Since the inception of the ATA and its leadership of the highly successful TIRR (Tef, Improved Seed, Row Planting and Reduced Seed rate) project in 20014 to 2006 E.C., the organization has been asked by the government to take a leadership role in implementing specific projects within the Agricultural Transformation Agenda or Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) Initiative. Some of these projects are exploration of new ideas whereas as others are the full national scale up of a particular concept. In all cases, the projects that the ATA is asked to lead are directly identified by the government and have the full support of the Agricultural Transformation Council, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Resources and the Regional Governments where these activities are being undertaken.
To ensure effective implementation of all projects, the ATA undertakes a detailed analytical study and project design phase at the beginning of each project. Furthermore, dedicated project teams with a high-calibre project team leader are established for each project, and are initially placed within ATA’s Production & Productivity Projects vertical or Agribusiness & Markets Projects vertical to ensure cross-team learnings and integration of activities. These projects teams are also supported by a Project Management Office and a Project Management Center of Excellence in ATA’s Implementation Support vertical, which provide best-practice tools and systems, capacity building, and project tracking, reporting and problem-solving.
As projects mature and scale, wherever feasible and appropriate based on the nature of project activities, management of implementation is transitioned to ATA’s Regional Offices which serve as the agency’s implementation coordination arms in each region. Finally, to ensure sustainability, the long term government owner of each project is identified at the initial design phase and is engaged throughout implementation in order to ensure capacity building and institutionalization of activities.
As of the beginning of 2011 E.C., the ATA is directly implementing 25 projects, with four projects planned to be completed and handed over to the long-term owners and three projects completing the design phase and beginning full implementation during the year. The figure below provides a brief outline of the projects that the ATA is currently undertaking and those currently in the pipeline for the coming two years. While these projects are mainly crop-focused, the agency anticipates taking on design and management of a number of additional livestock focused projects in the near future. Brief overviews including key outputs and outcomes for these project are provided on the Production & Productivity Projects and Agribusiness & Markets Projects pages.