A policy network analysis of the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) in Ethiopia.

Abstract

This study is a policy network analysis of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) in Ethiopia. The CAADP is a NEPAD initiative aimed at promoting policy interventions that will address the agricultural crisis in Africa. This dissertation argues that policy networks are regarded as a tool for and a structure of public policy making and implementation, and assume such attributes as exchanges of resources, interdependence among stakeholders that can be formal or informal. Its formation arises from a realisation that single bureaucratic governments are ineffective hence the need to seek mutually beneficial solutions, share information, gain support and legitimacy through association with other agencies. A policy network analysis of the CAADP has revealed that relationships among the CAADP policy network partners are typically collaborative, complex, reciprocal, and trust based. Therefore, the implementation of the CAADP take place through what would be termed „networked governance‟ – where stakeholders share common policy objectives aimed at reducing hunger and starvation as well as increasing economic development through a range of collaborative efforts among government, private and civic organisations.