The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa

What The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa does

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) is the apex continental organization and technical arm of the African Union Commission on matters concerning agricultural science, technology and innovation. Headquartered in Accra, Ghana, and founded in 1997, FARA coordinates and advocates for agricultural research for development (AR4D) across the African continent, working through four Sub-regional Organizations (ASARECA, CORAF/WECARD, CCARDESA, NASRO) that channel programming into National Agricultural Research Institutes and other actors. Its core methodological contribution is the IAR4D (Integrated Agricultural Research for Development) framework, a systems-based approach that engages all agricultural value-chain actors through Innovation Platforms — of which over 400 have been established continent-wide. FARA also leads strategic frameworks such as the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A) and operates four program clusters (2IPS, KDS, CDA, RML) covering innovation partnerships, knowledge management, capacity development, and research management.

FARA's portfolio includes flagship initiatives such as the Common African Agro-Parks Programme (CAAPs, targeting Africa's $50 billion food import market), the Holistic Empowerment for Livelihoods Program (HELP) with its ARIFA fellowship and Africa Innovation Award, plus bilateral projects like AIRTEA, INTERFACES (with sub-projects COINS, DecLaRe, InfoRange, Minodu), and partnerships with AfDB, CGIAR, AUC, AUDA-NEPAD, and AfCFTA. The organization is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors and a General Assembly, with an Executive Director (Aggrey Agumya) leading the Secretariat. FARA does not sell products or services; it is funded through development partner contributions, grants, and institutional support from the African Union Commission, with 51-100 staff supporting continental coordination across 50+ African member states.

Name

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa

Legal name

Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa

Website

https://faraafrica.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

FARA is the apex continental organization coordinating agricultural research for development across Africa, serving as the technical arm of the African Union Commission and partnering with research institutes, governments, and development funders continent-wide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research Coordination Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Support Activities for Crop Production (11511), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Agriculture, Food Security & Nutrition Technical Assistance (BPADAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Technical Cooperation, Capacity Building & Policy Advisory Programs (BPADABAO), Nutrition & Food Security (Global Health) NGOs (HLAJAKAH), Climate Policy, Governance & NDC Support (BPADALAA)

Keywords

• Agricultural research coordination
• Agricultural development programs
• Research capacity building
• Agricultural innovation systems
• Food security coordination

Headquarters

HQ city

Accra

HQ country

Ghana

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FARA (Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa) is the apex continental organization responsible for coordinating, advocating for, and convening stakeholders on agricultural research for development (AR4D) across Africa. It delivers its mandate through strategic frameworks (IAR4D, S3A), continental programs and initiatives (CAAPs, HELP, ARIFA, AIA), bilateral research projects (AIRTEA, INTERFACES, COINS), and knowledge management platforms (FARADataInformS, KM4AgD). Activities are funded primarily through development partner grants and institutional contributions rather than commercial sales.

Product overview

FARA (Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa) is the apex continental organization and technical arm of the African Union Commission for agricultural science, technology and innovation. It does not offer a commercial product in the traditional sense; rather, it coordinates a portfolio of continental programs, frameworks, and research projects. The core portfolio includes strategic frameworks like IAR4D (a systems-based agricultural research approach) and S3A (Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa); flagship initiatives like CAAPs (Common African Agro-Parks Programme) targeting the $50 billion African food import market; and capacity development programs like HELP with its ARIFA fellowship and AIA award. FARA also manages four program clusters (2IPS, KDS, CDA, RML) and numerous bilateral projects including AIRTEA, INTERFACES with sub-projects (COINS, DecLaRe, InfoRange, Minodu) focused on sustainable land management, and platforms like FARADataInformS and KM4AgD for data and knowledge management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• HELP: Holistic Empowerment for Livelihoods Program - a strategy for strengthening strategic human capital formation, Agricultural Knowledge & Innovation System (AKIS) and Agripreneurship to drive holistic value chain development and climate relevant actions for youth empowerment.
• CAAPs
• ARIFA
• COINS

