Establishment, composition and partners
The Coalition of the Willing, launched in 2018, is a volunteer network of individuals and organizations looking to share and facilitate the wider sharing of soil and agronomic data in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian agricultural research and development community has identified the need to change the way soil and agronomy data is made available within the country in order to maximise potential of new developments and technological advances.
CoW members are drawn from national research and development institutions, international organizations, professional societies and other non-governmental organizations, currently hosted by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR).
The International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) has played a vital role in bringing the CoW members together and coordinating their activities, together with financial and logistical support from the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), as well as partners like the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) and the Open Data Institute (ODI).
Our Mission
New developments and technological advances in data management, governance, sharing and use are happening all the time.
These new technologies, tools and techniques should be applied in places where they are most needed, namely in developing regions. However,compared to other sectors, the Ethiopian agricultural sector is currently benefiting the least.
The CoW’s mission, therefore, is to enable the Ethiopian agricultural sector to benefit from recognizable global advances in data management and handling. New data mining and sharing techniques could facilitate exploring patterns in a way that was not possible a few decades ago.
The CoW Governance
The CoW is a volunteer network of individuals and organizations willing to share and facilitate wider-scale soil and agronomy data access and sharing in Ethiopia. At the same time, CoW members will have legitimate access to data available in Web Portal developed and hosted in EIAR. Most opportunely, the CoW’s proven experience in data access and sharing at a small or medium scale will serve as a testing ground and springboard for national-level soil and agronomy data-sharing practice, which will later encompass other subsectors of agriculture.
GIZ and the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT will support the computational infrastructure, resources, and skills for big-data management and analytics. Inception, establishment, and current operations of the CoW are facilitated and coordinated by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. Members of the CoW are from agriculture-related fields, mainly those in the national and regional research institutes, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), and universities. Later, geospatial analysis experts and data scientists in the country joined the CoW, which boosted its efficiency in terms of delivering outcomes. More partners are expected to support the efforts as the quick wins of the CoW have demonstrated flourishing benefits. The architecture of the CoW includes a general assembly (all members of the coalition), a secretariat, and the CoW task force.
The CoW General Assembly
The CoW general assembly consists of all CoW members including both individual and institutional members. The general assembly meets at least twice a year. The responsibilities of the general assembly include but are not limited to guiding the overall direction and strategic focus of the CoW, monitoring the work of its coordination task force, approving CoW action plans, and promoting the CoW in various local, regional, and global platforms. Members of the CoW general assembly are ambassadors representing and promoting the central objectives, mission, and principles of the CoW in their professional and personal endeavors. Members of the CoW also provide professional support when necessary and requested.
The CoW Secretariat
The origin and evolvement of the CoW has been facilitated by CIAT, the EIAR, and GIZ. These three institutions serve as the secretariat body of the CoW. The secretariat oversees the monitoring, evaluation, and reporting processes. The secretariat reports to the general assembly. The CoW Task Force Shortly after its formation in 2018, the CoW established a task force that has seven members. This task force is responsible for coordinating and implementing the day-to-day activities of the CoW. It defines strategic entry points (research, development, extension) that CoW members should focus on considering the reality on the ground and assessing emerging situations. The task force reports its progress to the general assembly, which endorses CoW plans, monitors implementation, and provides future directions, and to the task force every three months.
CoW - Membership
Membership in the CoW is voluntary and driven by the shared goal of improving Ethiopia’s agricultural productivity through evidence-based and informed agricultural decision-making. Interested parties can join the CoW, free of charge, by submitting a complete membership application form. Currently CoW has more than 150 members.
Facilitator/Secretariat
The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT and GIZ are facilitators of the CoW. A taskforce guides annual planning and implementing of the CoW activities.
Coordinator
The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT coordinates and oversees the CoW activities and co-organizes associated events.
Donor
GIZ supports the operations of the CoW through the project 'Supporting Soil Health Interventions (SSHI) in Ethiopia' cofunded by the BMGF and BMZ.
Taskforce Members
Dr. Temesgen Desalegn, CoW taskforce chair (EIAR)
Dr. Lulseged Tamene, CoW taskforce secretary (Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT)
Dr. Teklu Erkossa (GIZ)
Prof. Assefa Abegaz (Addis Ababa University)
Mr. Kiflu Gudeta (MoA)
Dr. Kindie Tesfaye (CIMMYT)
Dr. Degefie Tibebe (Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT)
Crop Response to Fertilizer data collected and cleaned
Soil Profiles Collected
Legacy Soil Profiles Extracted and Cleaned
Current number of CoW members