Ukama Ustawi’s Learning Alliance: scoping study - final report

Kumwenda, H.; Kakuwa, B.; Odeke, M.; Podisi, B.; Nohayi, N. 2024. Ukama Ustawi’s Learning Alliance: scoping study - final report. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on Diversification in East and Southern Africa. 29p.

This scoping study for Ukama Ustawi’s Learning Alliance (UULA) was inspired by the need for better collaboration and experience sharing among research providers dedicated to creating agricultural knowledge and its dissemination in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region. It provides recommendations on the potential institutional arrangements for setting up a Learning Alliance (LA) to achieve the desired end and to also guide Knowledge Management and Learning (KML) around diversified maize farming systems. The recommendations were developed following a desk review of relevant literature and analysis of data collected from key implementing partners at the national and regional levels.

UULA is led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in partnership with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), AKADEMIYA 2063, and several members of the Global research partnership for a food-secure future (CGIAR).The network promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing, focusing on climate-smart, diversified maize farming practices. It engages national research systems and regional bodies to drive innovation and effective knowledge exchange in agriculture.

From the literature review, the study has observed that a Learning Alliance is a socialization mechanism for generating transdisciplinary knowledge in the context of application and uses a double loop learning process. It derives its strength from dealing with practical problems that require partnership based on the understanding that there is no single individual or institution that can solve them on their own. Within the context of a Learning Alliance, a contextual problem is resolved through several repetitive cycles. The double loop learning process at the end of each cycle is what gives rise to the name “Learning Alliance”.