OVERVIEW

A key objective of PRCI is to enhance the policy influence of PRCI-affiliated policy research centers and networks in respective spheres of operation within their countries and regions. One key element of this effort, complementing a broader focus on institutional priority setting and strategic planning, is PRCI’s technical training program.  The trainings offered under the PRCI technical training program are designed to support project-affiliated policy research centers in their conduct of research and policy communication using a trainer of trainer approach. This means that by the end of PRCI, the core centers should be in a position to lead most, if not all, of the capacity strengthening activities for research designed for policy influence in their networks, countries and regions.

The first set of training activities are specifically targeted at the four centers whose research proposals were chosen for inclusion in PRCI’s first round of research, and whose researchers were paired with collaborating researchers at MSU and IFPRI. There are the three PRCI Core Centers for Policy Leadership (CPLs) and Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). The trainings focus on the approved research topics of each research team and are designed to align with the needs of these research teams. The first set of trainings generally  deal with cross-cutting issues (e.g., how to effectively incorporate gender into research activities and policy outreach plans; research ethics, transparency, and reproducibility. They will be followed by a series of more tailored training (e.g., grant writing, data collection and analysis, policy communication and outreach) depending on the centers’ articulated needs as identified through a PRCI-conducted needs assessment. For each training, while the initial focus is on the four research teams, the project will simultaneously work to make the training modules available more broadly both within the teams’ institutions and among other interested institutions.