Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) | < Sub-Saharan Africa

See also:
- SECID Awarded a €1 Million Food Security Project Funded by the EU
- Emergency Response to the Outbreak of the Cassava Mosaic Disease
   Phase II
- Reintegration, Conservation and Community Recovery Project (RE-COMMIT)
- Agricultural Economic Grants
- Developing Community Driven Value Chain for Agricultural Products
- Commodity Chain Analysis for Coffee and Cacao
- Rehabilitation of the Lokutu Oil Palm Plantation
- Emergency Response to the Outbreak of the Cassava Mosaic Disease
- Applied Agricultural Research and Outreach Project I


Agricultural Economics and Outreach Project II (RAV II)
Funding source: USAID

The RAV II project focused on:

• Promoting outreach and technology transfer;
• Applying research in agricultural technology development and natural
  resource management;
• Upgrading research administration and management systems;
• Identifying and testing sustainable agriculture and natural resource
  practices to improve crop yields;
• Identifying natural resource commodities;
• Strengthening human resources training and development programs; and
• Improving the financial, programmatic and environmental sustainability of
  food crop research.

During its first three years, the project trained and made operational eleven
Research and Development teams. These teams were responsible for conducting
farming systems research and working with outreach agencies to improve the
rate of production through the adoption of sustainable, productivity-enhancing
technologies. The outreach component also provided for training the staff of
cooperating outreach agencies, including NGOs and the US Peace Corps, in
on-farm research, demonstration, and technology transfer methods.

Applied on-station research and on-farm testing were reoriented to place greater
emphasis on natural resource management (especially soil fertility management)
and production technologies relative to the heavy weight given to varietal selection
and breeding in phase one of the project. Research management was designed
to ensure that: priorities were set and followed; the programs were budgeted to the
level of individual research activities; program results were submitted for peer review;
publication of results was done regularly; and the operation and maintenance of
stations was adequate. The training component developed the Congo's human
resources through on-the-job training and advanced degree training in technical
and managerial areas at US institutions and international centers.