The Effect of the SCARDA Change Management Process on the National Agricultural Research Institute of the Gambia

The poor performance of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is known to be largely due to the lack of effective and client- responsive agricultural research and development that could generate appropriate technologies and innovations to stimulate the agricultural development process. As a contribution to address this challenge, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), with support from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), developed a project for Strengthening Capacity for Agricultural Research and Development in Africa (SCARDA). The project sought to enhance the technical and managerial capacities of the beneficiary selected Agricultural Research Institutions for effective performance in the delivery on their mandates. To ensure a smooth and successful transition and navigation in the change journey to the desired destination, CORAF Region of SCARDA developed a change management strategy to guide the various interventions for the selected Focal Agricultural Research Institutions (FIs). The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) of The Gambia was one of the FIs which benefitted from the SCARDA Project. This summary captures the experiences and lessons learnt by NARI from the SCARDA change management effort.