Today InterAction launched its Best Practices and Innovations (BPI) Initiative, which in its first phase will focus on agriculture and rural livelihoods. The purpose of the initiative, which was made possible with the support of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), is to improve practice standards by boosting the efficiency and impacts of field programs and promoting information sharing on effective program approaches. Through the BPI Initiative, InterAction hopes to document and disseminate information on the contributions and potential of NGO agriculture and food security efforts. The findings will be used to support our alliance’s advocacy on behalf of strong policies and program models and increase the visibility of the NGO community’s work among donors and other development agencies and actors.
As donors pledge new resources for agricultural development and food security, it is essential that best practices and insights gained through previous efforts inform the next generation of poverty reduction programs. As Cheryl Morden, Director of IFAD’s North American Liaison Office, pointed out at the launch, “Resources alone are not the answer.” Instead, she said, we need “new and better ways of doing things.” IFAD views this initiative as a means of intensifying its collaboration with NGOs, and hopes it will be a “shared learning experience.” The indicator of its success, she said, will be whether it leads to the adaptation of promising innovations or the “scaling up” of best practices, thereby increasing the impact of food security and agricultural development programs.
The BPI Initiative is part of a larger InterAction effort to demonstrate and enhance NGO accountability and impact in development and humanitarian action. Best practices and innovations identified through the initiative will be highlighted on an interactive online mapping platform, which will feature InterAction member projects in agriculture and food security around the world. In addition to helping improve coordination in the field, we hope the map will become a main source of information for those seeking solutions to key development challenges.
InterAction invites its member organizations and members of IFAD’s Agriculture and Rural Poverty Working Group—an informal network of U.S. NGOs concerned with rural poverty reduction—to submit examples of development practices they feel merit designation as a best practice or promising innovation. Submissions will be evaluated by a Selection Committee of experts in agricultural development, who will assess submissions against established criteria. The deadline for submissions is November 20, 2009.
For more information, please visit the Best Practices and Innovations Initiative page, or contact Laia Grino, Senior Research Associate.
