Non-profit/Third-Sector
CASE STUDY
Advising a Youth and Agriculture-Focused African Foundation on their Three-Year Strategy
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The agriculture sector is critical not only for food security, but also for economic prosperity. Moreover, with Africa's youth population expected to increase by 40% by 2030, the importance of the contributions of young people in agriculture cannot be overstated. Recognizing this potential, a globally acclaimed development economist and policymaker engaged Botho to help them strategize and operationalize an early-stage African foundation that seeks to develop a new generation of young African food and agriculture entrepreneurs, policymakers, researchers, and scientists to help achieve food security for the continent and generate wealth for farmers - the backbone of the agricultural sector. In order to achieve this vision, Botho built a three-year strategy (2022-2025) for the foundation to identify and prepare for - both strategically and operationally - the opportunities, challenges and potential risks that the institution may encounter over the next three years.
Botho devised this three-year strategy over three phases. In the first phase, Botho conducted a context analysis to gain an exhaustive understanding of the foundation’s status quo both internally (operations, systems, strategies, programs, impact till date, people, etc.) and externally (position vis-à-vis the broader ecosystem in which it functions). The second phase focused on high-level strategy validation through a rigorous evaluation of the insights gained from phase one's benchmarking and situational analysis to develop a working hypothesis around areas that would form the core of the foundation's 3-year strategy.
The third phase focused on converting the hypothesis into a full-fledged strategy and supporting standard operating procedures that entailed:
Looking critically at what has and has not worked so far and what upcoming focal areas/priorities should be at both the programmatic and organizational levels to devise a theory of change.
Mapping the organization’s human capital needs at multiple levels
Interrogating how the foundation should be structured both legally and financially in order for it to both raise and dispense funds.
Determining what narrative and communication strategy will be most effective in helping the foundation position itself as a credible, influential organization to secure requisite relationships and resources along with external communication templates.
Cataloging and formalizing the foundation’s internal systems and processes to develop institutional memory and create efficient operations through the development of Standard Operating Procedures for each of the foundation’s core programs, as well as the organization itself.
Identifying additional programs to be introduced for the organization to achieve its goals and vision and developing operationalization strategies to support it.