This book will benefit people and teams involved in planning and decision making. On the basis of their pragmatic value in guiding decisions, needs assessments are used in various professions and settings from emergency rooms to corporate boardrooms to guide decision making. Nonetheless, although needs assessments have many different applications, in this book on needs assessments as they are applied in organizations to accomplish results, as opposed to their use in personal decisions or medical triage.

This brief is part of a series of ‘Legacy Products’ developed under the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics – www.humidtropics.org ) to help CGIAR Research Programs integrate key ‘capacity development in systems’ concepts into their work. It introduces the rationale of capacity needs assessment, frameworks/steps and requirements. 

The presentation was for the workshop on the lessons and success stories from a pilot project on climate change adaptation interventions in Kabe watershed, south Wollo, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, 11-12 February 2013.

Self Help Africa was mandated under the project “Expanding Utilization of Roots, Tubers and Bananas and Reducing Their Postharvest Losses” to implement activities tailored at achieving output 4, “Skills in entrepreneurship, agribusiness and collective action developed for selected actors (men, women and youth) in specialized ware potato markets” among 4 target potato associations (PA) in Eastern Uganda.

Farmers Training Center (FTC)-based farmer training is an emerging extension strategy geared towards human capital development through need-based, hands-on practical training in order to facilitate agricultural transformation and rural livelihood improvement. Although FTCs were established and made functional in the Tigray National Regional State and Alamata Woreda no systematic assessment of the relevance and effectiveness of the training were made.

The Africa Leadership Training and Capacity Building Program (Africa Lead), aims to support the capacity building program of the US Government’s Feed the Future Initiative, which aligns US Government assistance with Africa-owned agriculture development plans that are, in turn, aligned with the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program. 

The Africa Leadership Training and Capacity Building Program (Africa Lead), aims to support the capacity building program of the US Government’s Feed the Future Initiative, which aligns US Government development assistance with Africa-owned agriculture development plans that are, in turn, aligned with the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program. 

The Africa Leadership Training and Capacity Building Program (Africa Lead) aims to support the capacity building program of the US Government’s Feed the Future Initiative, which aligns US Government development assistance with Africa-owned agriculture development plans that are, in turn, aligned with the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program. 

The Africa Leadership Training and Capacity Building Program (Africa Lead), aims to support the capacity building program of the US Government’s Feed the Future Initiative, which aligns US Government assistance with Africa-owned agriculture development plans that are, in turn, aligned with the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). 

Africa Lead, the Africa Leadership Training and Capacity Building Program, provides leadership training, capacity assessments, logistical support for training and innovative short courses and internships/twinning arrangements prioritized in consultation with missions and partner countries and institutions, and a database of training offerings on the continent that can be matched to the leadership training and capacity building needs.