SAGA Progress Report - 2004

SAGA
B16 MVR Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-8931
Fax (607) 255-0178
saga@cornell.edu

SAGA PROGRESS REPORT (12/03-12/04) &
UPCOMING WORKPLAN (1/05-12/05)

VII. USAID MISSIONS

The content of our collaborative research and training activities, as mentioned previously, are demand-driven, based on consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, inside and outside of government. Responding to the research interests of the USAID Missions is of great priority. The success of this consultation process is facilitated where our partner institutions have ongoing partnerships with the USAID missions in their countries. This is illustrated by, for example, DPRU in South Africa, ISSER in Ghana, and INSTAT in Madagascar.

Specific examples of how our research supports Mission activities include:

In Ghana, a component of the work program identified early on was land issues—an important part of USAID-Ghana’s country strategy. USAID-Ghana just approved a $600,000 program of work to be undertaken by ISSER on land issues in Ghana.
In South Africa, the USAID mission has been involved in partially financing the courses that Cornell and and DPRU have run for staff of Historically Black Universities in South Africa, and for staff of the Department of Social Development. Ravi Kanbur has also addressed members of the South African parliament, and senior South African civil servants, at the request of USAID-South Africa.
In Senegal, our work on education was specifically designed based on this being a strategic objective of the Mission. We are also working with the Mission on the design of a large regional conference to bring researchers and policy makers together to discuss recent research findings and draw relevant policy implications.
In Madagascar, we continue to support Mission programming along a number of dimensions. This includes our research on HIV/AIDS knowledge and behavior using the Demographic Health Surveys to address the Missions focus on prevention of this disease, our work on education in support of Madagascar being one of the focus countries of the President’s Africa Education Initiative, and our continued work on agricultural markets and productivity in support of the Mission’s agricultural and trade program which concentrates on accelerating economic growth through market development.

Previous Section | Next Section

Return to 2004 SAGA Annual Report and Workplan for 2005