CCARDESA Undertakes the First Physical APPSA Backstopping Mission to the Kingdom of Lesotho
The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) is conducting the first physical technical backstopping mission to the Kingdom of Lesotho from September 13 to 17, 2021, under the Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA). The mission, which includes field visits, training on Monitoring and Evaluation, and ICKM related topics, started with a courtesy call to the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Nchakha Makara.
“The Ministry is happy to host CCARDESA for this mission, and we believe your visit will benefit Lesotho in pursuing her regional mandate under APPSA. This programme is very key for our Ministry and the country at large, and we hope whatever challenges that have been reported either internally or with our partners in Angola will be accorded due attention to find lasting solutions”, said Mr. Makara.
Technical backstopping is an instrumental approach adopted by CCARDESA to assess in-situ project implementation, appreciate the challenges, and provide guidance on how to overcome identified bottlenecks.
“We were supposed to visit Lesotho much earlier in the year, but because of the travel restrictions related to Covid-19, most of our backstopping activities were done virtually. However, as soon we were allowed to travel by authorities at CCARDESA, we had to combine the backstopping with other activities, which include the M&E and ICKM as well as field visits”, shared Dr. Mabuza.
Dr Majola Mabuza delivering his opening remarks.
From Monday to Wednesday (September 13-15, 2021), CCARDESA will facilitate an M&E training to strengthen the local capacity on the Result-based Management (RBM) approach. This training session is led by the APPSA Regional M&E Officer, Mr. Dagmore Tawonezvi, and is aimed at providing M&E experts with relevant tools to set and assess result-based indicators instead of activity-based. In the same training, a session will be dedicated to discussing regional M&E collaboration opportunities under Information, Communication, and Knowledge Management (ICKM). This last session will be led by the APPSA Regional ICKM Officer, Mr. Sostino Mocumbe.
On Thursday (September 16, 2021), the CCARDESA team will do site visits to verify and supplement information on APPSA infrastructure, laboratories, and other research facilities from the Department of Agricultural Research developed or improved with project support. The visit will also cover infrastructure, laboratories, and other research facilities from the National University of Lesotho.
Friday, September 17, 2021, is dedicated to the Scientific Conference in which researchers that are currently running APPSA R&D sub-projects are expected to make presentations to share achievements made thus far, limitations, lessons learned, and recommendations for the future. The conference will also facilitate knowledge sharing and exchange among scientists as well as set common ground on matters related to project management.
APPSA is a World Bank funded regional collaborative research project currently implemented in Angola and Lesotho. Angola is establishing the Regional Centre of Leadership (RCoL) on cassava and cassava-based farming systems, whereas the Kingdom of Lesotho has chosen to establish the RCoL on horticulture and horticulture-based farming systems. Both countries are encouraged to co-implement R&D sub-projects. However, generated technologies and innovations should benefit Angola and Lesotho, as well as the entire SADC region. Hence, after Lesotho, in two weeks’ time, the CCARDESA team will do a similar backstopping mission in Angola.
