and innovations
  • Advocacy for desired changes in institutional arrangements, policy and regulatory frameworks
  • Provision of quality agricultural inputs
  • Documentation of impacts of capacity building activities
  • Documentation of impacts of commercialization of agricultural technologies and innovations
  • Sharing experiences and lessons learned in national and regional agricultural trade

Rationale for the ASARECA Private Sector Network

Private sector play a key role in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) through: (i) commercializing agricultural technologies and innovations, (ii) scaling agricultural technologies and innovations, (iii) providing agricultural inputs, (iv) funding agricultural research, and (v) advocating for desired policy changes. The ASARECA Private Sector Network was established to provide a platform for the private sector in its member countries to undertake these roles in a coordinated manner.

Mission

Our mission is to create a collaborative space where private sector in AR4D share, learn, and innovate for continuous improvement in agribusiness that delivers agricultural technologies and commodities at scale, to the last mile.

Membership

Currently, this Community of Practice has over 30 members drawn from the following categories of institutions:

  1. Ministries responsible for Agriculture
  2. Ministries responsible for Trade
  3. National Bureaus of Standards
  4. National Bureaus of Statistics
  5. National Customs Authorities
  6. Commodity associations
  7. Farmers’ associations
  8. Exporters and importers of agricultural commodities
  9. Traders’ associations
  10. Agro-input companies
  11. National Agricultural Research Institutions
  12. AgriTech companies
  13. Regional Economic Communities

Membership Fees and Funding

Currently membership to this platform is free. However, associated platform activities are currently financed by the European Union through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme CAADP ex-pillar IV (CAADP-XP4) project as part of the grant awarded to ASARECA, AFAAS, CCARDESA, FARA and CORAF.

Further information on membership is available from

ASARECA Secretariat

Plot 5, Mpigi Road

P.O. Box 765, Entebbe, Uganda.