Human and financial resource issues presented challenges for the three programs to collaborate effectively and gain from their engagement in the Seed Alliance. Although the three programs work together, each faces differing needs in their own regions. These challenges include:
Organizational Differences
- Three independent organizations, each structured under different legal frameworks, with its own internal systems and reporting mechanisms,
- Extreme time-zone differences,
- Language barriers,
- Centralized and accessible record keeping,
- Internal high-level organizational/structural changes took place.
Evaluation Approaches
- Adhering to one single evaluation framework across all three programs is challenging because the projects supported in each region differ hugely. It’s difficult to use one method of assessment for all three.
Leveraging Experiences
- Time constraints and logistical issues meant that mentoring and coaching sessions for the regional program coordinators to consolidate and leverage experiences was not prioritized and did not happen as often as the team would like it to.
Growing Demand
- All three programs’ growth was hindered by lack of resources both human and financial to cope with increasing demand. Areas that will benefit from additional investment:
- Training of regional program coordinators
- Support for regional and global communications activities, documentation, multimedia, printed materials and social media plans
- Professional fees for workshops and training courses facilitation
- Language services/translations
- Limited collaboration with other organizations and individuals involved in Internet development.