Organisational Review of Drylands Coordination Group (DCG)

The Drylands Coordination Group (DCG) is an NGO-driven network 100% funded by the Government of Norway through Norad's budget allocation for NGOs, as well as through Ministry of Foreign Affairs. DCG is an initiative coming out of the former Sahel-Sudan-Ethiopia Programme (SSE-Programme). The Norwegian NGOs involved are ADRA Norway, Care Norway, the Development Fund (DF), Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Norwegian People's Aid (NPA). Noragric has entered into a 3-years agreement with DCG, providing technical support to both DCG Norway and the national DCGs. The network operates in Mali, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan and national coordinators function as the secretariats for its member organisations. DCG's overall goal is to contribute to improved food security for vulnerable households and communities in the drylands of Africa through policy work and research interventions. The annual contribution from Norad for 2006 is NOK 5,8 mill.

The major conclusions are positive in terms of the network's relevance and how the network is administered and coordinated by DCG Norway. The institutional capacity has been strengthened during the strategy process. It is the Consultant's opinion that it is premature to come up with recommendations on changes in the present network model. However, it has been identified that there are needs to improve the capacity and competence building at national levels, and also to improve the practical implementation of research results. Strengthening of DCG's competence in designing action research projects is also required. DCG coordinators at national level have expressed that more resources from the Norwegian member NGOs would have benefited the processes in which they are involved.