Products and services

• IAR4D (Integrated Agricultural Research for Development) A systems-based methodological framework developed by FARA that appraises agriculture as a system of interconnected sub-systems and engages all actors along value chains to jointly identify problems, investigate solutions and generate innovations. Used by agricultural research and development practitioners across Africa.
• S3A (Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa) An African-owned and African-led strategic framework that articulates the science, technology, extension, innovations, policy and social learning needed to meet Africa's agricultural and overall development goals. Used by policymakers, research institutions and development partners.
• CAAPs (Common African Agro-Parks Programme) A continental programme coordinated by FARA aimed at boosting regional trade for agricultural commodities by increasing local processing of key agricultural products within integrated agro-industrial parks, targeting Africa's $50 billion per annum food import market. Targets African Union member states and agribusiness investors.
• HELP (Holistic Empowerment for Livelihoods Program) A comprehensive strategy for strengthening strategic human capital formation, Agricultural Knowledge & Innovation Systems (AKIS) and Agripreneurship to drive holistic value chain development and climate-relevant actions for youth empowerment and improved livelihoods. Targets African youth, women, agribusiness actors and smallholder farmers.
• ARIFA (Agricultural Research and Innovation Fellowship for Africa) A fellowship programme aiming to produce at least 5,000 new generation fit-for-purpose AR4D practitioners and agribusiness leaders through training in Global South and North institutions including Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Denmark, Netherlands, Italy, Norway and Sweden. Targets African researchers and agripreneurs.
• AIA (Africa Innovation Award) An excellence programme dedicated to the advancement and deployment of Science, Technology and Innovation to increase Africa's agricultural productivity and agro-industry competitiveness. Targets African innovators and institutions.
• AIRTEA A project focused on strengthening agricultural knowledge and the innovation ecosystem for inclusive rural transformation and livelihoods in Eastern Africa, covering Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda with emphasis on technology design, transfer and uptake through multi-stakeholder innovation platforms.
• INTERFACES Project An accompanying project supporting four BMBF-funded regional research projects in sustainable land management across Sub-Saharan Africa through impact-driven support activities, networking, science communication, social learning processes and capacity development.
• COINS (Co-developing Innovations for Sustainable Land Management) A 48-month project focused on sustainable intensification of semi-arid West Africa's cereal and legume-based mixed crop-livestock farming systems, targeting Northern Senegal and Northern Ghana with landscape approaches, risk management strategies and SI Innovation Labs.
• DecLaRe (Decision support for strengthening land resilience) A project defining recommendation domains for scalable innovations in crop production and animal husbandry in northern Benin, Ghana, and Togo, featuring an online decision support system (DSS) for sustainable land use and management.
• InfoRange A project increasing resource use efficiency in rangeland-based livestock production in Kenya and Namibia through co-designed digital technologies, machine learning approaches and user-generated information combined with remotely sensed data.
• Minodu A project creating local and scalable networks for communities for sustainable land management with focus on cultivation of staple foods in Togo's Kara region, combining digital technologies and social action for peer-to-peer knowledge transfer.
• FARADataInformS FARA's data and information management platform providing access to agricultural research data and knowledge products across Africa for researchers, policymakers and development practitioners.
• KM4AgD (Knowledge Management for Agriculture in Africa) A platform focused on knowledge management, digitalization, communication and learning for agricultural development across Africa, serving agricultural researchers, extension agents and value chain actors.

Quantifiable outcome

• FARA facilitates over 400 Innovation Platforms across the continent through IAR4D approach
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

