Facilitating CLA with Local Government Authorities in Tanzania

The Government of Tanzania (GoT) has embarked on the development of the National Agricultural Investment Plan (NAIP) process over the last three years that has led to the development of the Agricultural Sector Development Program, Phase II (ASDP II). USAID Implementing Partners Africa Lead II, ASPIRES, and PS3 collaborated over a period of six months, working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MALF) to develop, promote, and facilitate five regional ASDP II Socialization and Capacity Building Workshops for 1,000 Local Government Authority (LGA) officials in 32 regions from February - June 2017.

From the onset of the design process, a CLA approach was important to all implementing partners to ensure program success, identify synergies to increase technical and cost effectiveness and reach, and share knowledge about which approaches and interventions work. This was applied through a collaborative process of consultations, work planning, and adaptive management led by a working group and Secretariat with clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

Collaborating on these workshops has reinforced the importance of forming strategic partnerships for the three implementing partners. Even if one organization had the resources and means to design and facilitate the process alone, CLA leveraged partner’s technical knowledge, local and regional relationships, and strengthened their ability to engage with government to promote policy dialogue and an enabling environment for agricultural transformation.

Applying a CLA approach to the LGA Workshops required time and resources; it could not be a rushed process nor used as a quick fix to strengthening local government institutions and local-national dialogue, but was the means by which the planning and implementation of the workshops was constantly improving, achieving better outcomes, and affirming LGA’s commitment to ASDP II.