1. Steering Committee Meeting WA Project 4 February 2014, Bamako, Mali I. Hoeschle-Zeledon Coordinator, ESA and WA projects

2.  Late submission of work plans for timely submission to SC  Respect of reporting deadlines  Poor quality reports  Acceptance of workplan and reporting templates  Fund confirmation by donor, reimbursement of 2013 expenditures Management issues

3.  Withdrawal of AfricaRice from Ghana component  Travel restrictions and ban on government institutions  Difficulty to align all researcher with Program Framework and Africa RISING research approach (site and activity integration)  Baseline surveys in Ghana and Mali still missing, limited presence of regional M&E specialist  No timely execution of work plans  Fluctuation of partner key staff Implementation issues

4.  Some key partners not present in action countries; implementation by remote control  Difficulty to recruit suitable project economist  Change in Comms officer  Efforts to involve Nutrition Innovation Lab fruitless  Growing need for alignment with other USAID initiatives: how to operationalize these partnerships Implementation issues

6.  Request for proper branding to improve visibility; everybody to work under Africa RISING umbrella, not home institutions  Urgency for Science Advisory Group  Easy to address intensification, but difficult to deal with sustainability, need for indicators, Africa RISING should pioneer a sustainability framework  Need for visualization of integration of activities  Need for standardized tool for data management; PMT should be made applicable ESA Steering Committee, Sept. 2013

7.  Quarterly meetings held  ToR for SAG developed, SAG established, first meeting???  Finalizing rules of engagement with farmers including handling their data  Gender strategy at Program level; specific project level strategies optional  Working group on sustainability indicators  Regional log frames by end of February  Program evaluation to be discussed with SAG  Next learning event Sept. in Arusha, Tanzania Program C oordination Team

9.  Change of CORAF representative  Change of IFPRI representative  New Comms officer  Vacant seat for CGIAR to be filled; when? Suggestions: ICRAF, AVRDC (Farid) IWMI (Jerry) AVRDC (Kehinde)  CSIR is a silent member Steering Committee membership

11.  Regional log frame (28 February)  Preparation of 2014 work plans (15 March)  Approval by Steering Committee (31 March)  New partner contracts (15 April)  PCT meeting March  SAG meeting ???  Exchange visit to Tanzania (late April)  Technology descriptions ???  Project document ???  Program Learning Event (Sept.) Next activities and events

12. Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation africa-rising.net