22 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Abidjan II Agreement Partners (AfDB, African Union Commission, CGIAR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Agreement to strengthen Africa's food systems signed by African Development Bank, African Union Commission, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, and CGIAR.
• ASARECA (Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSub-regional organization that was instrumental in FARA's founding in 1997. ASARECA coordinates agricultural research across Eastern and Central Africa, working with FARA on continental initiatives including the AIRTEA project for strengthening agricultural knowledge and innovation ecosystems in Eastern Africa.
• CORAF/WECARD (West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSub-regional organization that co-founded FARA in 1997. CORAF coordinates agricultural research for development across West and Central Africa, partnering on initiatives including CIRAWA agroecology projects and joint conferences.
• CCARDESA (Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSub-regional organization (formerly SADC-FANR) that established FARA and continues as a key partner for agricultural research coordination in Southern Africa.
• African Union CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFARA serves as the technical arm of the African Union Commission on matters concerning agriculture science, technology and innovation. The AUC provides authorizing environment and linkage to African Member States.
• CGIARcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal agricultural research partnership with 31 research initiatives working across 126 countries. CGIAR signed the Abidjan II agreement with FARA, African Development Bank, and African Union Commission. CGIAR appointed FARA to a High-Level Advisory Panel for strategic engagement.
• AUDA-NEPAD (African Union Development Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerContinental authorizing organization working with FARA on CAADP implementation and the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A).
• Afreximbank (African Export-Import Bank)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCore partner in the Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) Programme, providing financial mechanisms and trade financing to support agro-industrial parks and value chain development.
• AfCFTA Secretariat (African Continental Free Trade Area)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner in CAAPs initiative, advancing implementation of AfCFTA through agro-processing and light manufacturing to boost agricultural-led industrialization.
• Farrelly & MitchellmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic consultancy partnership to fast-track Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) across Africa, announced January 2026.
• Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV), BrazilmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the ARIFA fellowship program for agricultural research training, providing graduate programs and courses for African scholars under South-South cooperation.
• INTERFACES Project Consortium (BMBF-funded)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium including WASCAL, IDOS, University of Bonn, UBIDS, ZEF, DLR working on sustainable land management in Sub-Saharan Africa through networking, science communication, and capacity development.
• COINS Project PartnersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium of German and African institutions (German Aerospace Center, WASCAL, CSIR-SARI, University of Bonn, University of Ghana, University of Hohenheim, ZALF, UNU, IPAR, MANOBI Africa, ACRE Africa) implementing sustainable land management innovations in West Africa.
• COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional economic community partner for agricultural development and trade coordination.
• ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional economic community partner for agricultural research and development coordination in West Africa.
• GFAR (Global Forum on Agricultural Research)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal forum where FARA brings a strong African voice to international agricultural research discussions.
• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in CIRAWA agroecology conference and nature-based solutions initiatives for sustainable food systems in Africa.
• UNESCOmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in CIRAWA agroecology conference representing scientific and educational collaboration for sustainable food systems.
• PAFFO (Pan African Farmer Forum)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivil society network representing farmers' perspectives in agricultural research and development discussions.
• PANAAC (Pan African Agribusiness and Agro Industry Consortium)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivil society network representing agribusiness and agro-industry perspectives in FARA's multi-stakeholder coordination.
• RUFORUM (Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of universities working on agricultural capacity building, collaborating with FARA on human capital development.
• ANAFE (African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational network contributing to agricultural and natural resources education across Africa.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CGIAR: Global agricultural research partnership coordinating 31 research initiatives across 126 countries. Most direct functional peer to FARA, jointly party to the 2025 Abidjan II agreement and operating a continental/global agricultural R&D coordination mandate.
• GFAR (Global Forum on Agricultural Research): Global multi-stakeholder forum for agricultural research coordination where FARA is a partner. Operates a parallel convening function for agricultural research stakeholders at the global level, directly comparable to FARA's continental coordination role.
• ASARECA: Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa. Sub-regional research coordinating organization that co-founded FARA in 1997; operates a structurally identical coordination model at sub-regional level.
• CORAF/WECARD: West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development. Sub-regional peer co-founder of FARA that coordinates agricultural research across West and Central Africa via a similar IAR4D-aligned model.
• CCARDESA: Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa. Sub-regional coordinating body that co-founded FARA in 1997 and operates the same continental coordination pattern at the Southern Africa scale.
• RUFORUM: Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture. Network of African universities focused on agricultural capacity building, collaborating with FARA on human capital development under overlapping mission scope.
• ANAFE: African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education. Educational network contributing to agricultural and natural resources education across Africa, with overlapping capacity-building and stakeholder coordination functions.
• CTA (Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation): Former ACP-focused agricultural development organization. Comparable continental/international development cooperation role in supporting agricultural knowledge and rural development across African countries.

Broad incumbents

• AUDA-NEPAD: African Union Development Agency. Continental authorizing organization working with FARA on CAADP implementation; broader development mandate than FARA but overlapping authority on agricultural transformation.
• FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization): UN agency for food and agriculture with global mandate. Operates much broader scope than FARA but engages on overlapping African agricultural development and food security policy topics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/FARAAfrica
• Xx.com/FARAinfo
• Facebookfacebook.com/FARAAfrica
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/faraafrica

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa